Written by Austin Garret
The USNTDP has been a juggernaut as of late in producing highly talented, first round caliber prospects. The last two years we’ve seen 8 alumni of the program get drafted in the first round, with countless others being drafted throughout the draft.
Coming into the 2025 season I expected it to be a down year for the NTDP. They lost Cullen Potter to the NCAA instead of returning for the u18 season, and the depth of scoring on the team never wowed me when watching the u17s play last season. Couple that with the early season injury to L.J. Mooney and it’s been an interesting year getting to know the NTDP players.
I recently watched two games of the NTDP against Michigan and Harvard, and tracked one game each for the players below.
- Conrad Fondrk, C, NTDP
Fondrk was the player that popped off the screen the most during both games, and his data was also the most favorable of the NTDP forwards. He’s a bit small and slender at 5’11 and 174 pounds, but he showed a willingness to try creative plays and blended skill and mental processing that was above the others on the team. He’s quick to turn out of pressure, he’s masterful in transition, and moves pucks to scoring areas with relative ease.
My only complaint when watching Fondrk offensively was that he was not given the puck more in transition. The NTDP utilized the wings a lot for their zone exits and the lack of puck touches hurt his line in maintaining possession. Defensively, he’s smart in positioning and active in passing lanes. However, his lack of physical development allowed him to get pushed around a bit along the boards.
He’s the only NTDP player I have firmly in my first round right now, and I think he has a very high offensive ceiling. If he is given a more offensive winger on his line in the future I think the points would begin to stack up for him as they transition into international and USHL play.
- Charlie Tretheway, RHD, NTDP
Tretheway is the player that I have the hardest time pinning down exactly where I see his projection. His game is offensive leaning, and he made some serious defensive mistakes, but his offensive game isn’t efficient at this time and makes me question whether it will project to the NHL. He’s highly involved in trying to break the puck out of the zone, but he does so with erratic consistency. He can make a great outlet stretch pass and follow it up with a poor carry out attempt. His offensive skill set doesn’t possess much lateral agility to move players on the offensive blue line to dive deeper into the zone, but when he moves up into open space he does have a powerful snap shot he can get through the layers of the defense.
Tretheway is of the new-age, shoot first offensive defensemen. He didn’t register a dangerous pass in either game, but he looks actively to try to get his shot off. Defensively he has mobility to be an above average defender, but was caught out of position or misplaying a zone transition that led to more controlled possession time for the opposition than what was expected when he first engaged in the play.
There’s potential in the 6’1, right shot defender, but to categorically say that he will play on a power play or that he will develop into a defensively responsible top 4 defender, remains to be confirmed in my viewings.
- L.J. Mooney, C/W, NTDP
Mooney is very small at 5’6 and 146 pounds, but plays like no one ever told him he might be too small to play the game he plays. He’s relentless when he touches the ice, suffocating space defensively, not afraid to play physically, and going to areas of the ice his size would tell you he has no business being there. I had to go back to his first USHL games before he was injured to watch his game, and it was an entertaining experience to say the least.
He’s a plus skater who has creativity to his game, but not necessarily the high-end skill that I’d expect from a player of his size. Similar to Fondrk, I wish he was given the puck more in transition because he was the player on his line who could manipulate defenders to keep possession through the neutral zone, but he was not as effective as Fondrk at offensive zone entries. Perhaps the biggest concern was that he wasn’t afraid to play in the dirty areas of the ice, but he didn’t register a shot there in the game I tracked.
There’s a lot of details to his game on both sides of the puck that I really like, but he didn’t blow down the doors after tracking him. To me, he’s a fun second round swing a team can make assuming he is able to recover from the injury he sustained.
- Jack Murtagh, W, NTDP
Murtagh is a rollercoaster ride. On one hand, he had two amazing runs for shots in the offensive zone that were highlight reel level good. He has a great shot and is able to get it off against very good competition, and he was a productive transition player with the puck on his stick.
On the other hand, Murtagh doesn’t engage very much defensively and had the worst Corsi by far on the NTDP through the tracking data, and his passing decisions were very rushed and off target with him completing less than 50% of his total passes.
I like the skill and the offensive zone game, but there are a lot of details that need to be cleaned up between his defensive game and engagement, and his inability to process passing plays quick enough to maintain possession through his playmaking.
- Will Moore, LW, NTDP
Moore on the power play is a weapon. He’s able to utilize the space he’s given to cause havoc with his shot and passing ability. Moore at even strength struggled to replicate the skill he showed when he was given space to create. He didn’t register a shot at even strength, was a low volume passer who completed just over 50% of his passes with only 11% going to dangerous areas of the ice, and was only 65% successful on his offensive transitions.
As an offensive leaning winger, there were a lot of holes to his game that I couldn’t view him as nothing more than a developmental project I’d take in the second round and hope that he is able to mature into the player I think he could be. He needs another step in his north/south speed, and needs to add more dynamic playmaking if he’s ever going to drive or play passenger on an offensive leaning line.
Random Thoughts
- I watched two games of Ben Kindel and came away pretty impressed, especially after tracking the second game. He’s another one of these players in the 2025 draft whose skill doesn’t catch your eye, but is extremely smart and efficient in the way he plays hockey that drives results. He’s one of the tops in the dataset in terms of dangerous shots attempted per 60, and 29% of his passes go to dangerous areas of the ice. He’s very defensively responsible as well. I have him in my mid-first round right now, which I think may surprise people.
- I love watching Caleb Desnoyers play for Team Canada, but watching him in the QMJHL has been a bit of a let down. He’s producing points, but in my viewings he’s shooting a lot from low danger areas and facilitating play in the offensive zone without driving scoring chances. He’s a smart player who flashes some skill, but if he’s going to end up in my first round he’s going to have to drive more high quality offensive chances.
- I think Brady Martin has some skills that I really like, but also has a very long developmental runway to become the player I would take in the first round. He’s a prolific shooter with a little over half of his shots coming from dangerous areas of the ice. He’s an average playmaker in his passing game, but in my viewings, his puck skill is below average and that is hurting his offensive game. He struggled mightily at offensive zone entries and turns the puck over a ton. He’s not great at creating plays using his own skill in the offensive zone, and he plays at just an average pace. I see the potential, but also I see a lot of risk depending on how early you want to take him.
- The player I liked the most compared to my expectations going into the game is Luca Romano. He’s a wiry center at Kitchener, but I love the pace he plays at and I think he has an above average playmaking ability and thinks the game very well while playing at his highest pace. There’s size and physical limitations to his game at the moment, but he’s a player that I could see sneaking into my first round by the mid-term rankings.
Follow me at @austin716.bsky.social on BlueSky for prospect takes, videos, and general ramblings about the Buffalo Sabres.