Saturday, June 28, 2025

Day 2 of NHL Draft Features Plenty of College Hockey Flavor

Nearly 70 Current, Future and Former NCAA Players Taken in Rounds 2-7

Day 2 of NHL Draft Features Plenty of College Hockey Flavor
Michigan State forward Shane Vansaghi was selected in the second round by Philadelphia.

LOS ANGELES – Seventy-six current, committed and former NCAA Division I players were selected during the 2025 NHL Draft, college hockey’s biggest number since the NHL went to its seven-round draft format in 2005.

Sixty-six of those picks came Saturday during rounds two through seven after 10 players had been chosen during Friday’s opening round at the Peacock Theater.

Twenty-seven different NCAA schools had at least one player or recruit selected, led by Michigan with eight. Boston University was next with seven selections, while Michigan State and North Dakota had six each. Minnesota and Penn State both had five players taken.

Five of the seven rounds featured at least 10 college hockey players taken, topped by the 13 selections in rounds two and seven.

Also of note:

  • The 2025 NCAA selections included 48 forwards, 23 defensemen and five goalies.
  • Forty-seven of the 76 NCAA draft picks were Americans. The remaining 29 players came from Canada (21), Sweden (four), Belarus (one), China (one), Croatia (one) and Czechia (one).
  • Most of the NCAA-affiliated players drafted in 2025 will be incoming freshmen during either the 2025-26 or 2026-27 seasons. However, nine active collegians were selected: Boston University D Sascha Boumedienne (WPG), Penn State F Charlie Cerrato (CAR), UMass D Francseco Dell’Elce (COL), Boston College F James Hagens (BOS), Wisconsin D Logan Hensler (OTT), Michigan F Will Horcoff (PIT), Arizona State F Cullen Potter (CGY), Western Michigan D Zack Sharp (SJS), and Michigan State F Shane Vansaghi (PHI).
  • Twenty-seven of the NHL’s 32 franchises drafted at least one current or committed NCAA player. Pittsburgh had the most with seven, followed by San Jose (six) and Calgary (five), Los Angeles (four), Montreal (four), New Jersey (four) and Philadelphia (four).
  • There have been 80 first-round picks from the NCAA over the last 10 NHL Drafts (2016-25) compared to 53 first-rounders over the previous 10 drafts (2006-15).

For more information, visit CollegeHockeyInc.com.