Not long ago, Youngstown Phantoms defenseman Conner de Haro was a young up-and-comer focused on making the roster full-time.
Now, as he enters year three with the program, de Haro is one of the team’s most experienced players, and one of the few that have been here for each season that coach Ryan Ward has been at the helm.
“It’s super exciting,” de Haro said. “Obviously, it’s great to be back in Youngstown and see all the fellas, all the boys. We have a really good group here. All the guys are close, so it’s just nice to be back and excited to get the season going.”
The defenseman became a regular in his second season with the Phantoms, playing in 51 games with Youngstown.
That first season, getting his feet wet in the USHL and watching his team win a championship, all contributed to him taking that next step of growth as a player.
“I think it just was a lot of it was from just gaining confidence in the league, and knowing I belonged (there) too,” de Haro said. “That’s the hardest thing when you’re a young guy. Working hard every day, and working hard in the gym, and on the ice to improve everything.
de Haro has taken on more responsibilities as one of the team’s elder statesmen.
One of those is driving around the younger guys.
“I have to drive around (Jack Hextall) and (Adam Benak) every day, so I kind of got to know them well,” de Haro said. “They’re both great guys, but everybody here has been really good, and it’s nice to see the new faces and how excited they are to be here.
“Obviously it’s an honor to be one of (the team leaders), and I think whenever I was in their situation, it was always nice to be able to talk to those guys, so I’m just trying to help them out with whatever I can, and trying to get them feeling comfortable and just excited to be here.”
Having been born in Raleigh, N.C., hockey has always been around de Haro, specifically the Carolina Hurricanes.
de Haro played for the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes program from 2019-21, and cited current Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin as one of his favorite players to watch.
“I really like Miro Heiskanen from the Dallas Stars. He’s a good defenseman,” de Haro said. “Being from Carolina, I’ve watched a lot of Brady Skjei (now with Nashville), but I watched him and Jaccob Slavin a lot. Those guys, it’s always cool to watch them play and see what they do.”
The team goal is ‘Clark Cup or Bust’, but de Haro is hoping he can be a major contributor toward that goal by taking another big leap in his development like he did this past year.
I just want to take another step like last year. I think I did a good job with that, and I don’t want to plateau,” de Haro said. “I’ve just got to get better this year and hopefully produce more offensively, and then just continue what I was doing offensively this (past) year.”
The USHL Fall Classic is fast approaching, with the Phantoms’ season opener set for Sept. 18 in a contest against Tri-City. Start time is set for 6 p.m.