Maki One of Eight ECAC Skaters Drafted

Away from his proctoring duties at Harvard Summer School, Ryan Maki was visiting a friend the last weekend in July when his phone began to ring.

First it was a buddy from home who was tracking the 2005 NHL Entry Draft on his computer. Then it was Maki’s father, John. Then came a string of Ryan’s acquaintances, all calling to congratulate the winger on his sixth-round selection by the Nashville Predators Saturday.

“I think I used up all my minutes,” Maki laughed. “I knew [my selection] was a possibility, but I didn’t expect anything.”

This year’s draft was abridged from nine rounds to seven, and though the Harvard coaching staff had spoken to representatives from the Boston Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche and the L.A. Kings, nobody had spoken to Nashville, the club that made the winger the 176th overall pick of the draft.

“It seemed pretty out of the blue, but I feel lucky,” said Maki, who enters his junior season with a two-year line of 14 goals and 13 assists in 64 games.

Listed at 6’3 and 212 lbs. on the Crimson’s roster, the forward settled into a strong, physical role during his first two years. He ended last season on Harvard’s top line with big-name seniors Tom Cavanagh and Brendan Bernakevitch, and, due to the graduation of that pair and next year’s relatively small senior class, Maki will likely see more of the spotlight next season.

He was the only Crimson skater drafted Saturday, which means the number of Harvard’s draft picks has been whittled down to five by player graduation. There were nine Maki’s sophomore season and 12 during his freshman campaign.

He also becomes the first member of the Crimson drafted after the NHL’s recent rules facelift, which Maki thinks will “make the game more exciting.”

Among the changes are the elimination of the red-line for offsides purposes, the introduction of shootouts, and the reinstatement of the tag-up offsides rule.

“Anything that makes the game more exciting is going to be more fan-friendly,” he said.

Maki is one of eight ECAC skaters drafted Saturday, though six of the octet are incoming freshman. Cornell’s rising sophomore Sasha Pokulok, a first-round selection of the Washington Capitals, was the highest-drafted ECAC skater to date.

’JESS LEAVING

The day before the Entry Draft, Dartmouth star Hugh Jessiman agreed to terms for a professional contract with the New York Rangers, the club that picked him in the first round of 2003’s draft.

The announcement led to sighs of relief around the ECAC—except in Hanover, of course—as Jessiman, a former conference Rookie of the Year, will now forego his senior season with the Big Green.

The Rangers tried to sign the forward last summer, but Jessiman, 21, said he returned to Dartmouth “to get another year out of my development, and also because I felt I had more I wanted to prove at the college level.”

A torn deltoid ligament in the right ankle sustained during a Nov. 6 matchup with Princeton sidelined him for 24 games, though, so this time around, when the Rangers came knocking, Jessiman was ready to make the leap.

Before that injury-shortened junior campaign, he had played 68 games and amassed 80 points, 39 of which came on goals. Jessiman’s 47-point freshman season made him the highest-point-producing Dartmouth rookie ever.

“Dartmouth has been the best experience of my whole life,” said the 6’6 Jessiman, “academically, socially, and hockey-wise.”

But now it’s time to move on, and “for me, a scoring-type player,” said Jessiman, “I’m pretty excited about the new rules.”

The elimination of the two-line pass rule “creates a more open game in terms of breakaways, and I also think they’re going to be cracking down on the clutch-and-grab, which should be nice.”

LEAVING THE NEST

Recent graduates Noah Welch and Ryan Lannon signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday. Welch was a second-round pick of the club in 2001, while Lannon was taken in the eight round of 2002.

Maki said that other members of the Class of 2004 are looking to break in as well. Goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris, a 2002 fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, is getting ready for Philadelphia’s camp at the end of August, while Tom Cavanagh (San Jose Sharks ’01) and Brendan Bernakevitch (free agent) will also be looking to play next season, the latter possibly for Calgary’s AHL affiliate in Omaha, Neb.

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu