Boston College Athletics
Rookie Bracco Lands with Toronto 61st Overall
June 27, 2015 | Men's Hockey
SUNRISE, Fla. – For the third time in program history, Boston College boasted three picks in the first two rounds of the NHL Entry Draft as incoming freshman Jeremy Bracco was taken in the second round, 61st overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday morning at the BB&T Center, home of the Florida Panthers.
The last time the Eagles had that many selections in the first two rounds was in 2009 when Chris Krieder went in the first round to the New York Rangers while Kenny Ryan (Toronto), Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson (Pittsburgh) were all second rounders. Only one other time as BC had a pair of first rounders. That occurred in 1986 when Brian Leetch went ninth to the Rangers, Craig Janney was picked 13th by Boston and current associate head coach Greg Brown was a second-round pick for Buffalo.
Bracco just finished resetting the National Team Development record books and skated alongside incoming freshman Colin White, dispensing the assist on White’s overtime game-winning goal for the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team over Finland.
This past season, the Freeport, N.Y., native broke the NTDP assist record for a season, logging 64 assists in 2014-15. Along with 30 goals (94 total points) that year, Bracco became the all-time career assist record holder for the National Team Development Program with 122 total.
With such astronomical assist figures, Bracco etched his name alongside a couple of NHL greats and is in third place, all-time, in career points (46-122-168) behind Phil Kessel (180) and Patrick Kane (172).
In 2013-14, Bracco started off his NTDP career with 74 points for the U.S. Men's National Under-17 Team (16-58-74) in 54 games played. That same year, the incoming rookie was a member of the gold-medal winning U-17 World Hockey Challenge team and led the tournament with eight assists.
Prior to his time in Ann Arbor, Mich., Bracco stockpiled 50 points (16-34-50) for the New Jersey Rockets and was dubbed the Atlantic Junior Hockey League Rookie of the Year. In that season, Bracco was selected to play in the AJHL All-Star Game.
Before his junior hockey career, the Long Islander logged 42 points, including 15 goals and 27 assists, in 20 games played at Portledge School.
Bracco is Boston College’s eighth Toronto selection in program history, joining Kenny Ryan (second round – 2009), Jimmy Hayes (second round – 2008), Jeff Farkas (third round – 1997), Mike Delay (ninth round – 1988), Ted Crowley (fourth round – 1988), David Buckley (tenth round – 1984) and Dominic Campedelli (seventh round – 1982).
