The landscape of college hockey is changing rapidly with Canadian Hockey League (CHL) athletes flooding over into the NCAA. The deal agreed to in November 2024 for this circumstance changed the sport tremendously, and it particularly aided incoming Penn State freshman Lev Katzin in his development.

Katzin, 18, spent his 2023-24 campaign and a small portion of his 2024-25 season in the United States Hockey League (USHL). Shortly after the agreement by the NCAA passed, he moved on to the CHL to further develop.

The left-shot center committed to Penn State on Oct. 17, 2024, and the new revelation allowed Katzin to take his talents to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the remainder of his season.

Katzin thrived in his lone year in Canada, recording 48 points, 16 goals and 32 assists in just 44 games. He is now eligible for the NHL entry draft and will most likely get selected before moving onto Penn State for the 2025-26 campaign.

Metrics

Age: 18

Height: 5-foot-8

Weight: 176 lbs

Shoots: L

Position: Center

Projected round drafted: 4th round

Player comparison: Nathan Walker (STL)

Scouting Report

When most teams ponder selecting Katzin in the 2025 NHL draft, they’ll likely look at his size immediately and raise a red flag. While his build is certainly not ideal for professional hockey, it shouldn’t overshadow his elite hockey IQ and offensive creation.

The strongest part of Katzin’s game is his playmaking, and that was shown not only in the OHL last season, but also in the U18 World Juniors which saw the forward rank third on Team Canada in points with 10.

He combines his slick stickhandling with precision passing, completing 90% of his feeds last season, marking him as one of the more distinguished playmakers in the OHL. These traits not only make Katzin deadly at even strength, but also lethal on the power play.

Outside of his size, some other concerns stem from his finishing ability and turnover rate. Despite potting 16 goals last year with Guelph Storm, many scouts and media mention that he’s left some chances on the ice around the net. Additionally, he averaged 5.9 giveaways per game in the OHL, which has labeled him as careless and predictable at times.

Best team fit: Boston Bruins

With Katzin’s age and size, he likely wouldn’t sign his entry-level contract (ELC) for a few years. Thus, Katzin will be added to a team’s prospect pool, and there is none better than the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins have one of, if not the worst, farm system in the NHL. While the group has added an influx of players due to its selling at the 2025 NHL trade deadline — dealing away players such as Brandon Carlo, Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle and more for prospects — the system still lacks depth at the center position.

Adding a young talented center in Katzin will raise the ceiling of that position group. Although his size represents a low floor, it is most definitely a risk the Bruins should take in the middle rounds.

MORE HOCKEY COVERAGE 

The landscape of college hockey is changing rapidly with Canadian Hockey League (CHL) athletes flooding over into the NCAA. The deal agreed to in November 2024 for this circumstance changed the sport tremendously, and it particularly aided incoming Penn State freshman Lev Katzin in his development.

Katzin, 18, spent his 2023-24 campaign and a small portion of his 2024-25 season in the United States Hockey League (USHL). Shortly after the agreement by the NCAA passed, he moved on to the CHL to further develop.

The left-shot center committed to Penn State on Oct. 17, 2024, and the new revelation allowed Katzin to take his talents to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the remainder of his season.

Katzin thrived in his lone year in Canada, recording 48 points, 16 goals and 32 assists in just 44 games. He is now eligible for the NHL entry draft and will most likely get selected before moving onto Penn State for the 2025-26 campaign.

Metrics

Age: 18

Height: 5-foot-8

Weight: 176 lbs

Shoots: L

Position: Center

Projected round drafted: 4th round

Player comparison: Nathan Walker (STL)

Scouting Report

When most teams ponder selecting Katzin in the 2025 NHL draft, they’ll likely look at his size immediately and raise a red flag. While his build is certainly not ideal for professional hockey, it shouldn’t overshadow his elite hockey IQ and offensive creation.

The strongest part of Katzin’s game is his playmaking, and that was shown not only in the OHL last season, but also in the U18 World Juniors which saw the forward rank third on Team Canada in points with 10.

He combines his slick stickhandling with precision passing, completing 90% of his feeds last season, marking him as one of the more distinguished playmakers in the OHL. These traits not only make Katzin deadly at even strength, but also lethal on the power play.

Outside of his size, some other concerns stem from his finishing ability and turnover rate. Despite potting 16 goals last year with Guelph Storm, many scouts and media mention that he’s left some chances on the ice around the net. Additionally, he averaged 5.9 giveaways per game in the OHL, which has labeled him as careless and predictable at times.

Best team fit: Boston Bruins

With Katzin’s age and size, he likely wouldn’t sign his entry-level contract (ELC) for a few years. Thus, Katzin will be added to a team’s prospect pool, and there is none better than the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins have one of, if not the worst, farm system in the NHL. While the group has added an influx of players due to its selling at the 2025 NHL trade deadline — dealing away players such as Brandon Carlo, Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle and more for prospects — the system still lacks depth at the center position.

Adding a young talented center in Katzin will raise the ceiling of that position group. Although his size represents a low floor, it is most definitely a risk the Bruins should take in the middle rounds.

MORE HOCKEY COVERAGE 

Christian Moore was just a 10-year-old, running around Suffield Academy’s baseball field while his older brother played for the Tigers.

“And his older brother, C.J., kept telling me, ‘That’s the kid you want to look at,’” Coach Bryan Brissette remembered. “That’s the better player.”

C.J. Moore was drafted by the Diamondbacks out of Suffield Academy in 2012, setting a pretty high bar. His little brother cleared it, and kept rising. This week, Brissette was at Yankee Stadium, watching the first major-leaguer to emerge from his program at Suffield.

“It was surreal,” Brissette said, “to be in Yankee Stadium — I’m a Yankee fan and have been to the old stadium, the new many times — and to be there and to see a kid you’ve had a small piece in getting him to that point, yeah surreal is the right word.”

Christian Moore, who went from Suffield Academy to play at Tennessee, was drafted in the first round, No. 8 overall, by the Angels in 2024 and it took just 79 minor-league games for them to determine he belonged in the big leagues. The Angels summoned Moore, a second baseman, on June 13 in Baltimore.

When the Angels arrived in New York, Moore’s hometown on Monday, he was in the lineup at second base, got his first major-league hit, a triple off Clark Schmidt, then later saved the game, throwing a runner out at the plate, and eventually scored the winning run as the “ghost” runner in the 11th inning. On Friday night, he hit his first homer, a 411-foot solo shot off Houston’s Bryan King. So far, Moore is 4 for 22.

“I always imagined one day that I’d be on that field,” Moore told MLB.com this week. “But when you’re standing out there it’s completely different. And I’m definitely happy right now. I’m definitely making that little kid’s dream come true, so it’s awesome. … It’s starting to become a little more normal. I know that sounds weird to say, but it is. I’m starting to get my routine going on and off the field. I’m knowing what I got to do, and just being out there, being in the bright lights, definitely feels a little better.”

Brissette met the Moore brothers through a connection with the Boys and Girls Club in Brooklyn, and they were two of a number of New York City players he has gotten to come to Suffield.

“He’s a New York City kid, and I’ve coached a lot of New York City kids in my 20 years,” Brissette said. “It’s interesting, because it’s a balancing act of New York City attitude and edge and, as a coach, I’m trying to make sure we’re doing things the right way and respecting the game. Chris came to us, and he and I came to an understanding of what it was to play with an edge, play with a fiery competitiveness, but also be able to rein that in a little bit.

“But he was one of those guys who could instill confidence in his teammates. With great players, they’re able to elevate their team.”

Moore did that as a two-way player for Suffield, shortstop and righty pitcher, rising to the top 100 among prospects. He committed to play at Tennessee in 2022 and in three seasons he hit .338 in 186 games for the Vols, with 61 home runs and 160 RBI and 22 steals. He filled out as a power hitter with 34 homers in 2024, hitting for the cycle in a College World Series game, and leading off a game with a home run as Tennessee won the national championship.

“He came to Suffield as a baseball player,” Brissette said, “and rightfully so, he had all the accolades, but he really grew as a student athlete. That was important for me to see. That’s something he took to Tennessee with him, and whenever I would talk to him he would right away tell me how he was doing in the classroom.”

The Angels, who last made the playoffs in 2014, the longest postseason drought in MLB, have been trying to build with young players for a while. They have been putting their high draft picks on the fast track and Moore, with his SEC and NCAA Tournament experience, was an ideal candidate for this unique approach to player development.

“From what I see, where he’s definitely matured,” Brissette said. “Being able to regulate his emotions a little more. Playing baseball, boy, you’re going to have highs and lows. When he struggled a little in Double A to begin this year, I talked to him a couple of times and said, ‘It’s the same game you’ve been playing since you were a little kid, let the game come to you.’ And his mindset was, ‘Hey, I’m going to be fine,’ and he gets to Triple A and now he’s in the big leagues.”

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Infusion of talent

Last November, the NCAA opened the door for Canadian junior hockey leaguers to play for its member schools. That had never been allowed because players in those leagues received stipends and were not considered amateurs, but with NIL and revenue sharing that has now been recognized as a moot point. So some of the top prospects in North America are headed from the Western, Quebec and Ontario hockey leagues to places like UConn, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and Yale.

“The proper development path for a player who aspires to play in the NHL is Midget or Junior Hockey, then college and then pro,” UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh said, before teeing off at the Travelers Pro-Am on Wednesday. “Naturally, there is always going to be a player who can skip a step, but those players are few and far between. In Junior Hockey, you’re living with a family, you’re being taken care of. In college, there is structure, but you’re on your own. It’s a little bit more symbolic of life.”

The change in policy, for these reasons, was long overdue.

“We have to stop fighting, we have to work together,” Cavanaugh said. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re playing in Canada, Sweden, America, we’re all trying to get the same goals. I think it’s healthy when a kid gets to the pros to have had to get up and go to school.”

Carlin Dezainde, Brendan Dunphy and Alexandre Blais (drafted by the Ducks in the fourth round in 2024) are the first players with CHL ties to commit to UConn, which reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2025. Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart each have four commits, according to SportsNet.ca’s tracker.

Dom Amore: After bottoming out, J.J. Spaun’s view from golf’s mountaintop is spectacular

Sunday short takes

*Newington native Nick Bonino, 37, who helped win two Stanley Cup titles with the Penguins, is retiring after 15 NHL seasons and will rejoin Pittsburgh as a coach. A highly respected veteran leader, Bonino, who played at Farmington High and Avon Old Farms, will make a good one.

*Kevin Vance, a closer on UConn’s now-legendary 2010 and ’11 baseball teams, is the new baseball coach at San Diego State. Vance, a Californian, played on a Huskies team with six future major-leaguers and reached Triple A himself before launching a coaching career. Now he’s tasked with restoring the program at San Diego State, where Tony Gwynn played and coached. The Aztecs haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2018.

*The Franciscan Life Center and Home Care and Hospice Center will stage its golf event to raise funds on Aug. 11 at Wallingford CC. Cost for 18 holes, lunch and more is $195. Call 203-237-8084 or visit flcenter.org for more information.

*Don’t mean to imply they run the air conditioning too high out at the Travelers, but I thought I saw Otto Preminger come out of one of the tents. (See, he played Mr. Freeze in the ’60s Batman series).

*Katie Sharp, the esteemed stat maven, posted this week that the last time the Yankees were held to seven runs in seven games, losing six, was Sept. 1-7 of 1908. They weren’t even called the Yankees yet. On retrosheet.org I found that during those seven games the Highlanders, who went on to lose over 100 games, faced Walter Johnson three times, and two other Hall of Famers, Eddie Plank and Chief Bender that week. Also, spitballs were legal and they used a deader-than-dead baseball.

*For your upcoming reading list, check out my colleague Dave Borges’ new book, “Hurley’s Heroes: UConn’s Return to College Basketball’s Elite,” an insider account of Dan Hurley’s first seven seasons in Storrs. Published by Globe Pequot, it will be available in stores in November, and can be preordered now at Amazon.com. There will be lots of UConn in bookstores in time for Christmas.

*Former Huskies Stephon Castle and Jordan Hawkins were back on campus this week to work out with the current team. Andre Drummond has been back home, too, at Dunkin’ Park for the Yard Goats game and a courtside presence at a Sun game.

*Alex Heard, medalist at the Big East men’s golf championship, has transferred from UConn to Baylor. In this era, it’s going to get ever trickier for UConn to keep top players in certain sports.

How Azzi Fudd is finding her leadership voice for UConn women’s run for repeat

*Save the date: SCSU is planning a special event called “Southern Hoops Tip-off Talk,” to kick off the men’s and women’s basketball seasons, and raise funds for the programs, on Sept. 24 at Aria in Prospect. Geno Auriemma, Donny Marshall, Bill Raftery and SCSU coaches Scott Burrell and Kate Lynch are among the special guests. For more information visit www.southernct.edu/hoops-talk, contact Ray Reid at reidr12@southernct.edu or call 860-922-1110.

*Watching my friends at WTNH prance around with the trophy from the Travelers’ Celebrity Mini-Golf Challenge rubbed me the wrong way. Team Courant wants in for 2026. Challenge issued.

Last word

The Red Sox’s trade of Rafael Devers was a shocker, and the timing of it, killing the buzz after their sweep of the Yankees, was rough to swallow. But if he wasn’t happy, and they weren’t happy with him, who is to blame becomes irrelevant, a separation and change of scenery was necessary. Hey, the Red Sox midseason trade of Nomar Garciaparra in 2004 was a shocker, too. It worked out all right, though.

Originally Published: June 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM EDT