16U forward signs with USHL club for ‘23-24 season
On Monday, the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL) signed forward Liam Kilfoil to a tender agreement for the 2023-24 season. Kilfoil becomes the eighth tender in Saints team history, and the first since 2015.
The native of Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada, has split duties this season with the Buffalo Regals and Salisbury School. In 25 games for Buffalo, Kilfoil recorded 16 goals and 36 points. In another 26 games for Salisbury, he added six goals and 15 points.
Kilfoil recently competed for Team New Brunswick in the Canada Winter Games, where he recorded four goals and eight points in six contests.
Per league rules, the USHL allows each of its 16 member teams to tender up to two players that are eligible for the upcoming Phase 1 USHL Draft this spring. However, as a result of tendering Kilfoil, Dubuque will surrender its first-round pick in the draft. This year’s USHL Draft is scheduled to take place on May 2nd.
Speaking to Dubuque’s official team website, Fighting Saints president of hockey operations and general manager Kalle Larsson shared his thoughts.
“We are thrilled that Liam Kilfoil has decided to continue his development in Dubuque,” said Larsson. “We feel strongly that he fits our profile of what it means to be a Fighting Saint. Our scouting staff have tracked Liam closely since his U14 season, and we have watched him multiple times in various settings with and against both players his age and older competition.”
Kilfoil went on to praise the organization as well.
“It’s always been my goal to get a tender in the USHL,” added Kilfoil. “We started talking maybe mid-way into the Salisbury season. They (Dubuque) expressed interest in maybe doing a tender. Since then, I’ve been connected with Kalle [Larsson] and we went through the process of how it would work out. We talked about Dubuque and the role I would have on the team. I had Dubuque as the top option after seeing the history of the organization.”
The final day for USHL teams to receive signed tenders is April 29th. Each tendered player will be on their respective team’s roster the next season, and must play at least 55 percent of the team’s regular season games.
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