The 2026 NHL Draft begins tonight in Buffalo, and college hockey could be headed for a historic first round.

In this USCHO NHL Draft Special, Jim Connelly looks at the growing number of first-round prospects with college hockey ties, including current NCAA players and incoming college-bound players from the CHL, USHL, NTDP and international paths.

The episode features insight from NHL Central Scouting’s Dave Gregory on how scouts evaluate prospects across different leagues and development routes, including why college hockey can provide important context for draft-eligible players competing against older, stronger opponents.

Also featured:

• Gavin McKenna and what Penn State revealed about his NHL projection
• Tynan Lawrence and Oscar Hemming adjusting to Hockey East midseason
• Brady Knowling, the top-ranked North American goaltender
• Chase Reid, Carson Carels and Keaton Verhoeff among the high-end defensemen
• Names to know among the top college-linked North American skaters
• A dark horse first-round name to watch


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Episode 3 of our 2026 NHL Draft Preview series looks at two Hockey East forwards who are drawing NHL Draft attention: Tynan Lawrence of Boston University and Oscar Hemming of Boston College.

Each joined their respective teams in January. Lawrence finished his freshman season at BU with 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in 18 games, while Hemming posted 1 goal and 7 assists for 8 points in 19 games for Boston College.

In this episode, BU coach Jay Pandolfo and BC coach Greg Brown join USCHO's Jim Connelly. They break down how to evaluate both players beyond the stat line, what their roles showed in Hockey East, and why NHL teams will be looking closely at their projection heading into the 2026 NHL Draft.

Featured players:

Tynan Lawrence — Boston University
Oscar Hemming — Boston College

This is part of our 2026 NHL Draft Preview series, focused on college hockey players, NCAA prospects, and college-linked names to know before the draft.

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Gavin McKenna is one of the most talked-about players in the 2026 NHL Draft, and after a season at Penn State, his college hockey experience adds important context to his evaluation.

Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky joins Jim Connelly and USCHO’s 2026 NHL Draft Special to discuss what stood out about McKenna from the start, how his game developed over the season, what college hockey demanded from him, and what fans should understand beyond the highlights, rankings and draft attention.

Topics include:
• What made Gavin McKenna special from the start
• How his game developed at Penn State
• What college hockey revealed about his NHL projection
• Playing against older, stronger NCAA competition
• How elite players adjust when opponents key on them
• What fans may miss when judging top draft prospects
• Penn State’s role in McKenna’s development path


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The 2026 NHL Draft is just days away, and USCHO kicks off its draft coverage with Dave Gregory, Associate Director of NHL Central Scouting.

In this conversation, Gregory explains how NHL Central Scouting’s rankings come together, what fans should understand about the evaluation process, and how scouts compare prospects across college hockey, junior hockey, international leagues and other development paths.

We also discuss what college hockey can reveal about draft-eligible players, how scouts look beyond statistics and highlight clips, what the NHL Scouting Combine adds to the process, and which types of players may be getting less public attention but could still make a real impact in the future.

Topics include:
• How to understand NHL Central Scouting rankings
• Comparing NCAA, CHL, USHL, NTDP and international prospects
• What college hockey reveals about draft-eligible players
• Why production does not always tell the full story
• Evaluating forwards, defensemen and goaltenders
• What the NHL Combine adds to the process
• Players and traits that may be under-discussed before draft day



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Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly), Derek Schooley (@derekschooley), and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) review major off-season topics that have surfaced in the month since the end of the season.

They begin by focusing on the NCAA’s proposed five-year-to-play-five-seasons eligibility model that would start at high school graduation (or a player’s 19th birthday) and could reduce eligibility for future incoming freshmen, impacting junior hockey pathways, parity, scholarships, APR/graduation rates, and creating uncertainty amid the portal, NIL, and other changes. They note widespread opposition, potential revisions, and upcoming NCAA discussion dates.

This episode also addresses House v. NCAA roster limits (26 with calls for 27+ and in-season injury replacements), debates about breaking from the NCAA versus more sport autonomy, proposals to expand games/practices and add limited non-recruiting on-ice staff, and tournament format ideas.

They close with notes on Frozen Four viewership in Las Vegas and recent coaching changes.

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In a special offseason USCHO Report, Jim Connelly interviews ECAC commissioner Doug Christiansen about an NCAA proposal to change the eligibility window to align with high school graduation or a player’s 19th birthday. In this episode, Christiansen explains that this would have major consequences for college hockey, with 75% of players potentially losing a year of eligibility given the sport’s average player age of 20.6. 

Christiansen describes ongoing, collaborative discussions with the NCAA, NHL, USA Hockey, and development leagues. The talks emphasize hockey’s unique development path through junior hockey and that the proposed rule was not designed for hockey.


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Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly), Derek Schooley (@derekschooley), and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) review games of the weekend and news of the past week.

In Part 1, we look at how Denver, Michigan, North Dakota, and Wisconsin made it to the Frozen Four. And we comment on the unfortunate news of the announced cancellation of men's hockey program at Mercyhurst.

In Part 2, we analyze the story lines of the four teams and the distractions for teams with the tournament being in Las Vegas.

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Las Vegas. Tickets: https://ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) are joined by Todd Milewski (@ToddMilewski) to give a quick Sunday night take on the NCAA Men's D-I regional finals and the field for the Frozen Four: Denver, Michigan, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Las Vegas. Tickets: https://ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly), Derek Schooley (@derekschooley), and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) review games of the weekend and news of the past week.

In our first segment, we review the six conference championships that were decided over Friday and Saturday nights.

In our second segment, we look forward to the NCAA men's D-I ice hockey regionals in Albany, Loveland, Sioux Falls, and Worcester.

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Las Vegas. Tickets: https://ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) analyze the NCAA's 2026 Men's D-I ice hockey bracket as announced on March 22, 2026.

Final bracket:

Albany Region

1. Michigan (1)
2. Minnesota Duluth
3. Penn State
4. Bentley

Loveland Region

1. Western Michigan (4)
2. Denver
3. Cornell
4. Minnesota State 

Sioux Falls Region

1. North Dakota (2)
2. Providence
3. Quinnipiac
4. Merrimack 

Worcester Region

1. Michigan State (3)
2. Dartmouth
3. Wisconsin
4. Connecticut

See the full bracket with dates, times, and TV networks at https://www.uscho.com/ncaa-mens-division-i-ncaa-tournament

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Las Vegas. Tickets: https://ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts