skip navigation

Hreschuk, Murchison named to NTDP's U17 Team

By Brian McDonough, 04/05/19, 5:15PM PDT

Share

Defensemen Aidan Hreschuk and Ty Murchison - both of whom played for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings’ state champion 16U AAA team this past season - were selected to join USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and will compete on the U.S. National Under-17 Team in 2019-20.

Defensemen Aidan Hreschuk and Ty Murchison - both of whom played for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings’ state champion 16U AAA team this past season - were selected to join USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) and will compete on the U.S. National Under-17 Team in 2019-20.

“As a staff, we’re thrilled about the bright, young talent we have on our roster,” said Kevin Reiter, director of player personnel for USA Hockey’s NTDP. “We’re confident they’ll contribute to the long history of success the National Team Development Program has had and are excited to see what they can accomplish this upcoming season.”

Now in its 22 season of competition, the NTDP is a two-year residency program for high-performance players and located at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich.

The Under-17 Team, which this coming season will consist of 2003-born players, plays in the United States Hockey League, the only Tier I junior hockey league in the United States, as well as against select competition in the North American Hockey League and Minnesota Elite League.

Each season, the U17 Team also competes in three international tournaments, including the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, 2020 Four Nations Tournament and 2020 Five Nations Tournament.

Hreschuk (pictured) has already announced his commitment to attend and play his NCAA Division I hockey at Boston College following his junior career.

Five Jr. Kings graduates have played for the National Team Development Program: forwards Robbie Earl (2001-03), Brett Sterling (2000-02) and Nolan Stevens (2012-14) and goaltender Thatcher Demko (2012-13). Forward Cole Guttman played three games for the program during the 2015-16 season.

The goal of the full-time development program is to prepare student-athletes under the age of 18 for participation on U.S. National Teams and success in their future hockey careers. Its efforts focus not only on high-caliber participation on the ice but creating well-rounded individuals off the ice.