Ryan Rucinski brought plenty of USHL experience into this season. The Ohio native played 53 games during the 2023-24 campaign, followed by 49 last winter, along with 10 career playoff games – all for his home state Youngstown Phantoms.

Rucinski put up 42 points last season and was taken by Buffalo (219th overall) at the NHL Draft, but opted to return for a third year of junior hockey – a decision that’s paid off.

Rucinski currently ranks third in the USHL in goals (16) and fourth in points (34), and he’s racked up 19 points (7-12-19) over his past 10 games. He’s also donning the ‘C’ as Youngstown’s captain.

“Ryan’s an extremely tireless worker and relentless in his pursuit of being the best he can be,” said head coach Ryan Ward. “He wants to be a well-rounded player. He’s excellent on his edges, he plays a hard and heavy game down low and he’s got a good shot, and he’s just a Swiss Army Knife that can play in any situation. He’s just continued to take steps and his growth over the last three years has been exactly what you want to see.”

Ryan Rucinski (#LetsGoBuffalo) finds Cooper Simpson (#NHLBruins) to start the scoring at the American Cup

Rucinski leads the USHL with 33 points. Simpson is right behind him with 32.@YtownPhantoms | #USHL pic.twitter.com/Z2yfmCslGK

— USHL (@USHL) December 5, 2025

Rucinski grew up just outside of Cleveland and started skating at 2. His father, Jeff, was a two-year captain at Western Michigan and spent time in the ECHL, IHL and AHL, and Ryan’s hockey interest came instantly.

Rucinski came up through the Cleveland Barons program and was taken by Youngstown in the third round of the 2022 USHL Phase I Draft. He’s committed to Ohio State as well and expects to join the Buckeyes next fall.

“You don’t hear of a ton of people from Ohio that can stay close to home and continue playing at a high level, but I’ve been super fortunate to have this opportunity and it’s worked out perfect,” Rucinski said. “I was probably 14 when I started to learn about juniors and the Phantoms, and I went to a few games here and there with my dad to see what it’s like. But it’s pretty cool to be playing in the games now and have some friends and family here supporting me, and it’s great to be playing this close to home.”

Rucinski’s biggest focus has simply been improving every day, along with his net-front play and maintaining weight – something he feels will be important at the NCAA level.

Ward said he’s seen the right-shot forward take strides physically and offensively, and he’s ‘blossomed into a well-rounded scorer.’ And Ward believes Rucinski could become one of the steals of last year’s NHL Draft.

The experience that comes with being a third-year player certainly helps, but Rucinski is making the most of his opportunities.

“I did a lot of work over the summer and with it being my third year here, I think I’ve gained a lot of confidence, and I just really wanted to be a good leader and help us win,” he said. “I think early in the season we let a couple games slip away from us, but we’ve really stressed playing a full 60 minutes and everyone has been buying in lately. So hopefully we can keep it going and our main goal is to win a Clark Cup.”

RUCINSKI ➡️ BUFFALO !!!!

Congratulations to Ryan Rucinski on being the 219th pick in the 2025 NHL Draft! #nhldraft | #youngstownphantoms | @mac.bid.official pic.twitter.com/uQX6dJU632

— Youngstown Phantoms (@YtownPhantoms) June 28, 2025

Rucinski and the Phantoms enter this weekend second in the Eastern Conference with 38 points – just two behind Muskegon. They’re on fire of late too, as Youngstown owns an eight-game point streak (7-0-0-1) and is 8-1-0-1 over its past 10.

Rucinski joined the Phantoms on the heels of their 2023 Clark Cup championship and wants to add another. While they’re taking it one day at a time, he’s setting quite the example along the way.

“Ryan sets the standard for how hard we have to work and what our values are here, and he went from being a shy first-year kid to being a really mature leader,” Ward said. “We have a deep team and a locker room full of guys that want to win. And everybody can say that they want to win and are willing to put everything on the line, but the proof is in the pudding with guys like (Rucinski).

“The way he works and approaches every single day tells you how much he wants to win, and when you have someone like him in your locker room, it drags everybody into the fight. So when you have your captain leading by example and showing the way, that’s special, and he embodies everything we want to do here.”

The Phantoms host Omaha on Friday at 7:05 p.m. EST, followed by a 6:05 p.m. contest on Saturday.

Both games will be played at the Covelli Centre and will be available here on FloHockey

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