College Sports
2025 NHL Draft Results In First Round: Analysis, Team Fits For All 32 Picks
LOS ANGELES — The first round of the 2025 NHL Draft is in the books and 32 players hear their names called by NHL teams. There were twists, turns, many trades and plenty of drama as the first round unfolded. Chris Peters broke down all 32 picks from the first round of the 2025 NHL […]

LOS ANGELES — The first round of the 2025 NHL Draft is in the books and 32 players hear their names called by NHL teams. There were twists, turns, many trades and plenty of drama as the first round unfolded. Chris Peters broke down all 32 picks from the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Take a look at all the analysis, news and notes from each pick of the first round. All of these reactions and analysis were posted throughout the first round on draft night.
No. 1 New York Islanders Select: Matthew Schaefer, D, Erie Otters
Scouting Report
An all-around defenseman with size, physicality, high-end skating ability and skill. He missed most of the season first with illness then a collarbone injury. In his small sample, Schaefer didn’t have any truly bad games. He is consistent, mature, and has all of the tools to be a No. 1 defenseman in the NHL. His skating is among the best in the class and his hockey sense is right up there, too. Schafer has been through a lot in his young life, but has met his challenges with grace well beyond his years. As a pick, he is not without risk, but there’s so much upside that teams have mostly dismissed the long absence and still view him as a potential long-term No. 1 defenseman at the top of his projection.
Instant Analysis
The Islanders traded Noah Dobson earlier in the day, losing their No. 1 defenseman. Now they have their No. 1 defenseman of the future. Matthew Schaefer became the consensus top pick over the course of the season with his spectacular play. His skating ability, maturity and hockey sense are all going to make him an instant impact player. The Islanders are not as good in the short-term without Dobson, but their long-term outlook is very, very bright with a franchise cornerstone.
No. 2 San Jose Sharks Select: Michael Misa, C, Saginaw Spirit
Scouting Report
A highly-skilled center with an astoundingly productive season in the OHL, Misa has been picked apart for years as an exceptional status player. But he saved his best junior season for his last and he’s put himself in the discussion to go as high as No. 1. Misa can score, he has excellent hands and an ability to spot plays. He processes the game at speed and when he’s got his competitive drive going, he can play a physical enough game to really put pressure on opposing players. He’ll still need work on his two-way play, but his offensive know-how, speed and improving strength have all put him on track to be a top-line player in the NHL.
Instant Analysis
There was a ton of debate about whether the Sharks would select Misa or Anton Frondell. After so much smoke that they were going to take Frondell and many other teams around the league thinking they would take Frondell, Misa — the consensus No. 2 prospect ended up being the pick. He is one of the best players in the draft, had an incredibly strong season and now moves into a team with superstar forward talent led by Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. He is a center naturally, but there is some debate on if he will stick there full time. I think he will. He has the skating, the skill and the ability to compete. He’ll likely slot in as the long-term No. 2 center behind Celebrini allowing Will Smith to potentially be pushed over to the wing where he can be a play-driving playmaker.
No. 3 Chicago Blackhawks Select: Anton Frondell, C, Djugårdens IF
Scouting Report
After registering 0.86 points per game in the Allsvenskan, Frondell is without peer among U18 players at that level of hockey. His per-game production outpaces that of William Nylander, David Pastrnak and Filip Forsberg at the same age. He had another seven points in the playoffs as Djugården earned promotion to the SHL. So why isn’t he a lock to go in the top five? Frondell, oddly enough, underwhelmed against his own age group and early-season injuries knocked him out of some of the biggest competitions. When he is at his best, Frondell is a hard-driving forward who can get to the interior and score goals. He is committed to two-way ability and physicality to impose his will on games. Which is why a lot of us were perplexed as to why we didn’t see that regularly with his own age group. The inconsistency is a concern, but his best games are better than most other players in this draft, which in a weaker draft year is worth betting on, in my estimation.
Instant Analysis
The Blackhawks get their No. 2 center behind Connor Bedard, or possibly their No. 1 if Bedard is ever moved to the wing. Frondell gives the blackhawks some much needed size at just under 6-foot-2 and some strength. He is one of the more powerful players in the draft and has one of the best shots. He will likely go back to Sweden, play a year in the SHL and then probably be ready to hop into Chicago’s lineup. He’s ahead of his peers physically and his offensive capabilities are somehow still underrated. He’s a top-six player in the long term whose two-way skill and high-end scoring potential will make him and impact player for Chicago.
No. 4 Utah Mammoth Select: Caleb Desnoyers, C, Moncton Wildcats
Scouting Report
One of the most complete players in the draft, Desnoyers does a little bit of everything and helps you win with his tenacious, energetic play. He is a proven winner with championships at World U18s, Hlinka-Gretzky and most recently the QMJHL title with Moncton. He had 84 points in 56 games, plus another 30 points in 19 QMJHL playoff games while playing through injuries to both of his wrists. Because of the injury, his Memorial Cup performance was a bit quieter but that does little to cool my opinion of the player. Desnoyers has size, physicality, defensive sense, work ethic and skill to be a top-six center who is good in tough matchups. I do agree that his offensive game is not as dynamic as most of the other players in this range, but he can impact the game in so many different ways that it does little to dissuade the notion that he can be a difference-maker at the NHL level.
Instant Analysis
Caleb Desnoyers looked to be the ideal fit for the Utah Mammoth, which has a solid forward group already. What they lacked in the long-term was a No. 2 center to play behind Logan Cooley to play tough matchups, be a thorn in the side of the opposition and still score. He is a very good fit for the team and should be a big boost to the forward depth they’ve already built. He is a character, too, which should make him a fan favorite. Bill Armstrong told Desnoyers that he was their guy the second they got into the No. 4 pick.
No. 5 Nashville Predators Select: Brady Martin, C, Soo Greyhounds
Scouting Report
The most feared body checker in this draft, Martin came by his strength working on his family’s farm. Aside from the physical game, he can also score with good hands for such a physical player. He is all-out energy on every shift and it seems as though he doesn’t end a game without taking a piece out of the opposing team. He had 33 goals and 72 points this year for the Greyhounds and then played a leading offensive role for Canada at the U18 Men’s World Championship where the team won gold. Because he impacts the game in so many different ways, he could be a No. 2 center or top-six wing that teams rely on in all situations.
Instant Analysis
The Preds clearly wanted to land a center if they could. They got one here in Martin, who came in at No. 9 on my draft rankings. His physical game is incredible and he can still score. I do think the Preds are leaving some offensive upside on the table with Martin, given some of the other players they could have picked, but his recent rise as a prospect was incredible. Teams love the player, but they also really like him as a person and feel he can be a huge part of a strong culture in a team. There could be a letter on his jersey one day. While I think it’s a little early, the gap between Martin and the players I have listed higher than him is not terribly far apart. I understand the allure of what he brings to the table, given what we just watched in the Stanley Cup Final.
No. 6 Philadelphia Flyers Select: Porter Martone, RW, Brampton Steelheads
Scouting Report
A tremendous playmaker, with good hands to go along with a 6-foot-3, 207-pound frame, Martone is a tantalizing talent. Size with skill is always coveted, which is why he’s been among the very best prospects in this draft. Where I see some separation between Martone and some of those ranked ahead of him is pace of play. His skating is closer to average, which will be more than enough to get by in the NHL, but I’m not sure he’s going to be able to impact games as effectively as some of the quicker players. Another knock on Martone has been his consistency in terms of his competitive drive. When he’s dialed in, he can be a power forward who impacts the game in all three zones and engages physically. But he is unlikely to be the nasty, mean power forward teams often want players like Martone to be. The team that drafts him will certainly benefit from allowing him to be who he is, which is a talented offensive player who can drive play and play the physical game when necessary.
Instant Analysis
The Flyers were widely believed to covet a center, but that center may have been Brady Martin who went one pick before this one. Martone checks all the boxes except for the position. He is a play-driving winger, though. With Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras in the mix up front, the Flyers get one of the biggest forwards available without giving away too much skill. Martone has a great ability to process the game even if he isn’t as fast as some of the other options.The Flyers still need to find a center, but Martone provides plenty of value. He was the No. 6 ranked player on FloHockey’s Top 100.
No. 7 Boston Bruins Select: James Hagens, C, Boston College
Scouting Report
One of the best overall playmakers in the draft, Hagens has elite level hockey sense and vision. He can find seams and is one of the most alert players in this draft. His ability to make plays with pace, exploit defenders and get to the interior when necessary will not be overlooked. He is 5-foot-10.5, which has some concerned and he clearly needs to tack on more muscle to be effective. But a lot of people have forgotten how good this player is and how competitive he is, too. A knock on him is lack of production in some of the biggest games of his season, aside from the World Junior gold medal game where he scored a pivotal goal. Having tracked Hagens closely for the last three years, the overwhelming body of work suggests he will be a play-driving, high-producing forward at the NHL level and teams will pass him at their peril.
Instant Analysis
The No. 3 ranked player on FloHockey’s Top 100, James Hagens is one of the most dynamic players in this draft. The Bruins get an elite playmaker to pair with some of their established core players. He’s going to need more time at Boston College before he is ready to make an impact with the Bruins, but they won’t have to go far to keep an eye on him. The Bruins rarely get to pick this high and could not have gotten better value at No. 7. He’s an elite level player with a chance to make an impact in a few years. The Bruins definitely got better today and faster, too.
No. 8 Seattle Kraken Select: Jake O’Brien, C, Brantford Bulldogs
Scouting Report
With 98 points in the OHL this season, O’Brien made his mark as a high-end playmaker with excellent vision and decisiveness with the puck that helped make him a continual threat. He had 32 goals this season, showcasing a solid nose for the net and an ability to score goals in a variety of ways. O’Brien is a spindly 6-foot-2, with an opportunity to tack some muscle onto his frame to be more difficult to knock off the puck. He was still able to make plays in the hard areas of the ice and had creativity under pressure, which is encouraging for his ability to create and produce at the NHL level. His skill suggests he could be a credible No. 2 center in the NHL at the top of his projection.
Instant Analysis
The Kraken have drafted a center with every early pick they have had and continued that trend here. While there’s a chance to bring in a quality defenseman here, the gap between O’Brien and the blueliners is pretty substantial. His incredible skill and creativity add more scoring pop to a team that certainly needs it long term. There’s a likelihood recent pick Berkly Catton is moved to the wing. O’Brien might have to go that way, too, but the dynamic elements he brings will help Seattle in a significant way. They still need to address their shallow defense prospect pool, but you can’t blame them. I had O’Brien ranked No. 7.
No. 9 Buffalo Sabres Select: Radim Mrtka, D, Seattle Thunderbirds
Scouting Report
The ceiling on Mrtka seems limitless. A 6-foot-6, right-shot defenseman with superior mobility and good puck-moving capabilities, he’s the kind of player teams normally line up to take in the top 10. The only reason I don’t have him there is that I’m a bit concerned about Mrtka’s overall lack of physicality and whether that’s something he’ll ever effectively add to his game. He can be a bit too passive on shifts where a more aggressive, driven player is going to make a bigger impact. You can see all the tools he has and what can happen if he puts it all together. There’s a strong chance he ends up being one of the best defensemen in this draft and plays a top-four role down the road and he is firmly in the draft’s top 12, which is where we start to see the drop off.
Instant Analysis
The Sabres had desperate need for more right-shot defensemen in their system which is very lefty heavy. Mrtka has a huge ceiling and while he is a project pick, he’s got such incredible potential. He needs to round out his physical game more and become harder to play against, but to move as he does at his size is incredibly exciting to add more balance to their blue line. Mrtka was No. 12 on my list, but I think the gap between him and who I had left was miniscule. I think a lot of the player and feel like this was a solid pick for the Sabres to make with most of the top end forwards gone.
No. 10 Anaheim Ducks Select: Roger McQueen, C, Brandon Wheat Kings
Scouting Report
A 6-foot-5 behemoth with room to fill out, McQueen is exceptionally skilled for a player of his size. In a perfect world, he’d be in the mix to be a top-three pick with his combination of size and skill, but McQueen missed a large chunk of the season with a back injury which has teams concerned. It’s always good to be a bigger player unless you’ve sustained a back injury early in your career. Teams will continue to assess the long-term risk that comes with McQueen’s injury, but when it comes to judging what we’ve seen this year and last from the player, he has all of the tools to be an impactful power center at the NHL level, which is a hugely valuable and rare commodity.
Instant Analysis
Of all the teams selecting in the top 10, the Ducks were best equipped to take on the risk associated with McQueen’s injury history. Though there is still concern, the Ducks have all the ability to insulate the player because of all the top-end young forwards they already have in the system. This is a high-risk, high-reward pick with a 6-foot-5 center with legitimate hands and playmaking ability. These are hard to find and if McQueen stays healthy and hits, the Ducks have a potential massive pivot to contribute to their scoring attack.
No. 11 Pittsburgh Penguins Select: Benjamin Kindel, C, Calgary Hitmen
Scouting Report
An exceptionally smart, crafty winger, Kindel’s hockey sense and ability to execute give him a good chance to make it and potentially play a top-six role down the road. He’s 5-foot-10 and the skating is only OK, but he did just put up 99 points for the Calgary Hitmen this season and showed an ability to pick apart defenses with an ability to extend plays and create for his linemates. His vision is exceptional and the hand skills will make him difficult to get the puck from. If he can get a bit stronger and raise the compete level in the harder areas of the ice, he’ll give himself a better chance.
Instant Analysis
This was the first big shock of the first round as Ben Kindel goes No. 11 to Pittsburgh. They have two picks, so they can swing on guys that they like, but Kindel is a bit on the smaller side and his skating is a little bit suspect. (UPDATE: The Penguins traded back to later in the first round). There’s a lot of work to be done for Kindel to get to the NHL level physically, but he thinks it at a very high rate. Kindel was No. 27 on my list and while I like the player, I am surprised this is the route Pittsburgh went at this early stage of the draft
No. 12 Philadelphia Flyers Select: Jack Nesbitt, C, Windsor Spitfires
Scouting Report
At 6-foot-4 and still filling out, Nesbitt has quite a presence on the ice. His ability to make plays at the net front and create some havoc will be helpful to him as he progresses. Where there are legitimate concerns about Nesbitt is in his skating. He’s not a particularly quick player, though he does have the hockey sense and vision to potentially play faster than he can skate. There’s still some legitimate power forward potential in this player and he’s got the foundation of skills to go along with that size that teams will be eager to work with.
Instant Analysis
The Flyers traded two late first-round picks (No. 22 and 31) with the Pittsburgh Penguins to move up to this spot. I thought they might try to land one of the premium defensemen, but after selecting a wing with Porter Martone, they needed to get a center. They got a big one in Nesbitt, but I do think there’s going to be room for him to improve. I had him No. 25 on my list largely due to skating concerns, but size still matters to NHL teams and the Flyers have two massive forwards in their group now with Martone and Nesbitt. I think it’s a high price to pay for a project pick player, but I also understand the desperation to land a center. I just think Nesbitt projects more into a middle six center than a top-six player.
No. 13 Detroit Red Wings Select: Carter Bear, LW, Everett Silvertips
Scouting Report
If not for an Achilles injury late in the season, Bear was starting to push into the discussion of this draft’s top 12. He is one of the better goal scorers in this draft, having posted 40 in 56 games with Everett. Bear has the quickness and the skill to challenge defenders and competes, too. He’s an average-sized winger that can get after opposing players and engage physically, even if that is not going to be a primary selling point of his game. As long as teams are satisfied with the injury recovery, Bear has a chance to go a bit higher as he has one of the best offensive toolkits among players in this range.
Instant Analysis
The Red Wings definitely have a type. They want guys that have skill, but who also play hard. After drafting a number of players that match skill with some grit, they do it again with Bear. I do think Bear might have more natural skill than some of the recent selections like Marco Kasper and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, which adds a nice element to a potential top-six weapon. We’ll see how his injury heals itself. It does not sound like there will be lingering issues. Bear says he wants to play like Travis Konecny, which is a great player archetype to aspire to.
No. 14 Columbus Blue Jackets Select: Jackson Smith, D, Tri-City Americans
Scouting Report
With a good athletic profile including strong skating, a 6-foot-4 (after the combine measurement) frame and some skill, Smith is an intriguing talent. There are legitimate questions about his hockey sense that come from his ability to finish plays effectively and with precision. His puck decisions can also leave some to be desired. That said, Smith defends quite well with an ability to close gaps quickly and thwart rushes with his skating and length. He has all of the physical tools to be an impactful defenseman, but he will have to work on his puck decisions and processing speed in order to reach his full potential.
Instant Analysis
Smith is a tall, rangey defenseman who has produced points as a strong puck mover. At almost 6-foot-4 and excellent skating, he adds a different element to the Columbus blue line. Smith is going to Penn State next year, which I think will be very good for his development. He needs to work on making tougher decisions under pressure and being a bit more accurate with some of the plays he tries to make. He was my No. 4 defenseman in this class, but I see so much upside in the player due to his athletic profile. He was No. 16 on FloHockey’s Top 100.
No. 15 Vancouver Canucks Select: Braeden Cootes, C, Seattle Thunderbirds
Scouting Report
One of the more versatile forwards in the class, Cootes does a little bit of everything that will help a team win. He is a right-shot center with good-enough skill and a solid work ethic. Cootes is a good skater who can play an aggressive brand of hockey that makes him more difficult to contain and dogged in puck pursuit. He captained Canada to the gold medal at the U18 Worlds while also putting up 12 points in a stock-raising performance. Before that, he had 63 points in 60 games in the WHL. The offensive upside might be closer to average, which is why he isn’t higher, but his all-around game and character are going to be attractive to teams in the middle of the first round.
Instant Analysis
Cootes does seem like a hand-to-glove fit for the Canucks. He is an aggressive two-way center with good soft-touch skill. He’s a high-character player, too, who was a captain for Seattle and Team Canada at the U18 Worlds. He does a little bit of everything and the Canucks probably need a little bit of everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if some Canucks fans get some Bo Horvat vibes from Cootes, who should endear himself to fans quickly.
No. 16 New York Islanders Select: Victor Eklund, LW, Djugårdens IF
Scouting Report
An aggressive, speedy and skilled winger, Eklund turned heads with a high-end performance with Djugården this season. The younger brother of San Jose Sharks forward William Eklund finished with 31 points in 42 games, which is sixth-most among U19 forwards all-time in the Allsvenskan. The other players ahead of Eklund all play or played in the NHL including William Karlsson, Elias Pettersson, Filip Forsberg, Alexander Wennberg and record-holder Patrik Berglund. Eklund is 5-foot-11, but his tenacious, competitive drive limits concerns about his size. He has a very mature game on top of the quickness, skill and work ethic that leads me to believe he is going to find a top-six role in his peak years in the NHL.
Instant Analysis
I believe the Islanders tried to move up in the draft to get local boy James Hagens, but couldn’t make it happen. What they do get, however, is a player I ranked inside my Top 10 at No. 8. I love Eklund. He’s a super competitive winger who plays the game hard and at 100 miles an hour. He’s quick and skilled, but still has that get-under-your-skin kind of way about him just in how he plays. Seth Jarvis has been a frequent comparable for Eklund. I think the Islanders got great value here, even if they ultimately couldn’t write the Hollywood script many of us believed they were attempting with the potential trade-up.
No. 17 New York Islanders Select: Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie Colts
Scouting Report
One of the meanest, most physical players in this draft, Aitcheson also had 26 goals during the OHL season from the blue line. The 6-foot-1, left-shot defenseman is one of the oldest first-year eligible players in the draft, but he’s a complete throwback player that teams feel could be of exceptional value in the playoffs. I don’t anticipate Aitcheson’s goal scoring will translate at the NHL level, but I do think he has the ability down the road to be a consistent 40-point defenseman who makes every opposing forward aware of his presence on the ice. His compete and physicality are special traits that teams will value highly.
Instant Analysis
Long Island is going to love Aitcheson. That physical edge he brings is going to be a major factor in games at the NHL level. He has a real fire in his belly when he plays and it explodes with some vicious checks. When you consider he also had time to score 32 goals over the regular season and playoffs this year, you have to love it. He was the No. 2 defenseman on my list and No. 11 overall. I think the Islanders got an absolute haul in this draft by landing two top-four defensemen and a high-end top-six winger. There’s a lot to like about what they ultimately got after a difficult day in trading Noah Dobson.
No. 18 Calgary Flames Select: Cole Reschny, C, Victoria Royals
Scouting Report
A cerebral, skilled forward with high-end playmaking ability, Reschny has a fairly high offensive ceiling. His ability to process the game and control the pace of his shifts when the puck is on his stick make him stand out at the junior level. He lacks prototypical NHL size and he’s not a natural burner as a skater, but he moves pucks effectively and decisively. His performance down the stretch of the season and into the World Under-18 Championship put Reschny’s stock on the rise for good reason.
Instant Analysis
The Flames got the player I had ranked No. 15. He is headed to North Dakota next season as one of the biggest names that made the decision to go from the CHL to college hockey after the NCAA rule change. I’d expect he’d spend at least one, but probably two years there. He needs to get stronger, which is a big reason he chose to go there. He is on the smaller side for a center, but Reschny competes on top of having such spectacular skill. His best games were in the playoffs this year, which is always encouraging.
No. 19 St. Louis Blues Select: Justin Carbonneau, RW, Blainville Boisbriand Armada
Scouting Report
A 6-foot-1 power winger with enough edge to make him difficult to play against, Carbonneau had a highly-productive season. He scored 46 goals in 62 games, showing off solid finish and good hands for a more rugged player. He’s hard to knock off pucks and can be a handful on the forecheck. There are questions about whether the offense is particularly high end, which is fair, but there’s enough to like there to believe he could be a middle-six scorer as he progresses.
Instant Analysis
One of my favorite players in the draft, Carbonneau mixes skill with some grit. He’s a strong young man who is hard to play against. I thought the Blues would go with defense here, but with Carbonneau still on the board it was a pick they had to make. He’s such a good fit for the team that selected him in that he fits the Blues identity and I think he could have a relatively short timeline to the NHL because of his physical maturity. He was listed No. 13 on my Top 100.
No. 20 Columbus Blue Jackets Select: Pyotor Andreyanov, G, CSKA U20
Scouting Report
Andreyanov had spectacular numbers in Russia’s top U20 league with a stunning .942 save percentage. When he was last measured, he came in at 6-foot-2, which is much taller than his early listing of 6-foot-0. That size helped his cause on top of the spectacular numbers. He is a quick goalie who goes on feel and athleticism, but reads the game well. It can be very difficult to evaluate results in the MHL, but his numbers speak for themselves in a league that doesn’t always have the strongest play in front of the goalie.
Instant Analysis
We thought the run on goalies could start in the first round despite the feeling that this is a weak goalie year. Joshua Ravensbergen was the consensus top goalie all year, but I have heard that his status there slipped behind the Russian goalies. Russia has been a goaltending factory and Andreyanov became a hot name very late in the process. I listed him No. 65 on my last draft ranking. I don’t have the best book on the player, but I do know from talking to team personnel that there are many fans of this player’s game.
No. 21 Nashville Predators Select: Cameron Reid, D, Kitchener Rangers
Scouting Report
A real riser this season, Reid’s combination of skating and hockey sense has some scouts believing there could be some top-four potential there. The hockey sense, for me, is one of the separating traits among the defensemen in this next tier of blueliners. He is decisive with the puck, reads the game well and moves effectively. His offense is not especially dynamic per se, but he makes plays all over the ice and had 54 points in 67 games with Kitchener. He grew a little bit this year, too, with a 6-foot measurement at the NHL Combine which doesn’t hurt his stock.
Instant Analysis
Reid was ranked No. 19 on my Top 100 and it was a very late push from Reid to go as high as he did. He is one of the best puck-moving defensemen available at this stage of the draft. Plus, he grew a little bit this year and it helped make teams a bit more comfortable with his overall projection. His hockey sense and skating ability are big time pieces in his game and Nashville has routinely developed defensemen well. He has the chance to be a real find in this range after the Predators traded up to get him.
No. 22 Pittsburgh Penguins Select: Bill Zonnon, LW, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Scouting Report
There’s a ton of upside in Zonnon thanks to his frame and the skills he showed over the course of this season. He’s also a supreme competitor who plays well off the puck and makes the most of his touches. He is a bit older in the class and progressed as you’d expect a third-year QMJHL player to play in terms of his production and ability to impact games. He had 83 points this season including a career-best 28 goals, but was especially impactful for the Huskies in the playoffs. Zonnon was traded to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for next season.
Instant Analysis
The separation among players in this range is not very big and the Penguins traded back knowing they’d have players like Zonnon to pick from. He was No. 28 on my list and has plenty of upside. He will play one more year, probably, in the QMJHL with Blainville-Boisbriand, where he was traded just a few weeks ago. It’s perhaps not the most exciting pick, but Zonnon has a lot of attributes that lead to belief he could round out into a top-six forward, but it’s not a sure thing.
No. 23 Ottawa Senators Select: Logan Hensler, D, Wisconsin
Scouting Report
Hensler is one of the most intriguing players among defensemen in this range because the opinions on him vary greatly. There’s no doubt that he has the mobility, the size and the defensive know-how to be a potential top-four defenseman in the NHL, but his offensive upside appears limited. I’m not sure he has the offensive sense to make effective plays consistently. That said, he’s a 6-foot-2, right-shot defenseman who can skate. In a weaker draft class, he’s one of those players that seems to have a higher floor than most, but I am uncertain of his ultimate ceiling because of the offensive limitations in his game. That said, I had a lot of similar concerns about Brock Faber at the same age and we see how that turned out.
Instant Analysis
The Sens have been building quite the arsenal of American talent with Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson and Shane Pinto among their current players. Hensler is a potential top-four defenseman who profiles similarly to Sanderson’s old NTDP teammate Brock Faber. The offensive ceiling isn’t super high, but the defensive capabilities and how much room he has to grow into his game yet is enticing. I’d expect a big year for him at Wisconsin next year and for him to play a starring role at next year’s World Juniors after playing more of a depth role this year. He was ranked No. 20 on our Top 100.
No. 24 Pittsburgh Penguins Select: Will Horcoff, C, Michigan
Scouting Report
An impressive second half of the season for Horcoff after enrolling at Michigan at mid-season helped drive growth in Horcoff’s stock. He’s a massive forward with excellent physical strength and the capability to be a power forward. College players were just bouncing off of him this year. The son of former NHLer Shawn Horcoff, Will is a chip off the old block in that he commits to two-way hockey and can play a physical game that makes him hard to play against. The big question is a valid one – is the skill level and hockey sense at a high enough level for him to produce at the NHL level? The small glimpse of some of his best offensive hockey coming at Michigan may be enough to bump him up, but it does give me some pause.
Instant Analysis
After trading back earlier in the draft, the Penguins used No. 31 and 59 to move back up. Will Horcoff really took off in the latter portion of the season, but I do think the offensive upside is a bit limited. There’s little doubt that he is going to play in the league and play a lot, but I think it’s more as a role player. Horcoff is definitely going to help the Penguins’ depth, but I do think they have left value on the table with the way they picked tonight. Especially considering where they were at coming into the night with two top 12 picks and the opportunities they had, I don’t think they got a premium talent but guys that will help them fill roles down the road.
No. 25 Chicago Blackhawks Select: Václav Nestrašil, LW
Scouting Report
He has to improve his pace some, but there is so much to like about Nestrašil, who won the Clark Cup with the Muskegon Lumberjacks this year. He’s close to 6-foot-6, is gaining strength and will only get stronger at UMass next season. He has outstanding skill for a player of his size and protects well. As he continues to build strength, he should be able to drive the net even better and become a bigger handful for opposing defensemen. I like his upside as a potential middle-six scoring winger.
Instant Analysis
Chicago went BIG with their most recent selection. While I had Nestrašil 44th on my list, I think the gap between the 20s and 50s is not significant and I think you have to pick guys you like. Chicago obviously liked Nestrašil a lot and there’s a lot to like based on his playoff run with the Lumberjacks. We mentioned this week that a player generating a lot of first-round buzz was the 6-foot-6 forward. Chicago wanted to get bigger and got two big forwards in the first round.
No. 26 Nashville Predators Select: Ryker Lee, RW, Madison Capitols
Scouting Report
The USHL’s rookie of the year and one of the league’s top scorers, Lee’s stock rose over the course of the season. He’s a higher-end skill player in this draft with good hands, a high-end release on his shot and some rapidly-improving offensive hockey sense. He made a lot of plays this year and made Madison a threatening offensive team. He’s 6-foot, but will need to tack on strength at Michigan State, which I’m sure he will in that program, and he’ll need to improve his skating more to be a true NHL offensive threat.
Instant Analysis
Lee had an incredible season and he improves the dynamic skill up front for Nashville. I had him No. 34 on my list and I’m not altogether surprised he went in the first round. He needs to get a bit stronger and will at Michigan State University. Nashville had multiple picks in the draft and I like when teams bet on skill that needs some more rounding out. Lee has plenty of time to make his impact, but he could be as many as three years away from playing for the Preds.
No. 27 Washington Capitals Select: Lynden Lakovic, LW, Moose Jaw Warriors
Scouting Report
To land a 6-foot-4 power winger with good hands in this range is usually a nice little pickup for a team in the mid-first. Lakovic had 58 points in 47 games this year and there’s a bit more skill in his game to expect higher production in subsequent years. Additionally, Lakovic is a good skater, which should allow him to challenge defenders in a variety of ways. Where he can afford to get better is being a more driven, aggressive player shift-in, shift-out. There have been some concerns that he relies a bit too much on the skating and skill and not enough on the size to be a legitimate power forward with scoring pop.
Instant Analysis
We will have to find out what led to Lakovic’s slip down the board because it’s hard to find 6-foot-4 guys with hands like his. I think the Caps are getting great value here with the player I had ranked No.18. The Capitals have had a lot of recent draft success and this ends up being strong value late. Lakovic fits into a forward group that already has some talented wings including Ivan Miroshnichenko and Andrew Cristall. Getting size added helps a ton.
No. 28 Winnipeg Jets Select: Sascha Boumedienne, D, Boston University
Scouting Report
One of the very best skaters among defensemen in this draft, Boumedienne has excellent mobility, edgework and some explosiveness. His ability to close on players and retrieve pucks quickly will be valuable. Similar to some other defensemen in this range, there are questions about his overall hockey sense and if he processes the game quickly enough to be an effective puck mover. I’ve seen tremendous improvement in his overall game over the course of this season, but there’s still something that hasn’t quite connected to put a full stamp of projected top-four defenseman on this player.
Instant Analysis
The Jets are probably going to be picking later a lot more, but to be able to land value like Boumedienne is a nice stroke of luck. I had Boumedienne at the No. 21 spot on my list. His growth over the entire season at BU was very encouraging. The skating ability he brings to the table is going to make for a good fit. He still needs to work on the hockey sense and I could see two more years at BU really paying off. He accelerated to go to BU a year early and I think that may ultimately pay off with the extra year to build strength. The Jets need some more quality in their prospect system on defense and Boumedienne is a nice piece to aid that.
No. 29 Chicago Blackhawks Select: Mason West, C, Edina High School
Scouting Report
One of the most fascinating players in the draft, West is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior in high school who is both the star forward for Edina H.S. and the football team’s star quarterback. Athletes like West don’t come along often, which is why he’s rocketing up the charts. He’s fast and has some clear skill that allowed him to both play at a high level in High School and with the Fargo Force in a 10-game stint where he had nine points. It was that stint that made West realize his sporting future may be best served in hockey. NHL teams are still nervous about taking him because he plans to play his senior season in football before moving over to the USHL for the remainder of the season. NHL personnel have questioned what will happen if West gets big Division I football offers after getting primarily mid-major offers following his junior year. West says he is choosing hockey for the long-term, but there’s still that risk factor.
Instant Analysis
The Blackhawks traded 34 and 62 this year and a fifth-round pick in 2027 to get into this range. They probably felt there was no way this player was going to be there at 34. Well, Mason West is a gigantic swing from the Hawks because he’s going to play football next fall with Edina H.S. Then he goes back to play with the Fargo Force. He’s never had 100% focus on hockey, which is kind of crazy considering how good he is at it. He has one of the highest ceilings in this draft, but there is so much we don’t know about the player because he didn’t even realize he was an NHL caliber player until this year. He could be a fascinating project pick.
No. 30 San Jose Sharks Select: Joshua Ravensbergen, G, Prince George Cougars
Scouting Report
Ravensbergen is the consensus top goalie for this year’s draft and has all of the physical tools. In deeper draft years, we wouldn’t be talking about him as a first-round goalie, mainly because the track record is a bit inconsistent. His numbers were not great this year and trended down from a season ago, which does concern me some. That said, Ravensbergen has a calm demeanor in net, shows good athleticism and is close to 6-foot-5, giving him the size teams covet. When you get to this range of the first round and you’re debating between a forward that might be middle- or bottom-six, or a defenseman who is a top-four longshot, why not take a chance on the player that may have a No. 1 goalie ceiling? That’s the argument teams will make, and I’d bet Ravensbergen is off the board even before this point in the draft.
Instant Analysis
The Sharks got their goalie of the future in Yaroslav Askarov last summer, but it never hurts to have insurance. While I think they could have gotten a solid defensman here, landing the consensus top goalie in the class is pretty nice work. The Sharks are one of the teams that invest in goalie evaluations and development pretty heavily, which means they had a pretty solid book on the netminder. There’s always, always risk in drafting goalies early, but the Sharks have to feel they can really work with Ravensbergen, who I listed No. 26 overall.
No. 31 Los Angeles Kings Select: Henry Brzustewicz, D, London Knights
Scouting Report
Playing on a loaded blue line in London, Brzustewicz found a role and was able to make plenty of plays despite not being one of his team’s go-to defensemen. He had 42 points in 67 games for London, but was a bit quieter during the playoffs. Brzustewicz has good-enough size, moves well and defends at a solid rate. He projects more favorably to bottom-pairing defenseman as his offense doesn’t jump off the page and there isn’t much of a specific high-end trait that stands out about Brzustewicz. Still, he looks like he can find a role down the line here.
Instant Analysis
The Kings were loud about their desire to trade back and that’s what they did. I think the value they get here is just fine. I had Brzustewicz at No. 33 on the list and the fact the Kings got him while also getting an extra asset only enhances the value. Brzustewicz won a Memorial Cup and winning pedigree always goes a long way. I think he’s just scratching the surface of what he can be.
No. 32 Calgary Flames Select: Cullen Potter, LW, Arizona State
Scouting Report
He may be the best skater in this draft and that one elite trait could be enough for a team to take a chance on him in the first round. Potter went to the NCAA a year early and performed well, but didn’t quite light it up with 22 points in 35 games. He has a good shot and can slither through defenders well, with speed to win races and beat defenders wide. The knock on Potter, beyond his 5-10 frame is that there are a lot of things he can create with his feet, but doesn’t finish plays as well and can be a bit too perimeter. The skating gives him a solid foundation to build off of, though, and there are a lot of players that need work in this range.
Instant Analysis
The Flames got a lot more skilled in the first round, drafting Cullen Potter and Cole Reschny. They’re both smaller forwards, but they have a lot of other attributes that will come in handy for the Flames. Potter’s speed is a difference maker and gives him a chance to get there. I had him No. 31 on my list. He has a few more years of college to play and get stronger before he moves on to the next level, but I think there are big things to come for the American standout.
NHL Draft Last Minute Updates
Here is Chris Peters’ last report from on the ground in Los Angeles before the picks start flying.
Get caught up on the latest news and notes from @chrismpeters before the 2025 #NHLDraft!https://t.co/cZhXUlIBVc pic.twitter.com/YzHpkwp4XV
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How To Watch The 2025 NHL Draft
The first round of the 2025 NHL Draft will be televised exclusively on the NHL Network as well as ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 27. Rounds 2-7 will be on NHL Network and ESPN+.
“While he is physical, he’s also quite skilled.”@FloHockey‘s Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) discusses @OHLHoundPower centreman Brady Martin and the multi-dimensional approach he brings to this year’s #NHLDraft
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FloHockey’s Top 100 NHL Prospects
Matthew Schaefer Tops Chris Peters’ Final Top 100 before the NHL Draft, see the full list here.
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Don’t miss the latest new prospect guides, rankings and more from Chris Peters and the FloHockey staff.
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College Sports
How NIL and transfer portal have changed the way college basketball coaches lead
Editor’s Note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here. Midway through his junior season, Richie Saunders, a 6-foot-5 small forward at BYU, received an unexpected piece of advice from his head coach. Saunders was in the midst of a breakout season, […]

Editor’s Note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here.
Midway through his junior season, Richie Saunders, a 6-foot-5 small forward at BYU, received an unexpected piece of advice from his head coach. Saunders was in the midst of a breakout season, which meant that endorsement offers were starting to surface. However, he worried about distractions, so he wanted to wait until the offseason.
That is, until Kevin Young, BYU’s first-year head coach, told him the financial component was worth prioritizing now.
“He’s kind of helped me see, for example, being a professional basketball player, you have to have these kinds of conversations during the season,” Saunders said in March, during the Cougars’ run to the Sweet 16. “And it can’t detract from your focus, but you need to have them.”
Until recently, a college basketball coach encouraging a player to pursue endorsements during the season would have been unimaginable. However, that was before the era of name, image and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal.
The birth of paid players and de facto free agency has reshaped college sports in almost every way. It’s also challenged the traditional leadership archetype of a college basketball coach.
Once upon a time, the leadership style of a college coach was simple: intense, demanding, rigid, focused on detail and motivating with more stick than carrot. However, as the college game has become more professionalized, the result is a coaching model that is a little younger, a little more flexible and a little more in line with their NBA brethren.
The evolution has left coaches grappling with a big question: As college basketball players gain more money, more agency and more power, what is the best way to lead them?
In the early 2000s, Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist and science journalist, conceived a framework for leadership, identifying six leadership styles commonly found in the business world. They were, in order: coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting and coaching.
Each style included a detailed description, but Goleman offered a useful shorthand.
- Coercive leaders demand immediate compliance.
- Authoritative leaders mobilize people toward a vision.
- Affiliative leaders create emotional bonds and harmony.
- Democratic leaders build consensus through participation.
- Pacesetting leaders expect excellence and self-direction.
- Coaching leaders develop people for the future.
Through research and experience, Goleman maintained that the best leaders toggled between styles, utilizing each one at the appropriate moment, like different clubs in a golf bag.
The classic archetype of a college coach has often leaned on two styles, blending what Goleman called “coaching” leadership with “coercive” leadership. Perhaps most visible in coaches like Bobby Knight, Tom Izzo or Mike Krzyzewski, these styles emphasized discipline, rigid demands and high standards to prepare players for the next level.
However, that style, former college coach and NBA coach Lon Kruger said, is harder to employ in the pros, where players are grown men with lavish salaries and stars often possess more power than the coach. As a result, NBA coaches have usually prioritized other leadership styles, leaning more on Goleman’s “authoritative”, “affiliative” and “democratic” leadership styles.
“With NBA guys,” Kruger said, “it’s more of a communication thing than a challenging or demanding type of thing.”
When Brad Stevens transitioned from head coach at Butler University to the Boston Celtics in 2013, he found that the most difficult challenge in the NBA was creating a sense of purpose in a group amid the anticipation of roster turnover. If a player wasn’t sure if he would be back the following season, he was less likely to buy in.
The cyclical nature of college basketball has consistently led to roster turnover. However, the recent addition of unlimited free transfers has created a system with more turnover and more uncertainty than almost any level of professional basketball.
“I get a kick out of people when they say, ‘Man, you’ve got like pro rules,’ ” Izzo said in March. “I always say, ‘Which ones are those? We don’t have free agency. We don’t have a salary cap. We’ve got beyond pro rules.’ ”
Over the years, Izzo is among those coaches who have softened his most grueling methods. In his earliest days at Michigan State, he borrowed football pads from Nick Saban and put their players through the famous “War Drill,” a full-contact rebounding exercise. He eventually stopped using the pads, though not because he worried about his players.
“The lawyers would sue me,” Izzo said. “So I don’t do that anymore.”
Izzo, though, still feels like that drill is essential. When he studies other successful coaches, he sees similar values. Players need to be disciplined, tough, accountable and connected. The difference in the era of NIL may lie in the ways coaches communicate their standards and values to players.
“We go too far to the right or too far to the left when we’re making adjustments,” Izzo said. “And that’s why I vowed that I’m going to do what I believe in.”
Michigan State, which advanced to the Elite Eight last season before losing to Auburn, has retained much of Izzo’s foundational program culture. However, the portal, coaches say, has put more pressure on coaches to create bonds and connections before each season.
“You feel like you can skip steps when you really can’t,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “You have to start from ground zero every summer.”
For years, Scheyer says, the Duke program ran on the idea of empowering players to lead, passing down the culture to the next generation.
“Players teaching players,” Scheyer said.
That changed, in part, with the emergence of one-and-done freshmen, which led to increased roster turnover. And it changed even more as the portal wreaked havoc on continuity. So last offseason, the Duke staff embarked on an unofficial summer class: Duke Basketball 101.
“We went back to the basics this (last) summer of just how to build this team from the ground up, build the connectivity, teach the standards, hold them accountable to what the standards are,” Scheyer said. “And that’s something I know we’re going to have to do each year going forward.”

Duke coach Jon Scheyer knew he was only going to have Cooper Flagg for one season. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
When Alex Jensen became the head coach of Utah in early March, he surveyed the landscape of college basketball: player movement, money, negotiations for what amounted to year-long deals.
For Jensen, previously an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, the system resembled one of his former stops: head coach in the NBA’s G League.
“The college game, I think it’s becoming more and more professional,” Jensen told reporters at his opening news conference. However, Jenson said he thinks most players are still the same.
“They want to know if you care and two, if you know what you’re talking about,” Jensen said.
Jensen, who played at Utah, was the latest NBA assistant to land a Power Four college job (Florida State also hired Luke Loucks, a former Sacramento Kings assistant). The coaches were comfortable with the transactional nature of professional basketball.
In some cases, Jensen says, “it makes it simpler if that makes any sense.”
“That chaos has been my reality,” Loucks said in March. “My reality as a professional coach and a professional player in Europe is constant roster turnover, constant ego management. One player is on a $300 million contract, and the other one is on minimum wage. Minimum wage in the NBA is like $1.2 million, but … there’s egos involved.”
What Loucks learned during his years as an NBA assistant was not that coaches should lower their standards or be overly deferential to players. It was that trust and respect were paramount in building relationships. To lead players at the professional level meant understanding who they were and what motivated them.
“You never want to be friends with your players,” Loucks said. “But you need them to trust you. Or all of your words and all of your teaching, all of your coaching is in one ear and out the other. And it has to be authentic. If you don’t build authentic relationships, you have no chance.”
The trend has not been limited to head coaches.
In May, Kansas hired former NBA head coach Jacque Vaughn — a program legend — to fill an assistant coaching opening, while Duke hired Evan Bradds, a 31-year-old assistant with the Utah Jazz. In announcing the hire, Duke touted Bradds’ “player development and NBA coaching experience.”
Meanwhile, Kansas coach Bill Self said that Vaughn “brings immediate credibility to guys that want to be pros out there.”
When Kruger coached in the NBA, he often heard the phrase “players’ coach.” Its definition was always elusive, depending on the source. Still, he came to this conclusion: A player’s coach was a good communicator, honest and empathetic, who always provided a clear path forward.
“My style was not to yell and scream,” Kruger said. “Which I think certainly doesn’t work in the NBA. You have to communicate on a more peer basis rather than saying, ‘I’m the coach and you’re the player and disregard everything else.’ ”
College coaches may soon resemble their NBA counterparts, Kruger says, but the secrets of leading basketball players remain the same, no matter the level: You need to be able to adjust. You need to embody different styles. You need to build relationships.
In other words, you need to be an effective and consistent leader.
(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; Andrew Wevers, Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
College Sports
First recruiting splash of college football’s revenue-sharing era felt a lot like the NFL
A new yet strangely familiar disturbance took place in college football last weekend. Texas Tech celebrated Independence Day with one of the biggest recruiting wins in program history. Five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo — No. 1 recruit in the state of Texas and top-10 national prospect in the 2026 class — committed to the Red […]

A new yet strangely familiar disturbance took place in college football last weekend.
Texas Tech celebrated Independence Day with one of the biggest recruiting wins in program history. Five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo — No. 1 recruit in the state of Texas and top-10 national prospect in the 2026 class — committed to the Red Raiders. Ojo chose Tech over Texas, Ohio State and just about every other power conference school, a coup for the program.
Just as startling was the financial news that soon followed. As college sports embark on a new revenue-sharing voyage under the House settlement, it was reported that Ojo would be going to Tech on a three-year, $5.1 million revenue-share agreement, setting the market just days after the new system went into effect July 1. Or maybe it’s three years, $2.3 million. Depending on the source.
Either way, the dollar figure itself isn’t a new thing. Since name, image and likeness compensation was introduced in 2021, money has become an increasingly standard part of the recruiting conversation. And within the rules. But this situation was different. The timing of Ojo’s decision makes him the highest-profile recruiting commitment of the rev-share era, when the dollar figure attached to him will be coming fully and directly from the university as part of a capped annual revenue-sharing pool.
Within this fledgling framework of college sports, the money is now more relevant than ever. As conflicting reports on Ojo’s revenue-share agreement trickled in over the weekend, distracting fans from their star-spangled revelry, social media buzzed with folks marveling at the price tag while also debating whether it’s a wise investment.
This is new territory for college football. But it feels a lot like the NFL.
A blue-chip five-star such as Ojo is a boon for any college program, but especially Texas Tech, which beat out the in-state Longhorns and a slew of elite programs. Tech emerged as a legit recruiting force in recent years thanks to its oil-dipped resources, led by billionaire boosters Cody Campbell and John Sellers. The alums and self-made oil magnates led the charge on funding Tech’s big-money NIL efforts, but the House settlement and revenue-sharing system alter that calculus.
The settlement aims to rein in an unregulated NIL landscape and put some guardrails in place with direct revenue sharing capped at $20.5 million per school in Year 1 and roughly 75 percent of that going to football at most power conference programs. Jury’s still out on whether it works as intended, but Ojo’s commitment — and contract — is an early indication the Red Raiders will remain a force to be reckoned with.
And yet, the bigger-picture takeaway from a blockbuster recruiting weekend was how college football is speeding faster and faster toward an inevitably NFL-ized future.
ESPN first reported the $5.1 million deal via Ojo’s agent, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management. Shelby confirmed those details to The Athletic on Saturday, and that the entirety of the deal would be from Tech’s direct revenue share. However, multiple Texas Tech sources rebutted the specifics, telling The Athletic the agreement is for $2.3 million, with a verbal agreement that the total value could be renegotiated into the $5 million range depending on future circumstances.
A lack of clarity on contract details isn’t uncommon. NIL deals were not required to be made public under the old way, and there was plenty of incentive for agents to inflate the dollars on behalf of their athletes and for booster-led NIL collectives to keep their budgets confidential. (And for the schools to feign ignorance.) It’s long been similar in the NFL with free agency and re-signings. Agents leak the highest feasible dollar figure to media insiders; fans celebrate, opposing fans chirp back that the player is overpaid, and the salary-cap wonks implore those on both sides to “wait until we find out about the guarantees.” There’s no requirement for NFL contracts to be made public either, but eventually, the details usually come to light, offering a fair amount of transparency to the process.
That hasn’t been the case in college football. To this point. With no “salary” cap — no NIL guardrails at all, really — there was little impetus for transparency. Most insight was either dodgy or surprisingly voluntary, such as Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork’s publicly stating that the Buckeyes, who went on to win the national title, had a $20 million roster in 2024. A willingness and ability to shell out NIL dollars gave a sense of which schools were contenders, but so much of it was (and still is) half-truths and whispers. And like the good ole days of the bag man, it was largely unregulated.
Now the stakes have changed. There’s a revenue-share cap and reporting requirements, with a new enforcement arm in place to oversee it. It’s not entirely clear how the various details and clauses of these rev share agreements will hold up if challenged in court (along with other aspects of the settlement), but the universities seem to be taking them seriously until convinced otherwise.
The public still won’t be afforded that transparency — the revenue-share agreements will be kept behind the curtain — but how schools and their individual programs build out and balance rosters within the cap will be crucial to success. Much like it is in the NFL.
Yes, there will still be over-the-cap NIL deals for the elite programs, and maybe even some loopholes. But cap management and roster building are the next frontier. Which teams are most efficient with their rev-share money? Who has to overpay for big names and premium positions? How will position, recruiting rank and experience shape the compensation ranges? Who tries the “Moneyball” route? Who tries to develop and retain a young roster? Who opts for signing the established, veteran mercenaries out of the transfer portal?
Who will be the Philadelphia Eagles, and who will be the Cleveland Browns?
This is not exactly music to the ears of college football fans. Many dread the sport’s becoming a Diet NFL. And it’s not simply about the money; most operating in good faith believe, or at least concede, that college athletes should get paid. It’s more about how the money has gradually stripped the sport of its tradition and regionality — of its soul — realigning the college football map into bloated power conferences and super conferences. The House settlement only perpetuates that shift into a smaller-tent professional model.
You could feel it Friday in the wake of Ojo’s commitment. Texas Tech celebrated accordingly, and rightfully so. But even beating out Texas was a little less sweet with the Longhorns no longer a conference foe, and so much of the broader coverage was about a multiyear contract, disputed dollars and guarantees and cap considerations — all for a soon-to-be high school senior. It was a Saturday-afternoon moment dressed up in Sunday-morning discourse.
How this rev-share era unfolds is still to be determined, but it won’t slow college football’s inescapable drift. Fans can rage against it, but the fact the NFL is America’s most popular and lucrative sport won’t help in that fight.
The truth is, college football has been on this NFL trajectory for a while. Last weekend’s biggest recruiting headline was just a brand-new reminder.
(Photo of Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire: John E. Moore III / Getty Images)
College Sports
U.S. Soccer's Reform Plan Brings 5 Reasons to Believe
Today’s guest columnist is Ryan Swanson, professor in the Honors College at the University of New Mexico. His newest book, A Beautiful Shame: One Team’s Fight for Survival in a New Era of College Sports, is a season inside with a legendary college soccer program facing elimination. Hold my beer. So said U.S. Soccer during the […]


Today’s guest columnist is Ryan Swanson, professor in the Honors College at the University of New Mexico. His newest book, A Beautiful Shame: One Team’s Fight for Survival in a New Era of College Sports, is a season inside with a legendary college soccer program facing elimination.
Hold my beer.
So said U.S. Soccer during the run up to the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. On June 10, the United States Soccer Federation put out a spicy, if brief, press release on the future of college soccer. At the top, right under the U.S. Soccer shield, was this synopsis of the release: “Expert Members to Craft Innovative Solutions.” Well, OK then.
Maybe this meant the fine folks of the USSF were finally bending to University of Maryland Coach Sasho Cirovski’s decades-long crusade to modernize the college game? Regardless, the release went on to announce a newly formed “NextGen College Soccer Committee (NSC).” This group would, the release explained, research and craft a white paper “outlining recommendations to position both men’s and women’s college soccer to thrive in the rapidly evolving soccer ecosystem.”
That wasn’t all. U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson, as Sportico reported, took the matter even further in a follow-up interview, suggesting that the NCS’s work might not only fix college soccer but also provide a new template for all of college sports.
The deadline to complete this paradigm shifting work? Two months. So yeah. This was U.S. soccer playing the role of the otherwise preoccupied boss who realizes he needs to get involved an intraoffice argument. Ah crap, hold my beer…
As someone who spent a season on the inside with a NCAA Division I men’s soccer program, I’ve got some thoughts. Of course, I could just throw stones at the USSF’s glass house. I can certainly think of several pointed questions: Isn’t the women’s game in such an immeasurably stronger starting place that it should be a separate discussion? Is this plan really supposed to work for NAIA, DIII, DII and DI schools? Does the USSF have authority here, given its general disregard for the college game for the better part of three decades? But, strangely, I find myself in a place of optimism. I find myself noting several distinct advantages enjoyed by this reform effort, at this juncture. Especially when it comes to the men’s college game.
Advantage No. 1: Money and Movement. Although college athletics is the wild west right now, we know that athlete movement and athlete compensation are going to be big issues moving forward. The House settlement has now been approved. Virtually all restrictions on an athlete transferring from one college to another have been struck down. So, the NCS starts with the knowledge that the best college athletes will expect to be paid (either directly or through NIL) and that many athletes will move institutions during their playing careers. Now, figuring out what to do about these realities is tricky. It would certainly take me more than two months to come up with a plan. But this is the landscape.
Advantage No. 2: Scholarships. The college soccer scholarship barrier has been shattered. Prior to the House settlement, men’s DI soccer programs had 9.9 scholarships to award annually. Now there is, technically at least, the possibility of 28 player rosters, with all players on full athletic scholarships. Conceivably, the 203 NCAA DI men’s soccer programs in the United States could collectively offer 3700 more scholarships in 2025 than they could in 2024. This won’t be cheap, of course. The value of these additional scholarships is more than $50 million. Still, a watershed moment has arrived. And if U.S. Soccer wants the, say, 14-year-old soccer phenom who just so happens to also have a great jump to pick soccer, the allure of a college scholarship cannot be overstated.
Advantage No. 3: Omaha and Oklahoma City. If the NCS wants to create a truly impactful season-ending championship, it doesn’t have to completely reinvent the wheel. Just look at college baseball’s world series (held annually in Omaha) and college softball’s championship (Oklahoma City) as examples. Each of these finals draws hundreds of thousands of fans. Both have rising TV ratings. Both are vibrant, celebratory events worthy of the athletes and coaches involved. Surely college soccer deserves the same. Perhaps the NCAA’s chosen venue for its College Cup, WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., is college soccer’s Omaha. But probably not if the event continues to be held in December.
Advantage No. 4: The NCAA has never been weaker. I needn’t say much more here. Again, the House settlement. And, I mean, poor Charlie Baker. He’s busy trying to, as The Athletic reported on June 10, prepare for the “return of the bag man.” He’s also confronting, among other paradigm rattlers, the reality that JUCO athletics no longer count on the college sports eligibility clock. Suffice it to say, never has the time been better for U.S. Soccer to augment or question or supplant the NCAA’s leadership over college soccer.
Advantage No. 5: College soccer is worth saving. As I spent a season alongside Jeremy Fishbein and his imperiled New Mexico Lobos program, I witnessed college soccer’s position as a linchpin between the youth game and professional soccer. College soccer creates vibrant spaces (especially in NCAA soccer hotbeds like UCSB, Creighton, and Maryland) for top U.S. players to compete alongside players from around the globe. It allows late-blooming players to pursue both their sport and a college degree. In terms of USMNT development, we know it matters. After all, five players with college soccer experience started on Sunday night in the Gold Cup final versus Mexico. While the U.S. lost 2-1, the team overperformed and its gritty performance inspired optimism moving forward.
Men’s college soccer has long existed as a low-investment, low-expectations undertaking. Given the new college sports landscape, that seems likely to change. But toward which end?
Perhaps the investment and expectations will rise sharply. Perhaps, college soccer will be positioned alongside the U.S.’s massive youth soccer system in order to create USMNT rosters that are truly competitive on the global scene. Or, conversely, it’s possible that the investments and expectations will erode to the point where something roughly equivalent to today’s DIII model becomes the norm throughout men’s college soccer. We’ll see.
Here’s hoping U.S. Soccer didn’t unhand that beer for no reason.
College Sports
Head Athletic Trainer in Milwaukee, WI for Alverno College
Details Posted: 07-Jul-25 Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Type: Full-time Categories: Sports Medicine Sports Medicine – Athletic Training Sector: Collegiate Sports Alverno College is seeking dynamic leader to serve as the head athletic trainer. The head athletic trainer is a full-time position responsible for overseeing the prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries and related illnesses for […]

Details
Posted: 07-Jul-25
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Type: Full-time
Categories:
Sports Medicine
Sports Medicine – Athletic Training
Sector:
Collegiate Sports
Alverno College is seeking dynamic leader to serve as the head athletic trainer. The head athletic trainer is a full-time position responsible for overseeing the prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries and related illnesses for all student-athletes on 7 intercollegiate athletic teams. AC is a growing, competitive athletic program and is a member of NCAA DIII, the NACC.
Principal Responsibilities include but not limited to
- Provide and manage athletic training services for the Alverno College Department of Athletics, including scheduling and coordinating sports medicine staff coverage for all team-related events, sports medicine budget oversight, emergency care, patient education, and all administrative duties as Head Athletic Trainer.
- Schedule coverage for practices, home contests, and selected away contests, ensuring adequate medical support for student-athletes at all times.
- Supervise and manage all athletic training staff, including any contracted or outside athletic training personnel.
- Approve the strength and conditioning plan for intercollegiate athletics in collaboration with the strength and conditioning department, focusing on the development and implementation of flexibility, strength, and conditioning programs, and proper exercise techniques.
- Educate coaches and student-athletes on student-athlete health and well-being, including injury prevention, concussion protocols, nutrition, hydration, and the philosophy of athletic training services.
- Oversee the compilation, organization, input, and maintenance of all medical records for College student-athletes, and ensure the security of student-athlete insurance policies and medical records in adherence to College, HIPAA, and FERPA guidelines.
- Arrange and maintain working relationships with appropriate medical personnel, including local physicians, specialists, and team medical consultants, for the evaluation, treatment, and care of injured student-athletes.
- Serve as the primary liaison to all medical consultants, specialists, medical service providers, and the Alverno College Wellness Center.
- Coordinate and schedule medical referrals and mental health evaluations for student-athletes, determining return-to-play status in collaboration with medical professionals.
- Coordinate and facilitate any Department of Athletics drug testing programs in accordance with College, conference, and NCAA policies.
- Serve as the designated NCAA Health Care Administrator for the College.
- Oversee the organization and administration of the College’s Exposure Control Plan for Bloodborne Pathogens in compliance with OSHA medical safeguard regulations.
- Update and maintain the Emergency Action Plan for the Department of Athletics on an annual basis.
- Ensure full compliance with NCAA, conference, Title IX, Department of Athletics, and Alverno College rules and regulations related to athletic training, student-athlete health care, and sports medicine services.
- Oversee inventory management and tracking of all sports medicine equipment and supplies.
- Develop plans for program enhancement and professional development for the sports medicine team.
- Maintain the athletic trainer’s yearly calendar of coverage and ensure appropriate staffing levels.
- Participate in department meetings, committees, and official College functions, as appropriate.
- Support and model Alverno College’s commitment to a balanced and healthy lifestyle, including the Seven Dimensions of Wellness: Career, Emotional, Environmental, Intellectual, Physical, Social, and Spiritual.
- Perform other tasks as necessary to support the mission of the College.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree with significant experience organizing and supervising an Athletic Training program
- Preferred Master’s
- National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) certification
- Licensed and/or eligible for licensure in the state of Wisconsin
- Requires current certification in CPR / First Aid or the willingness and ability to become certified
- Knowledge of NCAA and NACC regulations
- Knowledge of the skills, techniques, and rules of athletic training
- Ability to work in a team setting and work effectively with a variety of audiences and departments.
- Ability to balance student needs and take on an institutional perspective
- Requires the ability to work with and maintain confidential information
- Requires strong communication skills including the ability to communicate and respond to both internal and external customers professionally and in a timely manner. Must have the ability to read, interpret, write and complete documents.
- Requires strong problem-solving skills including the ability to calmly respond to emergency situations
- Requires the ability to work in a variety of weather conditions for extended period of times.
- Must be flexible with scheduling and be willing and able to work evenings and weekends
- Requires current Wisconsin driver’s license, meeting the requirements of Alverno for driving an Alverno vehicle.
- Must be able to freely move throughout the facility. Requires the ability to frequently stoop, bend, sit and stand. Must have the ability to occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Requires good manual dexterity.
Working Conditions
- General office environment
- Athletic Training Room Facility
- Courtside during indoor events
- Sidelines during outdoor events
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Alverno College will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require accommodations during the application or interview process, please contact HR@alverno.edu.
Alverno College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to workplace diversity
About Alverno College
Based in Milwaukee, Wis., Alverno College is a four-year independent, Catholic, liberal arts college for women. Founded in 1887 by the School Sisters of St. Francis, Alverno promotes the academic, personal, and professional development of its students in a collaborative and inclusive environment. Certificate programs, digital badges, degree completion programs and graduate programs are open to all genders. A leader in higher education innovation, Alverno has earned international accolades for its highly effective ability-based, assessment-as-learning approach to education, which emphasizes hands-on experience and develops in-demand skills. The College is a Minority-Serving Institution and is Wisconsin’s first designated Hispanic-Serving Institution. The College ranks among the top schools in the Midwest for its commitment to undergraduate teaching and innovation by U.S. News & World Report.
Connections working at Alverno College
College Sports
Report: Gavin McKenna, hockey’s top prospect, to play at Penn State
Gavin McKenna, the surefire No. 1 pick in next June’s NHL Draft, will play college hockey for Penn State next season, according to reports. McKenna, who had 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games as a 17-year-old with Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League last season, reportedly was down to a final two […]

Gavin McKenna, the surefire No. 1 pick in next June’s NHL Draft, will play college hockey for Penn State next season, according to reports.
McKenna, who had 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games as a 17-year-old with Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League last season, reportedly was down to a final two of Penn State and Michigan State. He had a record 54-game scoring streak near the end of last season and was the third-youngest player ever named player of the year in Canadian major junior hockey, trailing only Sidney Crosby and John Tavares.
The news was first reported by Elite Prospects, citing multiple anonymous sources, and was confirmed by the Centre Daily Times.
McKenna is the highest-profile recruit to ever choose Penn State, a program on the rise. The Nittany Lions went 22-14-4 last season and reached the Frozen Four for the first time in school history. The team ended the season ranked No. 5 in the country.
McKenna’s recruiting class will also include a first-rounder from this year’s NHL Draft: 6-foot-4 defenseman Jackson Smith, who went 14th overall to Columbus.
Last November, the NCAA changed its rules to allow Canadian major junior players to be eligible to compete in college hockey.
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