Jack Nesbitt Commits To University Of Michigan
Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick Jack Nesbitt announced on social media today that he has committed to play NCAA hockey at the University of Michigan.
Nesbitt, 19, has played the last three seasons for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. Today’s announcement confirms his OHL career has now concluded. A 6’4″ center, Nesbitt has been a quality top-six center for the Spitfires in each of the last two seasons. In his draft campaign, he scored 25 goals and 64 points in 65 regular-season games, and 10 points in 12 playoff games.
This past year, Nesbitt kept up those levels of production – though he didn’t take a major step forward statistically. He finished 2025-26 with 25 goals and 58 points in 55 regular-season games, and 10 points in 13 playoff games. Nesbitt’s Spitfires made a run to the OHL’s conference finals, where they were dispatched in five games by the Kitchener Rangers, the eventual champions.
As a prospect, Nesbitt is generally well-regarded, though some have questioned his eventual NHL upside. Entering the season, the team at Elite Prospects ranked Nesbitt the No. 8 prospect in the Flyers’ system, and he did not feature in their ranking of the top-100 prospects league-wide. In ranking him No. 8 in Philadelphia’s system, Cam Robinson wrote Nesbitt “projects as a reliable two-way forward who can play tough minutes and chip in offensively.”
Scott Wheeler of The Athletic rated Nesbitt the No. 4 prospect in Philadelphia’s system last month, and the No. 80 prospect leaguewide. Wheeler noted scouts have “questions about [Nesbitt’s] ultimate offense and whether he projects as more of a third-line player than a top-six one.”
Nesbitt will get the chance to try to answer those questions at Michigan. He’ll join a team filled to the brim with quality NHL prospects, including first-round pick forwards Michael Hage and Will Horcoff, as well as potential 2026 first-rounders in Adam Valentini and J.P. Hurlbert. Given how much talent Michigan expects to have next season, it will be interesting to see whether Nesbitt lands in the top-six as a freshman with the Wolverines, or if he is utilized in more of a supporting role.
Transaction Notes: Paquette, Gaudreau, Mayer
The Texas Stars, AHL affiliates of the Dallas Stars, announced the signing of forward Charlie Paquette to a one-year AHL contract. As is customary with AHL deals, the financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. Paquette, 20, was a seventh-round pick by the team at last year’s entry draft. The Stars hold the exclusive rights to sign Paquette to an entry-level contract until June 1, 2027, but they have decided to give Paquette a place in their organization – albeit without an ELC – before that point.
The contract will allow Paquette to turn pro with AHL Texas next season. Paquette is a 6’2″ winger who has played in the OHL since 2021-22. Paquette experienced steady, positive development over the course of his time in junior hockey. He scored just seven points in 54 games as a rookie, but two years later managed 21 goals and 35 points. He became a point-per-game scorer in his final two years of OHL action, potting 66 goals and 133 points in his final 133 games of junior hockey. While he is not considered to be among Dallas’ top prospects, he’ll get the chance to try to make the Stars’ AHL team next fall, and will either begin his career there or with the franchise’s ECHL affiliate, the Idaho Steelheads.
Other transactions from around the hockey world:
- Minor-league goaltender Benjamin Gaudreau, 23, announced on social media earlier this week that he has committed to play college hockey next season at Clarkson University. While Gaudreau would have been ineligible to play college hockey in previous years due to his experience in professional hockey, more recent developments in the area of collegiate eligibility have paved the way for players with ECHL and even AHL games played to head to, or back to, the college ranks. Gaudreau is a 2021 third-round pick of the San Jose Sharks but the team let his rights lapse without giving him an entry-level deal. Gaudreau is perhaps best known for the place he occupied on Team Canada for the World Junior Championships in 2022-23. He had a shutout over Austria in the tournament and helped Canada win gold. Gaudreau spent last season with the Trois-Rivières Lions of the ECHL, posting an .897 save percentage in 29 games. In total, he has played in 72 games in the ECHL and five games in the AHL.
- Defenseman Connor Mayer has decided to head overseas to continue his professional career after spending the last two seasons in the AHL and ECHL. The former Colorado College blueliner signed a deal with HC Innsbruck of the ICEHL. Mayer will head to Austria after a 2024-25 season that saw him lose his spot in the AHL. Mayer signed out of college late in the 2023-24 season and spent most of 2024-25 in the AHL, getting into 22 games for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles compared to just four games in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies. Mayer then signed with the Hershey Bears but he only ended up playing in one game for the club. He spent most of 2025-26, 55 total games, with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. Now the 5’11” rearguard will head to Austria to join an Innsbruck franchise that has struggled mightily over the last two years – winning just 20 of their last 96 league contests.
Carson Carels Commits To North Dakota
Top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Carson Carels has committed to play NCAA hockey at North Dakota, according to an official announcement from the program. The decision indicates that he will leave the WHL after just two seasons there, meaning the league is set to lose one of its very best defensemen.
Carels, 17, is widely considered to be among the top prospects in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft, and is in the conversation as the draft’s top blueliner. While most rankings have OHL defenseman Chase Reid slightly ahead, some analysts are in favor of Carels, such as Craig Button of TSN.
In terms of Carels’ style, Corey Pronman of The Athletic called him a “powerful, fluid skater” who both “plays with a lot of physicality” and “should generate offense” at the NHL level. He was projected as a “great top-four defenseman who will play significant NHL minutes.”
As previously mentioned, Carels was one of the WHL’s top all-around defensemen last season. Serving as an alternate captain for the Prince George Cougars, Carels scored 20 goals and 73 points in 58 regular-season games, and added 10 points in 10 playoff games. He ended the season tied for fourth place among all WHL blueliners in scoring.
Carels is set to join a North Dakota defense that already boasts NHL-drafted prospects in E.J. Emery (2024 first-round pick, New York Rangers) and Sam Laurila (2025 fifth-round pick, New York Islanders). Interestingly, Carels could end up being a future teammate of Emery, a blueliner he could end up partnered with as soon as next season. Carels is well within range to be picked by the Rangers No. 5 overall at the draft next month, and that’s where Pronman projected him to land in his most recent mock draft.
With today’s commitment, North Dakota could end up having two of the upcoming draft’s top-10 picks on its defense next year. 2025-26 was Keaton Verhoeff‘s freshman season at North Dakota, and he is widely considered to be among the draft’s top defensive prospects. He could go as high as, or even higher than Carels next month. As our Gabriel Foley noted, Carels’ decision gives North Dakota the chance to potentially ice a pairing of two top-ten draft picks from the same draft class as soon as next season.
Morning Notes: Carle, Berube, Kuhlman
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an “initial conversation” with University of Denver head coach David Carle to “gauge his interest” in potentially filling Toronto’s vacant head coaching position, reports Elliotte Friedman in Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman cautioned that the talks between Carle and the Maple Leafs are purely preliminary, and that neither Carle, nor anyone else, should be considered the favorite in the process at this time.
According to previous reports, the Maple Leafs may be targeting a “fresh face” as their next head coach – a departure from their previous coaching search, which resulted in the hire of a Stanley Cup-winning veteran in Craig Berube. Carle, 36, is widely considered to be among the top coaching candidates who has never held a coaching role in the NHL, or even at the professional level. Carle has been the Denver Pioneers’ head coach since 2018-19, and is a three-time NCAA national champion in that role. He’s also won a gold medal as head coach at two World Junior championships – at both tournaments he got to coach. It’s been widely reported that Carle will be selective about where and when he eventually decides to turn pro (and if he even does) and has already withdrawn himself from consideration from one NHL search in the past.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Edmonton Oilers have received permission to speak with Berube, the former Maple Leafs coach, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Berube was fired by the Maple Leafs less than a week ago after his second season behind the bench there. The 60-year-old, as previously mentioned, led the St. Louis Blues to their franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019. Berube’s first season in Toronto was reasonably successful, as the club went 52-26-4, and won a playoff series for just the second time in the Auston Matthews-led “Core Four” era. But Toronto fell in the second round to the eventual champions, the Florida Panthers, and endured a disastrous 32-36-14 campaign in 2025-26. The Oilers are under significant pressure to win a Stanley Cup as soon as next season, and it appears the club may target the most experienced coaches available, and specifically those with a Stanley Cup win on their resume.
- 147-game NHL veteran Karson Kuhlman has signed a one-year contract extension with Rögle BK of the SHL, per a team release. The 30-year-old signed with Rögle last summer and had a solid debut season there, scoring 13 goals and 25 points in 52 games played, and seven points in 17 playoff games. Kuhlman has played in Europe since 2024-25, when he spent the year with Lukko in the Finnish Liiga. From 2018-19 through 2022-23, Kuhlman played in nearly 150 NHL games for the Boston Bruins, Seattle Kraken, and Winnipeg Jets. The NCAA national champion nearly won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2019, and also got the chance to represent the United States at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championships.
East Notes: Bruins, Korpisalo, Power, Charron
Jonathan Aspirot was certainly a feel-good story for the Bruins this season, going from a journeyman minor leaguer to a fixture on the top defense pairing alongside Charlie McAvoy. However, Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe argues that Boston’s top priority this summer should be upgrading McAvoy’s partner on the left side. Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and Mason Lohrei have all been attempted with varying degrees of success to the point where Aspirot was given a chance and made the most of it. But with the Bruins looking to build on their return to the playoffs, adding a player who could help McAvoy find another gear would certainly help their fortunes considerably.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Still with the Bruins, com’s Conor Ryan examined some potential cap casualties should the team decide to make some bigger swings that they can’t fit into their roughly $16MM of cap room this summer. Chief among those is goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, who has two years left on his deal with Boston responsible for $3MM of his cap hit. With Michael DiPietro winning AHL MVP this season, he could plausibly become Jeremy Swayman’s backup next season, allowing them to move Korpisalo to open up a bit of cap space. With several teams likely looking to shake things up between the pipes, there could be a market for his services.
- Facing elimination tonight, the Sabres should have one of their top blueliners available. Owen Power was banged up late on Thursday but head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters today including Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the defenseman should be good to go. In his first taste of playoff action at the NHL level, the 23-year-old has five assists through 11 games and is averaging 20:44 per game of ice time, down just a tad from his season ATOI of 21:39. Ruff wouldn’t comment on any potential lineup changes for Buffalo for tonight’s game.
- Earlier this week, Penguins prospect Jordan Charron announced that he was committing to UMass-Amherst. However, it appears he won’t be making the jump to the college ranks right away. His former GOJHL team, the Ayr Centennials, noted (Twitter link) that the commitment is for 2027-28, meaning that he’ll stay with OHL Soo for one more year. The winger was a fifth-round pick last year and moved to the OHL level this season. He had a solid first year with the Greyhounds, notching 25 goals and 22 assists in 66 games and finished up on a tryout in the minors with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. However, since he didn’t play a game on that agreement, he retains his NCAA eligibility.
Xavier Villeneuve Commits To Boston University
After losing Yegor Shilov to Penn State University yesterday, the Boston University Terriers are still getting their hands on a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. According to an announcement on his Instagram, defenseman Xavier Villeneuve has committed to Boston University.
Villeneuve, 18, has spent the last three years with the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He has been a solid scoring talent throughout that stretch, scoring 26 goals and 143 points in 152 games with a +11 rating. During the 2024-25 campaign, he suited up for Team Canada at the IIHF U18 World Junior Championships, scoring four goals and eight points in seven tournament contests.
According to NHL Central Scouting, Villeneuve is the 18th-ranked North American skater for the upcoming draft. Given that he’s projected between the 15th and 20th selection on many boards, Villeneuve should expect to land with a team that’s currently playing, or that qualified for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Furthermore, he follows a recurring theme of smaller, pass-first defenseman for the Terriers. Obviously, the most recent example would be Lane Hutson and his brother, Cole Hutson. Neither brother is 6’0″ or taller, but both have become solid NHL players. Lane is only three years removed from his time at Boston University, and he’s scored 18 goals and accumulated 146 points in 166 games throughout his young career, winning the Calder Trophy in 2025.
Yegor Shilov Commits To Penn State
According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, Russian forward prospect Yegor Shilov has committed to Penn State University to continue his development. Shilov had previously committed to Boston University.
Shilov, 18, is coming off an impressive season with the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres. Throughout his rookie campaign in the Canadian junior circuit, Shilov scored 32 goals and 82 points in 63 games with a -11 rating. Additionally, he was excellent in the faceoff dot, winning nearly 55% of draws while taking the eighth-most of them in the QMJHL this season.
His 82 points weren’t enough to lead the QMJHL in scoring this year, though it was the most in his age group. The next closest was fellow teammate and countryman, Alexei Vlasov, who had 44 goals and 80 points in 64 games. Vlasov has already committed to the University of Connecticut, so the pair won’t be seeing too much of each other once they depart for college. There’s no word on whether Shilov will begin his tenure at Penn State next season or remain with Victoriaville for another campaign.
Despite not being one of the top names available at this summer’s draft, Shilov is widely expected to be a first-round pick. He’s the 19th-ranked North American skater according to the NHL’s Central Scouting, meaning he’ll likely land with a team that has made the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, if he doesn’t fall into the second round.
Ethan Belchetz Commits To Michigan State
Another top NHL Draft prospect is headed to play College Hockey. According to an announcement on his Instagram, Ethan Belchetz, a projected first-round pick in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft, has committed to Michigan State University.
Belchetz did not confirm in the announcement whether he was staying or leaving his current team, the Windsor Spitfires, but he will likely arrive in East Lansing this fall. He finished the 2025-26 season second on Windsor in goals with 34, behind Rangers prospect Liam Greentree‘s 38 and fourth in points, scoring 59 across 57 OHL games. He added seven points in five games en route to a Hlinka-Gretzky Cup Bronze Medal with Canada and was a +5 rating on the U18 team in that tournament.
At 6-foot-5, 227 lbs, Belchetz is known as a strong forward with great offensive awareness. The 18-year-old forward from Oakville, Ontario, is likely to be selected within the top ten of the draft. He has an average ranking of eighth among all consolidated outlets that cover the NHL Draft and its prospects. Belchetz is set to join notable NHL Draft names also committed to Michigan State, like Mason West (2025-CHI-1), Chase Reid (2026), Nikita Klepov (2026), Jack Hextall (2026), among others.
Under head coach Adam Nightingale, Michigan State has become a dominant force in the college hockey realm. The Spartans have boasted three consecutive seasons with 25 or more wins and have won the Big Ten regular season title en route to the NCAA Tournament in each of those campaigns. Two of those seasons saw them also win the Big Ten championship in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Atlantic Notes: Moser, Mignosa, Carrick
Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser will suit up for Switzerland at the upcoming World Championship, per an announcement from the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. The 25-year-old is coming off a strong season, one that saw him produce 29 points in 79 games while averaging a career-best 21:34 per night of playing time. Moser’s efforts saw him receive an eight-year, $54MM contract extension midseason that will keep him in the fold through 2033-34. With Victor Hedman not playing in their first-round exit against Montreal, Moser was counted on even more, logging 23:32 per night, the third-highest ATOI for Tampa Bay in the series. The Swiss are hosting this year’s Worlds and will now have another defensive anchor to rely on for the tournament.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- Still with the Lightning, prospect Marco Mignosa announced on his Instagram page that he will play for Penn State next season. The 21-year-old finished up his junior career this season with OHL Soo, collecting 35 goals and 54 assists in 65 regular season games while adding 17 points in 10 playoff contests. Mignosa, a 2025 seventh-round pick, briefly joined AHL Syracuse on an ATO but never suited up for them, maintaining his college eligibility in the process.
- Sabres center Sam Carrick has gone from someone unlikely to play in the second round to being on the verge of a return. Speaking to reporters before last night’s game including Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald, head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that had this been an elimination game situation, Carrick probably would have played but instead, he opted to give the 34-year-old a bit more rest. With Buffalo losing last night and struggling at the faceoff dot, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Carrick and his 54.8% success rate on draws this season return to the lineup on Saturday.
Morning Notes: Engvall, Burkholder, Kunc
New York Islanders forward Pierre Engvall has had a difficult run of things since signing his seven-year, $3MM AAV contract extension in the summer of 2023. The 29-year-old missed the entirety of the 2025-26 season with an ankle injury, and the year prior he saw his role in the NHL decline sharply. Without question, he’s hoping to rebound next season, and Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters reported that Engvall “is feeling better, and the hope is that he’ll be ready for training camp.”
Rosner also noted that “given the severity of the ankle injury, it’s fair to expect a gradual ramp-up before he’s back to full strength.” That Engvall still isn’t a guarantee to be at 100% health before training camp, despite missing the entire campaign due to his injury, is notable – underscoring just how severe Engvall’s injury was. The Islanders don’t have many viable routes to move off of the hefty financial commitment they made to Engvall, as he almost certainly wouldn’t be claimed off of waivers and his 16-team no-trade list makes finding a deal for him difficult. So their best hope for his future with the team is for him to be able to recover and rediscover the form that once made him a speedy 15-goal, 35-point forward.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Boston Bruins have invited Colorado College captain Max Burkholder to their development camp, reports Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal. The 22-year-old is an undersized right-shot defenseman who had a breakout sophomore campaign in 2024-25. That year, he scored 26 points in 37 games and was named to the NCHC’s Second All-Star team. A lower-body injury cost him all but three games this year, but he’ll still get the chance to show off his talents at development camp with the hope of potentially earning a pro contract down the line.
- Utah Mammoth pending RFA Michal Kunc has signed a two-year contract to return to his native Czechia, according to a team announcement. Brno is Kunc’s youth team and the club with whom he made his professional debut, though it’s his performances with HC Olomouc that earned him his shot in North America. Kunc spent the entirety of 2025-26 in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners, scoring 16 points in 43 games. The Mammoth have an extensive track record of mining the European leagues, and specifically Czechia, for free agent talent. While players such as Kunc and Ronald Knot, for example, have come and gone, they have had some success, most notably finding a No. 1 goalie in Karel Vejmelka from Brno.