Nicholas Bogas

June 2026 — Bogas is one of the youngest defensemen in the class, a July 2008 birthday who has spent two seasons playing up against older competition, and the appeal is entirely in how hard he is to play against. He logged top-pairing shutdown minutes for the United States at the U18 World Championship, blocked shots at a high rate, and threw 2.5 hits per game at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, third-most in the tournament. He’s a competitive, mobile defenseman who defends and retains pucks rather than creates. He managed four points in 37 NTDP games and 11 points in 60 USHL games the year before, so there’s almost no offensive base to project from. For fantasy, that caps him hard. Even a successful NHL outcome looks like a third-pairing penalty-killer whose counting stats stay near the floor, with value only in formats that reward hits and blocks. He’s headed to Michigan State, which buys time for the puck game his teammates praise to show up on the scoresheet. If it does and he becomes a depth NHL defender, the offensive ceiling still sits low, around 15 to 20 points, which is where the 2.5 upside lands. Andrew Epps