At this point of this draft class, every prospect has their flaws that they need to work through if they want to become NHL players. Maybe it’s just fixing that skating stride, learning how to make a more effective shot, or gain dozens of pounds of muscle. When it comes to winger Ben Kevan though, it’s using his natural tools in a smart way and have a more thoughtful approach to the game.
Kevan scored piles of points last season before his all-important draft year. The expectation was high. Unfortunately, he did not meet those expectations and now is seen as one of the top boom-or-bust prospects in the entire draft class.
The Fairfield, Cali. native did have an interesting year, though. He returned to the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers for his second season, made his debut with the U.S. National U18 Team as part of the development program, and then was able to represent his country on the international stage, playing for the U18 team at the IIHF Under-18 World Championships and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup earlier last year. Basically, Kevan played for a lot of different teams at different levels.
It all boils down to whether Kevan’s skill game sticks in junior hockey or can rise up the ranks with him. Let’s dive into it.
Pre-draft rankings
#55 by NHL Central Scouting (NA Skaters)
#41 by Elite Prospects
#49 by TSN/Bob McKenzie
#54 by Daily Faceoff
Bio
DOB: January 3, 2007
Birthplace: Fairfield, CA
Position: Right wing/Left wing
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 182 lbs
Shoots: Right
Statistics
What’s there to like?
There’s lots to like with Kevan. He’s a deceptive offensive player that has above-average skating and has enough hockey sense to make him a target for passes to generate scoring chances, but also will read defenses well enough to set up his own teammates as well.
Notably, the one thing you will immediately notice about Kevan is his skating, though. His strides feel pro-level with zero sense of choppiness or struggle to maneuver in all four directions. He might not get that straight-ahead speed, but when he needs to weave through fairly stationary defenders in the offensive zone, he can do that consistently.
Off the puck, Kevan forechecks hard and is able to disrupt the opposing breakout before it starts, and then if he takes back possession, can use his handling well enough to keep that possession in the zone. There isn’t some sort of one-way traffic when it comes to this player, either. Kevan isn’t the type of skilled prospect that is completely useless defensively — if everything pans out for him, his role in the NHL would be a middle-six scoring winger that could potentially kill penalties. He has the speed, tenacity, and skill potential to wrap it all up in a package and possibly produce an impact player.
What’s not to like?
The main gripe some scouts have with Kevan is his general thinking of the game. He has tools and skill and abilities, but there are decisions that Kevan made on the ice this year in the USHL that left some asking more and more questions about his true potential.
When it comes to how Kevan approached his offense, it was more of a straightforward game where his chances and production was off the rush, and not from trying to think of how to work in a cycle or work with more than just one teammate skating up the ice with him. He has loads of tools at his disposal but it is just all depending on if he knows how to use them in an effective way or not.
His decision making isn’t just trying to work with teammates but where he decides to shoot from. A large amount of his individual scoring attempts came from the perimeter and sometimes Kevan would just turn and thrown the puck at the net with hope and a prayer. His hockey brain feels like it is holding him back from truly exploding, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
And just one more little thing, is about waiting. Kevan is leaving the development program and has committed to Arizona State University for the 2026-27 season. That extends his development time to almost several years before he could be playing professional hockey. Maybe it’s being impatient, but looking at a player who isn’t even playing college hockey until their Draft+2 season, and then someone like one of the Swedish forwards available in this range too, who have already played pro hockey against grown men — the path forward feels more obvious. That’s just a small thing, though.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
Kevan would be a very interesting fit within the Flyers’ system. As it stands right now, less than a week before the 2025 NHL Draft kicks off and we have a whole new batch of prospects to talk about and think about, Philadelphia’s pipeline is full of players who either have a medium-high floor but not a massive high ceiling, or players who could reach a high potential but because of their work rate and pro-level pace rather than their skill.
Kevan would add a dash of potential on skill alone and we haven’t had that in the Flyers system in a while. It’s always been players that are skilled but have other qualities that can translate and make them A Flyer.
When it comes to actually fitting on the ice, if the Flyers can build a solid foundation of dependable centers — for example, if they took Caleb Desnoyers at sixth overall and had Desnoyers-Luchanko as their long-term plan at center — then injecting a high-end skill player like Kevan into the lineup could be possible even with his warts. The Flyers can potentially build a team that can welcome in a skilled-but-flawed player to score boatloads of points and have his bad tendencies covered up by the rest of the team playing solid hockey.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
Probably! Kevan has been rarely projected as a first-round pick, but he regularly appears in the first half of the second round, where the Flyers just so happen to have four selections. The Flyers will certainly have multiple opportunities to select Kevan, but what might need to happen for them to feel comfortable with taking this risk, is if they already made more “safe” selections earlier on in the draft.
Already mentioned a Desnoyers example, but if they went with someone like a Jack Nesbitt or Blake Fiddler or Will Horcoff with their second, third, or fourth picks — taking Kevan and putting a bet on skill amongst all of that projectability, could be something that plays out next week.
What scouts are saying
“A speedster, Kevan burns defenders with non-stop crossovers and hands that match. Unlike others in this archetype, he uses his standout tool in projectable ways. He charges into space, only to cut back and find the trailer. If not, he works a give-and-go to burst through the defensive line. And he has a ton of flash, weaving through traffic, beating defenders, and pulling pucks through and around their feet before going to the net or creatively spinning a pass across the slot.
Without the puck, Kevan’s speed is just as impactful. He chases down puck carriers to press them to the outside and steal possession. After passing, he skates his routes to create space for his teammates behind him and crashes the net for loose pucks.
As the season progressed and the production slowed, Kevan’s flaws became greater concerns. Mostly a rusher, he struggled more off the cycle and in-zone sequences, where his lack of puck protection and retrieving skills proved costly. He’s kept the outside too much, and his inability to consistently absorb contact limits the impact of his passing.
Already a dynamic player with a motor and willingness to battle, Kevan could add more physical skills in time. More contact skills means more confidence in drawing more pressure toward himself, opening more high-value passing options that he can exploit.”
–Elite Prospects 2025 Draft Guide
“Benjamin Kevan is a little bit of a boom or bust player, but every time I’ve seen him, I’ve seen some very interesting potential. There’s a ways to go to get there and his offensive game is very difficult to project to the NHL, but he’s an impressive skater on the forecheck and creating gaps to make himself a breakout pass target. He’s one of the less active passers with the puck in transition, and he’s going to need to get stronger to fight off and evade pressure at higher levels, but he drove play up the ice very successfully more often than not. He’s one of the worst in the class when it comes to shot selection, peppering the net from all over the offensive zone and not really generating offense for linemates while on the ice. All that said, I can’t help but feel like there’s something more to Kevan in the future. Working dump and chases a bit more, making quicker decisions in the offensive zone to generate shots from other players he’s on the ice with, and coaching down the shot-based tendency he has a bit. He’s one of the most active transition threats of all wingers in this class, and he brings a great flow to his skating stride, but he’s a work in progress likely to need a good college stint to be a likely NHL projection.”
–Will Scouch, scouching.ca
With that ultra-skilled winger out of the way, we get to now focus on a goaltender that could be seen as either one of the best of the class, or someone not really worth drafting for some: Brampton Steelheads netminder Jack Ivankovic.
“”He’s a goalie with tremendous athleticism and competitiveness. Ivankovic makes all kinds of difficult saves that require him to move a lot. He is great at second-effort saves and never gives up on a play. His reads aren’t as good as his quickness, but he does make a lot of smart decisions.”
–Corey Pronman, The Athletic
