2025 Army vs Holy Cross - Men's

Top Undrafted College Free Agents For The NHL In 2025

Top Undrafted College Free Agents For The NHL In 2025

In a relatively weak crop of college free agents, NHL teams still have a few players to choose from to help their organizations in the near future.

Mar 14, 2025 by Chris Peters
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The 2024-25 men’s college hockey season is nearing its end with several teams already done for the year and more vying for spots in the NCAA Tournament. As a result, NHL teams are making their final plans to find undrafted free agents.

After seeing success of players like Collin Graf and Justin Hryckowian have a good amount of success in the AHL and both get shots at the NHL early, teams are always eager to find these undrafted gems.

That said, this year’s free agent crop does not possess that player like Graf that many of the league’s clubs are chasing. There are still players that are intriguing for NHL teams to talk to and sign, but if teams are looking for instant help or players that could one day jump into the top of their lineup, this is unlikely to be the class to provide that kind of player.

Still, college free agents are low-risk adds that, at worst, provide another serviceable player for the AHL team. At best, they become an everyday NHL player that helps the big club.

This year, there are probably fewer sure things to play in the NHL, but there are enough players that teams will want to make an attempt to bring in.

College Free Agents To Watch

Liam McLinskey, C, Holy Cross

A big, right-shooting goal scorer, McLinskey has seen his profile grow over the last two seasons at Holy Cross. He has been among the top scorers in the NCAA and now has a second-consecutive 47-point season, and he’s not done yet. Meanwhile, Holy Cross has had some of its best seasons as a program with McLinskey driving the bus. He doesn’t have tremendous footspeed, but he’s crafty and uses his big frame well. At 6-foot-3, McLinskey has good puck skills for his size and gets to the net extremely well. After transferring from Quinnipiac, he’s put up two seasons with more than 20 goals. You can watch McLinskey right here on FloHockey as the Crusaders go for the Atlantic Hockey America Championship. They're currently in the semifinals against Army.

2025 Army vs Holy Cross - Men's


Karsen Dorwart, C, Michigan State

A true two-way center, Dorwart’s value comes in that ability to play on both sides of the puck. He has strength, some physicality and he absolutely competes. You notice him every time Michigan State plays because he is around the puck a lot and making things happen. He can be a disrupter and can make an impact in just about any situation. He doesn’t have the skill to be a high-level producer, but he looks like he could fit into a depth role in the NHL and put up a few points in the right situation. Also, Dorwart is just 22 with three strong NCAA seasons under his belt.

T.J. Hughes, C, Michigan

No matter where he has been or at what level, Hughes has always put up points. He has good quickness and skill and seems to process the game at a fairly high pace. His hand skills allow him to make his fair share of plays and he can get behind defenders. He has 122 points in 116 games for Michigan over the last three seasons. To be completely honest, Hughes has an outside NHL chance but it's a chance. I think he’d instantly make an AHL team better with a chance to grow into a scoring depth option down the road. He’s basically been a top-six forward exclusively over the last four years, but I have a harder time seeing him in that role at the NHL level. I do think he has enough talent to be a valuable asset for an organization as a call-up option down the road.

Luke Haymes, C, Dartmouth

Haymes has been a name floated in NHL circles for a while. He was in Toronto’s NHL development camp last year and apparently impressed there. He’s missed some time this season and has been below a point-per-game for Dartmouth, but has been on a tear of late with points in each of his last five games. Haymes has decent size, is strong on the puck and plays with the kind of energy that would allow him to fill out a depth role on an NHL roster. He’s not the kind of player you add thinking you’ve got a huge difference maker, but he’s absolutely worth a contract and some significant AHL time to find out.

Joshua Eernisse, C/W, Michigan

NHL teams have been kicking around on Eernisse since his freshman season at St. Thomas. After he moved to Michigan, he’s had plenty of eyes on him yet. He doesn’t really score, but that’s not why teams would be signing him. He’s 6-foot-3 freight train of a skater who is good on the forecheck and wins a lot of battles with his strength. He’d be a fourth-line, energy, grinder kind of player. Which is why he might have among the best chance of this free agent class to find a regular NHL role. The lack of production and puck skills would be more limiting if he didn’t have pro size and a high-end compete level that can make him a bear to play against.

Jack Williams, RW, Northeastern

Williams was attracting NHL interest last season and that has not subsided. A lot of it comes from his skating ability and plenty of flashes of higher end offensive skill. Williams has averaged better than a point per game over each of the last two seasons for Northeastern. He's up to 40 points this season as Northeastern keeps pushing to extend their season. The skill and scoring ability should translate to a productive player in the AHL initially, but I think there's enough upside there to see Williams potentially be a third-line scoring option at the NHL level. It will take a little more time to find out what his NHL outlook is, but he's certainly trended positively.

John Prokop, D, Union

Prokop got some free agent buzz last year and NHL scouts were definitely interested then. They’re still interested now. A smooth-skating, 6-foot-3 rearguard, Prokop saw his numbers decline a bit this year after leading his team in scoring in 2023-24, but that will hardly be a deterrent. What is interesting about Prokop is that he’s been a much more productive collegiate player than he was a junior player, suggesting some late-blooming attributes that have helped him. With his skating ability and size, he was going to be on the NHL radar, but his game makes him an especially attractive option in a year with so few obvious undrafted defensemen worth signing.

Trey Taylor, D, Clarkson

Averaging close to 25 minutes per game this season, Taylor has been a revelation this season. A 6-foot-2, left-shot blueliner, he has shown true two-way capabilities this season that inspire more confidence in his ability to be a contributor at the next level. He has 25 points this season, but his ability to defend and match up against top lines is where teams will be impressed. He likely projects as a fringe bottom-of-the-lineup defenseman in the NHL, but the proficiency he's shown this year has certainly caught some attention.

Jack Stockfish, C, Holy Cross

A 6-foot-4, right-shot center will always get some added attention, but Stockfish also has two strong collegiate seasons under his belt at Holy Cross and was a productive junior player as well including a 50-point campaign in the CCHL. Stockfish has enough skill to provide some scoring depth and the compete that NHL teams could view for a player down their lineup. Buzz has grown around Stockfish all year and in a lighter crop of free agents, he may be more sought after in this particular market. He’s also only 22, which gives him a bit more developmental runway than some of his fellow free agents.

Gleb Veremyev, C, Colorado College

A 6-foot-4 center with some strong physical attributes, Veremyev got a lot of attention last year, but opted to return to CC. The Tigers struggled a bit this year and so did Veremyev, who has seen his production dip significantly. There have been concerns about his overall hockey sense and if the skill translates. His size and the flashes he has shown over three years in college still will entice teams to take a chance. There's still a rawness to Veremyev that suggests there's still some potential to mine out of the big man, which is why I still think teams will stay on him.

Ryan Kirwan, LW, Arizona State University

With 23 goals this season, Kirwan has really broken out as a transfer addition for Arizona State. In the school’s first year as a member of the NCHC, Kirwan has fueled their offense to a surprising second-place finish and home ice in the conference tournament’s quarterfinals. At 6-foot-2, he plays with some power and can drive the net well. The best-case scenario is likely a third-line winger at the NHL level, but it will be interesting to see if he can continue his scoring at the AHL level first. There’s not a ton of flash in Kirwan’s game, but his size and nose for the net give him a chance to find his way.

Brett Chorske, C, Colgate

He's 6-foot-7, has had his best production of his collegiate career and is the son of a former NHL player, Stanley Cup champion Tom Chorske. Brett took a lot longer to matriculate. But it seems as though he has found his game at the right time to at least get on NHL radars. At worst, teams should be throwing an AHL contract his way to get him in their system and see what they have, but I think there will be more than one team looking to give him an NHL contract to get him in their system. Players at Chorske's size often require patience and a lot of waiting and seeing. He didn't find his game at Colorado College, but transferred to Colgate and has 60 points in 69 games over the past two seasons. 

Ones To Watch

The players on this list are not players I have a great sense of if they will sign this offseason, but are all players worth knowing. There's also the chance an NHL team could come along with an offer now and entice the player away. Either way, these are names to be aware of among college free agents this spring and beyond.

Quinn Hutson, RW, Boston University

The oldest Hutson brother is a 5-foot-11 winger who is enjoying a career year at BU. After being a highly-productive USHL player with the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Hutson has seen his point production jump in each of his three years at BU. He already has 10 more points as a junior than he did as a sophomore in eight fewer games. He also broke the 20-goal mark this year. Hutson is shifty and has a good shot on him. He thinks the game well and can find seams to attack or distribute pucks. While he lacks dynamic skating ability and size, he has had found a way to become a driver at the collegiate level having spent the previous two years with brother Lane and this year with brother Cole. Quinn might be in the little brothers’ shadow a little bit, but he’s done a lot to create his own buzz this year.

Riley Thompson, C, Ohio State

After transferring from Alaska Fairbanks to Ohio State, Thompson has gotten himself on a lot of NHL radars. He's 6-foot-4, plays especially well off the puck and has managed to score at a high enough level this year to warrant further consideration. I have no doubt NHL teams are going to give him a long look and start the conversations this season. I just wonder if Thompson is better served playing out another year at Ohio State, becoming a more dominant player, increasing his scoring and having a larger collection of teams vying for his services after another year of evidence of his capability.

Dylan Hryckowian, C, Northeastern

The younger brother of Justin Hryckowian, who was among the top college free agents last season, Dylan has followed a similar path and has an eerily similar track record as a player. Dylan is a 5-10 forward with a strong motor, good two-way sense and an ability to score. He’s been a point-per-game player over two seasons at Northeastern and saw an uptick in goal scoring this year. It wouldn’t be the worst idea for him to go back for another year and continue gaining strength. Justin stayed for his junior year and was able to make an immediate impact in the AHL and even make his NHL debut this season. If history repeats itself with Dylan, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

C.J. Foley, D, Dartmouth

Foley was a unanimous selection to the ECAC's first-team all conference. The 21-year-old blueliner led the Big Green in points this season and is reportedly going to go to Bruins development camp this summer. Foley is a sophomore, and most players at the Ivies will try to get at least three years to get a little closer to that degree. That said, the 5-foot-11, right-shot defenseman has shown a keen ability to produce points and has some clear skills. We saw a similarly-sized, similarly-skilled player in Sam Malinski get a deal out of Cornell and he's already become an everyday NHLer. Foley has a chance there.

Viking Gustafsson Nyberg, D, UConn

He's already on the All-Name Team, but Viking Gustafsson Nyberg also offers a lot of intrigue. After transferring to UConn from Northern Michgian, his ice time has gone up throughout the season and he's starting to prove to be a capable shutdown defenseman. He's also 6-foot-6 with good-enough mobility. He also produced some in junior. I think he needs a lot more development time and is a clear project, but this is a player to keep in mind going forward given his year-over-year progression and being a contributor on a good team.

Albin Boija, G, Maine

At 6-foot-1, Boija is just under the size that NHL teams prefer in prospect goalies. That said, watching Boija this season – helping Maine become one of the nation’s very best teams even after losing Bradly Nadeau to the pros last year – there’s a lot of evidence mounting that this player has pro upside. Boija has a .929 save percentage and has filled a highlight reel with some spectacular saves this season. He’s quick and agile, can recover well, and he has that steady presence goalies need. He clearly competes every game and has the net presence I’d associate with many of the best collegiate goalies I’ve tracked. I don’t know that Boija is the most technically sound or predictable as you’d like to see a surefire NHL netminder, but it’s been hard to argue with what he has done this season while seeing plenty of rubber. The only remaining question is how eager is Boija to leave Maine after two seasons and really only one as the full-time starter?

Mac Gadowsky, D, Army

A player that I don’t think has gotten enough attention nationally for his performance this season is Gadowsky, the 6-foot-3, left-shot defenseman who is leading all NCAA blueliners in scoring this season. Gadowsky has good hands and can make plays, while also possessing strong defensive sense and size. The son of Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky, Mac has been off the charts this season with 15 goals and 41 points and is now a point-per-game player over his two collegiate seasons at West Point.

Players that go to the military academies will often see their schooling through, but Gadowsky should also be trending among NHL scouts as an option.

2025 Army vs Holy Cross - Men's


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