Landon Nycz's October birthday made him too young to be drafted with most of his 2007-born peers last summer, but on Saturday the St. Louis Blues picked the Waterloo Black Hawks alumnus during the fourth round of the 2026 NHL Draft.
 
Ncyz was a freshman at the University of Massachusetts last winter.  This is the third time in the past five years a former Hawk has been drafted after his first season of NCAA hockey.  Nycz joins Patrick Geary (Buffalo, 2024) and David Gucciardi (Washington, 2022) in that group.  All three players are defensemen.
 
Playing his first United States Hockey League game before his 16th birthday, Nycz appeared in 52 Black Hawks games during the 2023/24 schedule.  He delivered a goal and 12 assists during that rookie campaign.  Nycz was still among the youngest Waterloo players when the 2024/25 season opened.  The 6-foot, 2-inch Michigan native produced five goals and 13 assists in just 34 Hawks games that winter.

After finishing his junior career with the Sioux City Musketeers, Nycz joined the Minutemen last fall.  He played in 35 of 36 UMass games.  During just his second collegiate appearance, Nycz scored the game-winning goal during a 4-1 Minutemen win over Northern Michigan.  He added two assists for three points on the season.
 
In 2019, former Black Hawk Zach Sanford helped St. Louis secure the Stanley Cup during a five-year stay with the organization.  Fellow alumnus Andy Roach had also skated for the Blues during regular season play in the 2005/06 season.  Prior to today, Phil Osaer had been the last Black Hawk to be drafted by St. Louis when he was chosen in 1999.  Back in 1984, the Blues were the first NHL team to ever pick a junior-era Waterloo skater when they selected defenseman Mark Lanigan.