No. 1 USHL draft selection Charlie Cerrato joins Youngstown Phantoms
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CANONSBURG, Pa. -- When opting to delay his jump to the college level for a year and stay in the USHL, there was only one team that Charlie Cerrato had in mind.
Youngstown.
Before heading to the University of Michigan to continue his athletic and academic career, Cerrato is hoping to come to the Mahoning Valley and give the Phantoms a boost on their quest for back-to-back Clark Cups.
"They're obviously a fast, skilled team that wins games, they show up in the big moments, and that's what I feel like I do," Cerrato said. "I show up in the big moments, and I like to play that hard, fast, skilled game that they play."
The Phantoms had to do some maneuvering to make it work however. Cerrato was the top option on the board in the USHL Entry Draft, so a trade up was necessary.
Madison sent over the top pick in exchange for a trio of players to make the deal happen and bring the 5-foot-11 forward to Youngstown.
"I've had a great relationship with (Phantoms GM) Jason Deskins, he was my coach (with Honeybaked 15U AAA), so when I decided I wanted to come back for another year and it was going to be best for me, I reached out to him because Youngstown is the spot to be now," Cerrato said. "It really is. So I reached out to him and I was like 'Hey, can we make this work? Because it's the only spot I want to play at.' And he said they'll work it out, and you know, they did and now I'm here."
The Phantoms didn't have a lot of needs heading into the draft, but the Michigan commit does a little bit of everything, and it never hurts to add more talent to an already talented group.
"Getting Charlie Cerrato with the No. 1 overall pick, shores up our center ice position," Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said following the draft. "He's an extremely intelligent, skilled forward that plays with an edge and for us, he was the best available player in that draft. We feel super excited to get him. He's going to fit in perfectly in Youngstown and he'll be an unbelievable Phantom. I think he's got a chip on his shoulder and I think he's got some things to prove, which is awesome. That was a huge pick."
Cerrato is going to be a big part of the Phantoms' leadership core this season, coming from the US National Team Development Program, which is basically a hockey talent factory. Last season, Cerrato produced 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 28 USHL contests.
A two-way threat, Cerrato looks to be a real go-to guy.
"Off the ice, I'm going to be a team guy, hopefully a leader in the locker room, a guy with experience, two years in the USHL and I hope to lead these guys off the ice," he said. "On the ice, I'm a fast, hard, skilled 200-foot guy. I can play up the middle or on the wing and produce. That's what I'll be looking to do."
Modeling his game after some of the NHL's best do-it-all talents, Cerrato is hoping to help the team make its dreams of repeating as champions come true.
"I model my game after guys like Bryan Rust (Pittsburgh) and Ondrej Palat (New Jersey)," Cerrato said. "Those type of guys. Those 200-foot guys who can play on the penalty kill, the powerplay, they can score, they can make a pass, have great vision, play defense and they work their butts off."
Since Deskins, (co-GM) Ryan Kosecki, and Ward came to Youngstown, a primary goal has been to put the city on the map.
A player of Cerrato's caliber wanting to come to Youngstown and Youngstown alone, is a good sign of that goal being reached.
"We've said it from day one, that we want to be the premier place to play junior hockey in the entire world. Not just the USHL, but we want to be a place where guys come and develop and get to live their dreams and check boxes on their goals," Ward said. "I think for a guy like Charlie to say that, we've worked hard to get to that point."
Cerrato and the Phantoms will kick things off this season in September with the USHL Fall Classic. Games will be announced in July.