9 NHL Prospects to Watch Playing NCAA Hockey During the 2024-25 Season

With the NCAA hockey season underway and the vote on eligibility for CHL players happening next month, the spotlight is deservedly on the sport and its players. There's no better time to look at NHL prospects currently playing in college—and there's something for everyone.

Do you like flashy wingers? Well-rounded, 200-foot centers? Dynamic defensemen? We've got a college hockey player you're going to enjoy watching. We can't make any promises they're a prospect of your favorite NHL team, of course. Unless your favorite NHL team is the Chicago Blackhawks, that is. Spoiler alert: If that's the case, the answer is yes several times over.

Honorable mentions go to: draft-eligibles Logan Hensler (Wisconsin), Cullen Potter (Arizona State) and Sascha Boumedienne (Boston University), drafted goalies Trey Augustine (Michigan State) and Jacob Fowler (Boston College), and drafted skaters Matthew Wood (Minnesota) and EJ Emery (North Dakota).

Sure, center James Hagens hasn't technically been drafted yet. But he is a prospect, and he's one you should watch, so he ticks both boxes.

Hagens is currently the most likely player to go first overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, but whether he holds on to that status across the season remains to be seen. (Current top contenders: Porter Martone and Roger McQueen, both CHL players.) It depends heavily on who is drafting first overall, but we know Hagens is in a class of his own when it comes to what he can do with the puck.

He's two games and two assists into his first season at Boston College, so it's a little early to judge this season's play. Last season, though, he broke the 100-point mark with the NTDP (36G/63A) and set the single-tournament record at this year's U18s with 22. From what we've seen so far, Hagens is an excellent playmaker with elite skating and puck skills. He pairs those skills with vision and poise to make life difficult for the opposing team every time he's on the ice. We don't anticipate that changing in a college environment. Expect to see him on Team USA for the 2025 World Junior Championships, too.

High energy. Great goal scoring. High-end playmaking. A motor that never quits. If you don't love watching Ryan Leonard, well, you probably haven't watched Ryan Leonard. He was a key part of the Boston College team that made it to the national championship game, and you can imagine he's aiming to get there again—and with better results this time.

Leonard is an undeniable play-driver, and he somehow manages to pair that with being a menace physically, too. You'll often see him in a scrum because in addition to being a versatile and lethal forward, he's good at being annoying. (He makes a great linemate. Just ask the guy on the next slide.)

He also made an appearance on Team USA for this year's World Championships and was one of the top scorers in the NCAA last season. With the departure of Will Smith, it isn't a stretch to think that he'll grab the top spot this season.

It should be no secret to anyone following my draft coverage that I think very highly of Gabe Perreault. It should be no secret to anyone following Perreault's hockey career as to why that is the case. His overall skill set and talent level are underrated largely because of his size. (Not entirely, though. There are completely valid knocks on his skating, and we're hoping to see improvement in that area this season—it already looked better at the World Junior Summer Showcase.)

A shining facet of Perreault's game is his elite hockey sense that he parlays into creative and mystifying playmaking, even under pressure from opponents. That sort of thing can't be taught as easily as a fix for clunky skating. Perreault is someone (though not the only one) who could challenge Leonard for NCAA top scorer, finishing last season with 60 points to Leonard's 71. With Will Smith and Cutter Gauthier gone, and with the possibility of playing with James Hagens on the table, well, those totals are only going to go up.

Last season, Zeev Buium set the scoring record for first-time draft-eligible defensemen and became the second U-19 defenseman to break the 50-point barrier in NCAA history. That alone is enough to turn heads. Add his skating into the mix—elite edgework he uses to evade pressure from opponents, good straight-line speed, gapping up to catch puck carriers—and you've got a player who any coach would want on their roster.

Did we mention he hasn't turned 19 yet?

Buium isn't a huge defenseman, and he still needs to improve his play in his own end. But that's why he went back to college for another season with Denver. He's got great poise and is a skilled puck distributor. His ceiling is high, and we think that he can reach that ceiling in the future. In the much closer future, look for him to be a key player on this year's World Juniors team.

Returning to Boston University for his sophomore season was the right decision for Vancouver Canucks prospect and Swedish defenseman Tom Willander. Much like the rest of the returning Terriers, he'll likely feel like he has something to prove—the team lost in the semifinals to Denver, the eventual national champions. He's already notched two points in two games this season, and we're curious whether his expanded role (particularly special teams, in the wake of Lane Hutson's departure) will see him make a significant scoring jump over last season.

Regardless of where his offensive totals land, Willander is worth watching. Named to Hockey East's second all-star team last season, he pairs excellent skating with a motor that doesn't quit. Quickness and evasiveness are two qualities that allow him to escape opponents, and when you pair that with his physical strength, it's easy to project him as a potential top-pairing option for the Canucks in the future.

Chicago Blackhawks prospect Oliver Moore is back for his sophomore season at the University of Minnesota, and while we're only two games into the season, what we saw from him over the summer makes us think we're going to see a step forward from the center this year. If he shows up as the player we know he's capable of being, those 33 points from last season will get left in the dust.

Moore is one of the best speedsters out there, using his explosivity to burn you before you've even realized what's going on. His hockey sense and vision allow for creative, skilled puckhandling, and he combines his offensive tools with a work ethic that any coach would love to have on their roster. It's why we're not too worried about his slow start from last season. For some players, there's a difficult learning curve when transitioning to college hockey and they come out a much better player for it in the end. That seems like Moore's trajectory. He's another who is likely to make an appearance for Team USA at this year's World Juniors.

Cole Eiserman was probably hoping to play with his good friend Macklin Celebrini this season. With Celebrini in the NHL, good news, Cole: all eyes are on you. (That isn't entirely true. There are quite a few terrific prospects on Boston University's roster. But a lot of eyes are on Eiserman.)

The standout element of Eiserman's game is his goal-scoring ability. He's in a class of his own. What we want to see now is him taking those flashes of playmaking abilities from last season and turning them into a key component of his game. If he can round out his play, he'll avoid falling into the trap of fairly one-dimensional New York Islanders prospects like Kieffer Bellows and Oliver Wahlstrom before him. College hockey is a good opportunity to get a quick boot camp in being a 200-foot player—let's see if Eiserman takes it.

Chicago Steel product and Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael Hage is four games into his freshman season with the University of Michigan and has already netted six points, including three goals. "Slow start" doesn't seem to be in his vocabulary. In addition to his offensive production (75 points in 54 games for the Steel last year), Hage combines size with dynamic skating in a really appealing way.

His first step and edgework are key components of that skating, giving him the ability to create separation from his opponents. He's also got excellent puckhandling skills that he can use at his top-end speeds, looking flashy on the rush or taking advantage of opponents' mistakes. One of our past notes about Hage was that he needs to learn to take control in game situations; it seems like he's off to a great start in that area.

The Chicago Blackhawks traded up to draft Sacha Boisvert at 18th overall in June, so clearly they saw something worth watching. We're inclined to agree. Boisvert has only played one game for the University of North Dakota so far, but he's already logged both a goal and an assist.

The goal part isn't a surprise—goal scoring is the most prominent tool in Boisvert's arsenal. His selection of shots is high-end, particularly his one-timer, and his puck control is impressive when he's making passes as well. His game is fueled by his attention to detail and his high-end hockey sense, which allow him to anticipate where the game is going when he doesn't have the puck. Improvement in consistency and skating (especially skating) are going to be the most important things to watch for this season. Better skating will allow him to use that intelligence both more effectively and more consistently and should push his play to the next level.