UND incoming freshman forward Mac Swanson didn't make the trip to The Sphere for the 2024 NHL Draft.
Marissa Weltin / Fargo Force
He opted to watch it from his home in Anchorage.
"I tried to stay away from it a little bit," Swanson said, "but I couldn't help myself."
Swanson said he felt relieved when the Pittsburgh Penguins selected him with the No. 207 pick in the seventh round.
He was the fourth and final UND player selected. Forward Sacha Boisvert and defenseman E.J. Emery went in the first round Friday night. Will Zellers, a 2025 forward recruit, went in the third round.
"I was pretty nervous the last 30 to 45 minutes as the picks were going away," Swanson said. "I was pretty excited (when it happened)."
Swanson is coming off an incredible season for the Fargo Force in the United States Hockey League, where he won the league's Forward of the Year, Player of the Year and Clark Cup Playoff MVP.
He slipped in the draft because of his height. Swanson is 5-foot-8. There were only nine regulars in the NHL last season at that height.
"He's just a really exciting hockey player to watch," Penguins director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor said. "He's small but he's competitive and he's highly, highly skilled and highly intelligent. We were excited to get him, especially where we got him."
What makes the Penguins think Swanson can beat the odds and eventually make the NHL?
"It's the high compete Mac has," Pryor said. "It's the motor he plays with and it's the intelligence he has as well as the skill. If you're going to draft a 5-8 guy, you want to make sure he's competitive. We believe Mac is a competitive player, and he's going to a really good program at North Dakota."
When Swanson's name was called, there was a loud roar in The Sphere — but it wasn't Swanson's family.
It was the Plantes. Swanson lived with Zam Plante last season in Fargo. Zam's brother, Max, was picked by Detroit earlier in the day.
"I think the announcers thought it was my family," Swanson said. "But it was the Plantes."
Swanson plans to go to development camp with the Penguins from July 5-10.
There will be some familiarity for him there. Zam is a Penguins draft pick.
"I knew the Penguins asked Zam about me a little bit the last couple days," Swanson said. "They were a team I was looking out for."
Swanson will head to Grand Forks after development camp.
"I'm really excited to get up there and meet all my new teammates," he said.
Marissa Weltin / Fargo Force
Jake Livanavage goes undrafted
UND freshman defenseman Jake Livanavage, who was in his final year of draft eligibility, did not get picked despite an outstanding freshman season with the Fighting Hawks.
He is no longer eligible for future NHL Drafts and is now considered an undrafted free agent to NHL teams. Whenever he leaves college, he will be free to sign with any NHL team.
"That's sometimes the way it happens," Berry said. "Players who come to North Dakota, some are drafted, some are free agents. I go back to Troy Stecher and his path playing a little extra time in juniors and coming in as an undersized defenseman to North Dakota and then being a free agent with a ton of teams coming after him.
"When the time comes, (Livanavage) will have several teams after him instead of maybe just one."
A few other UND recruits were eligible for the draft but were not selected: forward Carson Pilgrim, defenseman Sam Laurila, defenseman Keith McInnis and goaltender Caleb Heil. All of them will be eligible again next year.
UND's 2024 NHL Draft board
Sacha Boisvert, Chicago Blackhawks, Round 1, Pick 18
E.J. Emery, New York Rangers, Round 1, Pick 30
Will Zellers, Colorado Avalanche, Round 3, Pick 76
Mac Swanson, Pittsburgh Penguins, Round 7, Pick 207
