Calgary Flames Select Freshman Adam Fox in NHL Draft

Ted Donato '91 and the Harvard men’s hockey team may have landed their next blue-line playmaker in 18-year old Adam Fox. Now the Calgary Flames may have done the same.

The Flames officially added Fox to their mix Saturday morning, selecting the incoming Harvard freshman in the third round of the NHL Entry Draft, 66th overall. Fox is now one of seven NHL draft selections on the Crimson’s roster for the 2016-2017 season.

Fox becomes the 19th player—and just the sixth defenseman—in Harvard history to be chosen in the first three rounds of the draft. As a third-rounder in particular, he joins the company of past Harvard standouts like Lane MacDonald ’88-’89, Dominic Moore ’03, Alex Killorn ’12, and Jimmy Vesey ’16, the latter of whom was also selected 66th overall.

An attack-minded defenseman from Jericho, N.Y., Fox verbally committed to Harvard when he was just 15, two years before his draft stock began ascending during his time with the United States National Team Development Program. Last season with the U18 team, Fox set a USNTDP single-season record for D-men with 59 points (nine goals, 50 assists) in 64 games, including seven contests at the U18 World Championships in April. There, Fox was named the tournament’s top defenseman for his nine-point performance (one goal, eight assists) as the United States won bronze.

Now the right-handed defenseman will shift his focus to the college game, where he’s set to join a defensive core in desperate need of an offensive threat. Last season, Clay Anderson’s 15 points marked a high among Crimson blue-liners, and no defenseman surpassed four goals for the season. Fox should have an opportunity to produce right off the bat, but ultimately how the 5’10” freshman holds up in the defensive zone will determine what kind of ice time he sees in his first collegiate season.

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MeagherTHC.