The Flyers have had an abundance of NHL Draft selections the last few years. There has been an emphasis on maximizing assets, especially in the first and second rounds of the draft. As a result, the Flyers have a high volume of prospects playing in major junior, NCAA collegiate and European leagues. It can be challenging to keep up with everyone.
Over the next couple of weeks, PhiladelphiaFlyers.com will feature a Prospect Directory series that will detail which draftees will play in which leagues in 2025-26.
First up: Flyers prospects playing in the NCAA. The organization has had numerous collegiate players turn pro over the last year, such as draftees Alex Bump and Devin Kaplan, trade acquisition Masssimo Rizzo, and free agent signee Karsen Dorwart. However, their ranks have been reinforced and may only grow in the near future with the expansion of college hockey to players who’ve received junior hockey stipends and/or NIL (name, image, likeness) endorsements.
Here’s a look at Flyers-affiliated collegiate players heading into the 2025-26 season.
2025 Draft
Porter Martone (Michigan State, RW): After starring in the Ontario Hockey League with the Brampton Steelheads, first-round pick Martone opted to play U.S. collegiate hockey at Michigan State University in 2025-26. He will work on his skating and his defensive consistency this coming year. The new NCAA eligibility rules permit major junior hockey players to attend college. In the past, the stipend received by CHL players disqualified them from amateur eligibility under NCAA regulations.
Carter Amico (Boston University, D): If not for a broken kneecap that cost him most of the 2024-25 season, the US National Team Development program product would almost certainly have been a first-round pick. Due to the injury, the Flyers were able to select the big and mobile defenseman with the 38th overall pick of the 2025 Draft. He’ll make his freshman debut with the Boston University Terriers in 2025-26.
Jack Murtagh (Boston University, C/LW): Murtagh, a powerful USNTDP forward, will join his national teammate Amico as a BU freshman in 2025-26. The Flyers chose Murtagh 40th overall, two spots after Amico, in the 2025 Draft.
Shane Vansaghi, Michigan State, RW): Yet another USNTDP product whom the Flyers selected in the second round (48th overall) of the 2025 Entry Draft, Vansaghi will turn 19 on October 11. The sophomore MSU winger and Martone are now collegiate teammates. Vansaghi is a hard-charging power winger who is not at all shy about using his 6-foot-2, 210 pound frame to his advantage.
2024 Draft
Heikki Ruohonen (Harvard, C): The big Finnish center is a freshman at Harvard University this fall. He had a good season last year with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints and the Finnish national junior team. Recently, he made a strong showing for Team Finland at the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase.
Note 1: Flyers 2024 fifth-round pick Noah Powell started the 2024-25 season at Ohio State. However, after 17 games, he opted instead to play major hockey with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals.
Note 2: Flyers 2024 seventh-round pick Austin Moline, a big and rangy defenseman from the famed Shattuck St. Mary’s prep school program, spent the 2024-25 season in the USHL with the Madison Capitols. He’ll play one more season with Madison before attending Colorado College beginning in 2026-27.
2023 Draft
Cole Knuble (Notre Dame, C): The 2023 fourth-round pick (103rd overall) is expected to turn professional after his junior season with the Fighting Irish. He doesn’t have ideal “center size” but is a very smart and physically fit player. Knuble enjoyed a breakout season in 2024-25 and was nominated for the Hobey Baker. He is the son of two-stint Flyers Alumni player Mike Knuble.
Ryan MacPherson ( University of New Hampshire, C): MacPherson will aim for more playing in his sophomore collegiate season. He appeared in 18 games last year (one goal, one assist) after playing junior A hockey in the BCHL the previous season with the Penticton Vees.