Luke Osburn

June 2025 – Osburn was named the USHL’s top defenseman and the culmination of the 2024-2025 season. The youngster scored 10 goals and added 31 assists in 55 games for the Youngstown Phantoms. His performance put him fourth in goals and fourth in points, and though the top scorer beat him by four points, Osburn played seven fewer games.

Beyond his offensive output, he’s a solid defender, and in a deep enough league he is worth a stash as he makes his way to University of Wisconsin in the NCAA next year. Alex Wyatt

July 2024 – Osburn was selected 108th overall by the Buffalo Sabres. Mark Henry

April 2024 – Osburn may not be filling up the scoresheet yet, but make no mistake, he’s been indispensable for Youngstown as they chase the Clark Cup. A regular top-4 fixture on a very competitive blue-line, Osburn hasn’t been filling up the scoresheet, but been remarkable at pushing play the other way. He’s gotten remarkably more confident and has started calling his own number by diving deep into the offensive zone and taking on more pressure with the confidence he can shake it off. Put simply, Osburn’s game is one of pressure. Offensively, he knows how to apply it by effectively distributing the puck and making the plays that put his opponents in the most disadvantageous position possible. Defensively, it’s all about suppressing and taking pressure away with good anticipation and removing options before they exist. He’s not yet athletic enough or defensively developed enough for it to work all the time but he thinks the game at a very intermediate level. He’s going to be a very interesting one to follow. David Saad

April Ranking: 44th

February 2024 – Osburn has been making headlines at the USHL level. No rookie defenseman has found their game as quickly as he has. This is largely in part due to some otherworldly hockey sense; a great sense of timing and natural aptitude for playing in motion. He’s great at handling and applying pressure on both sides of the puck and has seemingly mastered the current level’s speed. There’s a lot of questions to be had with him as of now, namely some defensive inefficiencies and uncertainties around his toolset; but he’s one of the youngest draft-eligible players this year and the speed of his progression is staggering. He can soar if he can keep this up. – David Saad

February Rankings: 63rd