Green Bay Gamblers see four players selected in 2026 NHL Draft

USHL Junior Hockey · By Marcus Chen · July 1, 2026
Green Bay Gamblers see four players selected in 2026 NHL Draft

Green Bay finished the 2026 NHL Draft with four players connected to the organization, and the names told the story of a program that keeps turning different entry points into NHL attention. From a one-year college stop to a midseason trade pickup to a top USHL Entry Draft selection, the Gamblers put four very different résumés on the same draft board in Buffalo.

Dartmouth defenseman Cooper Cleaves led the list. Montreal took Cleaves 93rd overall in the third round after he spent the 2024-25 season in Green Bay as an undrafted free-agent addition. He delivered two goals and 11 points in 38 games for the Gamblers, then followed with four goals and 10 points in 30 NCAA games as a freshman, proof that his game kept moving after he left the USHL.

AI-generated illustration
AI-generated illustration

Zach Wooten brought the loudest scoring line. Acquired from Omaha, the left wing was selected by Winnipeg at No. 116 after a season that started with a full-season total of 35 goals and 62 points. He added 9 goals and 13 points in 36 games for Green Bay and was named the team’s MVP by players and staff, a clear sign the organization saw his production as more than a hot stretch.

Landon Hafele and Roberto Leonardo Henriquez rounded out the draft haul and sharpened the case for Green Bay’s development model. Hafele, a Michigan State-bound forward who spent time with the NTDP and was the first overall pick in the 2025 USHL Entry Draft, finished with 15 goals and 42 points in 52 games before Winnipeg took him 167th. Henriquez, a Boston College commit, led the USHL in save percentage at .921, won 21 games, posted a 2.22 goals-against average in 37 appearances and also suited up for Slovakia at the World Junior level.

Green Bay Gamblers — Wikimedia Commons
User Royalbroil on en.wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Head coach and general manager Patrick McCadden praised the players for embracing the development process that got them to draft day. The bigger message for the next wave is obvious: Green Bay can point to Cleaves, Wooten, Hafele and Henriquez and sell a path where ice time, responsibility and visible growth turn into NHL calls.

Sources

  1. [1]gamblershockey.com