of the NHL The first-person draft since 2019 will see teens hug family members, hear their names announced inside the cavernous Bell Center before climbing onto the stage and donning a new team hat and jersey.
Andrew Mangiapen finally got that experience. It just took some time. A long, long time.
Winger sat in all seven rounds of 2014 NHL Draft in Philadelphia.
His name was never called.
“It was tough,” Mangiapane shared in an interview years later. “It was tough being in that draft and not getting selected.”
After a 51-point rookie season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Barry Colts that spring, the Toronto native was invited to the Arizona Coyotes rookie camp later that summer.
Unable to secure a contract, Mangiapane went back to the OHL, scoring 43 goals and 104 points in 2014–15, and was eligible to be drafted again when relegated by the NHL in Florida the following June.
The then 19-year-old — who was also passed over for the OHL Draft at age 15 before moving on with the Colts — just wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in the program for a second time.
His family convinced him otherwise.
“It was in Florida so they said, ‘We’ll make it a trip. We’ll go out a week ago and just spend time in hotels and on vacation and just go to the beach,'” Mangiapane said.
but when on the big day Conor McDavid Overall the first Gaya, Mangiapane was once again forced to wait.
And then wait some more – again.
He was re-living the nightmare a second time as name after name came off the board, and he remained.
“A crazy experience,” Mangiapane said. “My dad looked at me and he literally said, ‘I’m sorry to bring you here.’ He literally said, ‘You are not being chosen.’
“That was little when I heard my dad say that.”
However, the mood quickly changed when the Calgary Flames eventually ended Mangiapane’s agony with their sixth-round selection, 166th overall.
“It was a wonderful feeling,” he said. “It was worth it.”
Not many players in his position make it to the NHL and become a regular, but Mangiapane, who attributes his success to the late Dale Haverchuk from their time together at Barry, arrived there in 2017-18 and eventually flopped.
The 26-year-old has had a decent career with the Flames, scoring 78 goals and 132 points in 260 regular-season games.
He has added 12 points in 27 playoff competitions and is a pending restricted free agent after fulfilling a two-year contract with an annual average value of US$2.425 million.
Not bad for a kid forced to sit through 12 1/2 rounds of NHL drafting before finding his home.
There is no doubt that this is a lesson for some players going to Montreal.
“It doesn’t matter which round you’ve drafted,” Mangiapane said. “I just wanted to play hockey and do the best I could – work hard and train and give my all.”
So does he joke with his father about the infamous prediction of a second passing?
“No, no, I buried that moment,” said Mangiapane with a slight smile. “I don’t even want to think about it.
“They probably buried it too.”
© 2022 Canadian Press