Porco an NHL draft pick
Sault Ste. Marie product Nick Porco has become a National Hockey League draft pick. Porco, who has played the past two seasons with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League, was selected by the Dallas Stars in the fifth round, 142nd overall, of today’s NHL draft.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Porco, who has a 2001 birth date, is coming off a 2018-2019 campaign in which he scored 20 goals, 16 assists, 36 points in 67 regular season games before adding 3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points in 15 playoff outings for Saginaw.
Porco was part of a Spirit squad that finished second in the Western Conference of the OHL during the regular season and then upended the Sarnia Sting and Soo Greyhounds before coughing up a 3-1 series lead to the no. 4 seed Guelph Storm and losing in seven games in the third round of the playoffs.
Porco was one of seven Saginaw forwards who scored 20 or more goals during the 2018-2019 regular season. And he did so in spite of a number of obstacles which included being shifted to right wing despite being a left-hand shot and playing on Saginaw’s third and fourth lines, often with mediocre line-mates who were unable to keep up with his speed.
Blessed with breakaway, separation speed and the author of a low, accurate shot, Porco also has what those in the game refer to as a “high hockey IQ.”
Meanwhile, character-wise, Porco carries a reputation of being an “A+ kid.” Friendly, albeit quiet and unassuming, Porco is not in the least bit full of himself and is known as a unselfish player and a good teammate.
Dallas made a good pick .. he’s got what it takes ..Congrats to him and the family!!