With the 222nd pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, Quinn McKenzie became the latest player from Maryland to join an NHL organization. The New Jersey Devils added McKenzie with their seventh-round selection, the third-to-last pick in the entire draft.
McKenzie follows Charlie Cerrato, selected 49th overall, and Charlie Trethewey, selected 73rd overall, who were picked at last year’s draft. McKenzie was the only Marylander picked in 2026.
Although his selection came in the final minutes of the second day, the Devils made the pick with the same level of care as their first rounder.
“The way we do things, there are no such things as throw-ins,” Devils chief scout Mark Dennehy said following the draft. “There’s a lot of time spent, a lot of effort put in by the scouts … these are guys that people in our organization had a lot of passion for.”
“[McKenzie]’s a good hockey player. He sees the ice, really competes.”
Born in North Potomac, Maryland, McKenzie spent last season with the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL, recording 51 points (21g, 30a) in 65 games. He added seven points (5g, 2a) in 10 playoff appearances.
The season prior, he played for Shattuck St. Mary’s, an elite hockey high school in Faribault, Minnesota, recording 130 points (40g, 90a) in 87 games. McKenzie spent most of his youth career with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite teams, starting at the 13U level in 2020-21. He also competed for Team Maryland during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.
McKenzie is committed to play at Penn State next season, part of a very strong incoming freshman class that was well represented at the draft. Cerrato, a fellow drafted Marylander, spent the past two seasons at Penn State.
If he breaks through to an NHL roster and makes his debut, McKenzie will become one of the few NHLers ever to hail from Maryland. Jeff Halpern, born in Potomac, is the most well-known, going undrafted but building a 14-year NHL career. Halpern started with the Washington Capitals in 1999 and eventually became the team’s captain in 2005. He is now an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning, heading into his ninth season behind their bench.
Jeff Brubaker (Hagerstown) and Jérémy Duchesne (Silver Spring) were drafted and went on to make their NHL debuts. Brubaker played 178 games with seven different teams in the 1980s, while Duchesne, a goaltender, only played one game for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010. Jamie Fritsch (Odenton) made his first and only NHL appearance in a game during the 2008-09 season, also with the Flyers.
Patrick Giles (Chevy Chase) is the most recent player from Maryland to make his NHL debut, first skating with the Florida Panthers in the 2024-25 season and appearing in nine total games. He is currently with the San Jose Sharks‘ AHL affiliate after scoring his first NHL goal with the Sharks on March 12, 2025.
