The New York Rangers selected incoming Harvard freshman defenseman Dylan Reese in the seventh round (209th overall) of the NHL Entry Draft on Sunday, giving the Crimson an ECAC-leading 12 draft picks on its roster, one season after being tied for the most in the nation with 13.

“Obviously I’m really excited,” said Reese, who was at home in Pittsburgh, Pa., not at the draft in Nashville, Tenn., when his name was called. “I was a bubble guy going in. I wasn’t sure if I was going to go at all, and I wasn’t expecting any higher than the fifth round at best, so the seventh round was right in the middle.”

Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni phoned Reese to congratulate him after the draft.

“Dylan’s not a big, big kid, and at times the draft, like it or not, is still predicated a lot on size, especially for certain positions, so this is a real compliment to him,” Mazzoleni said. “It’s very refreshing to see someone taken based on his ability.”

Reese, who admitted that he has always been a fan of the Rangers’ Atlantic Division rival Pittsburgh Penguins, said that several teams had chatted with him, but that the Rangers had “showed the most interest the whole way through.”

“If I had to pick one team who I thought would have taken me, it would have been the Rangers,” Reese said. “I’m really glad it worked out. The Rangers showed the most interest in me and believed in me more than the other teams. I’m happy that they want me in their program.”

Harvard wants Reese in its program, too. After scoring 11 goals and assisting on 30 others as the captain of his hometown Pittsburgh Forge (NAHL) last season, he’s expected to provide the Crimson with a much-needed offensive presence from the blue line.

“We were very excited when he made the decision to come play for us, believe me,” Mazzoleni said. “He has very good puck skills, and he likes to jump into the offense and be active. He’s a good right-hand shot, and we need a guy like that.”

Jason Koehler, former general manager of the Forge, which was sold after the season and moved to Toledo, Ohio, said that Reese was “by far the best defenseman in the NAHL, and probably the best defenseman in all of North American junior hockey.”

“He was everything you want out of a player, and everything you want out of a son, really,” said Koehler, whose team won both the NAHL and USA Junior Hockey titles. “I’m only 25 years old, but I hope my kids turn out like him. He’s an elite player, a consummate professional.

“I cannot say—and this is the honest-to-God truth—anything negative about Dylan Reese,” he continued.

Reese received another bit of good news earlier this month when, after being passed over by USA Hockey when it chose players for its Under-17 and Under-18 national teams, he was one of 43 players (15 defensemen) invited to the 2003 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp in August in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The invitees to the camp are considered the top players in the nation who are under the age of 20. If Reese is chosen for the team, he will play for the U.S. in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships Dec. 25, 2003-Jan. 4, 2004.

He could become the first Harvard player to be chosen for the World Junior team since rising junior Noah Welch, who missed the 2001-2002 tournament with an injury, and the first to participate since Brett Nowak ’03.

“As a gambling man, I’d bet that he’ll be on that roster at the end of the day,” Koehler said.