By Warren Kozireski —
When Buffalo selected defenseman Luke Osburn in the fourth round of the 20124 NHL Entry Draft, they knew that 1) he only qualified age-wise for the draft by six days meaning he was one of the youngest eligible players and 2) that they were getting an offensive-minded player who finished third in the USHL last season among rookie defensemen in scoring.
That has not changed this season as he is now the top-scoring defensemen with Youngstown with four goals and 15 assists through his first 30 games. He stood tied for 11th in the league in scoring by defensemen and tied for eighth in power play assists.
“I think I’ve tried to develop my offensive game, and I think my defensive game still needs some work,” Osburn said in late-January. “Just focusing on developing both of those and as the season goes on, I’ll have a lot of time to improve, so that’s what I’ll keep working on.”
The 6’1”, 185 lb. left shot was born in Plymouth, Michigan and developed in the Compuware program in the Detroit area.
“Youth hockey in Detroit in general is pretty strong, so just playing against a lot of guys you’re going to play against in later years and just a lot of good hockey players come out of there, so I think it was great to play there in a hockey powerhouse.”
He did attend Development Camp with Buffalo immediately after the draft, which is always an eye-opening experience the first time around.
“It was good to just learn from the players who have already been there and learn from the guys who played pro, so it was great. I really didn’t care when I was picked in the draft. It just happened to be the fourth round, and I was excited for the place I was going and super-pumped.”
Youngstown has had a short USHL history (since 2009), but he is currently second all-time on the Phantoms for defensive scoring with 12 career goals—two behind current New York Islander Scott Mayfield.
Next year Osburn is likely to begin his collegiate hockey career at the University of Wisconsin, but he has the rest of this year to try to bring Youngstown another championship.
“It’s a long journey and I try not to think ahead too much. I always wanted to go to college and this place (Youngstown) has been unbelievable. The coaches here give us all the resources we need; it’s an awesome place to play hockey.”
(Photos by Koz, NY Hockey OnLine; Scott Galvin, Youngstown Phantoms)
