With the 2024 USHL Draft in the rearview, the focus shifts to the 2009 birthyear as these prospects will be heavily scouted over the next year in preparation for the 2025 NTDP Camp and 2025 USHL Draft. One player that has already made a huge impact to his hockey resume and is in an elite group of 2009’s is Gentry Academy’s Ryland Rooney.
Rooney is a tall forward that possesses a high hockey IQ. Ryland has showed good technique in his skating, getting nice knee bend with full extension on his strides. He’s balanced on his edges and has shown he can play well off contact. Rooney possesses soft hands and can uncork his shot quickly. The biggest attribute upgrade that he has demonstrated in recent viewings is his use of his body to secure puck control.
Ryland had to battle for playing time as he assimilated his play to the Minnesota High School level last season. He finished the campaign scoring 22 points in 27 games as a freshman, 2009 DOB, which is remarkable to say the least. Ryland accomplished this despite seeing limited ice time, especially early in the season. He had two 3-point games in the last month of the season, scoring a hat-trick against Providence Academy and a goal and 2 assists against Woodbury.
As last season progressed, you could see Ryland become more assertive with the puck, trusting his skill and abilities to take over. This heightened level of play continued at the Boys HP 15 Spring Festival, where he looked dominant, scoring 7 points in just 3 games played. As a encore to this performance, Rooney proceeded to take top forward honors at the World Selects Invitational, racking up 17 points in 8 games played for the Minnesota Blades. This tournament had 42 teams and a high number of the top 2009’s from around the world.
Ryland has put in the work to establish himself in an elite group of prospects and with the continued development, he should have no issues staying in this group heading forward.
RR will participate in the Minnesota Hockey High-Performance Summer Camp starting on June 9th in St. Cloud.