Next up in our list is Jack Murtagh, a 2025 second rounder that disappointed in his freshman year at Boston University. Coming out of the US National Team Development Program in his draft year, the Flyers had hopes that Murtagh would find a way to translate his scoring to the NCAA level. That certainly isn’t what happened in his first year with BU, but the potential of Murtagh earns him a spot at No. 20 on the list.
No. 20: Jack Murtagh
2025-26 Primary League/Team: Boston University (NCAA)
2025-26 Statistics: 6 G, 5 A in 35 G
Age as of 9/15/2026: 19 (8/22/2007)
Acquired Via: 2025 NHL Draft – Round 2, Pick 40
How did Murtagh’s 2025-26 season go?
As you can guess by his scoring totals, it was a disappointing year in Murtagh’s development on the scoresheet. By no means is an 11-point freshman season embarrassing, but we can imagine the Flyers expected Murtagh’s production to be a little bit better than it was. They probably expected Boston University to be a better team than they were, too. Murtagh was with a BU team that had lots of firepower on offense – guys like Tynan Lawrence, Sacha Boisvert, Conrad Fondrk, Ryder Ritchie, and Cole Eiserman – and even more so on the defensive side. Sascha Boumedienne, Charlie Tretheway, and Cole Hutson were three pillars on the Terriers defense, so there was a lot going well for the team roster-wise heading into the season.
Further, while the scoring for Murtagh may not have been high-level, it’s not like BU was scoring very much anyways. The Terriers only scored 2.9 goals per game, ranking in the bottom-half of the NCAA across almost all offensive statistics, including the 50th ranked power play out of 63 teams in college hockey. Just a massive underperformance for a program that is expected to compete for big trophies every season.
So, all this to say that Murtagh’s scoring can be contextualized in the greater picture of the Terriers season. Coming from the USNTDP, Murtagh was known as a hard-nosed, straight-line skater who had an insane motor. Largely, in his time with BU, that still bore out to be true. Oftentimes, Murtagh was the high-energy guy that forced takeaways, got in on the forecheck, and did the small things to make offense go for the Terriers. He was not able to physically impose his will on the college ranks like he did with the USNTDP, but he certainly tried. As he gets bigger and older in his next couple of years with BU, Murtagh might become much more effective in finishing his hits and forcing the issue.
The one plus plus skill with Murtagh has always been his shot, and that continued with the Terriers. He wasn’t able to get his shot off with regularity this past season, but the highlight-reel stuff is still there. Murtagh can score from distance, has a deceptive release, and can just really rip the puck. There’s an interesting shoot-first, energy bottom-six winger here if the development goes perfectly.
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What are we expecting from Murtagh this season?
More of the same, but hopefully a bit more scoring. The Flyers, according to Assistant GM Brent Flahr in his September 2025 interview with PHLY, aren’t really sure what player archetype Murtagh falls into. With the USNTDP, Murtagh was tasked with doing it all – primary driver of offense, net-front power forward, pure shoot-first mentality. Offensively, there have been lots of questions as to what style Murtagh is best fit for in the pros.
Well, after a first season with not-great scoring numbers, we’re still not entirely sure what Murtagh’s playing style will ultimately be. Maybe it’s best that he’s not categorized into one of those roles, because he shows promise doing all three of those things. We’re still in the finding out phase of Murtagh as a prospect, and there’s lots of development to go to figure out what his offensive ceiling is at the professional levels. If he repeats his scoring or only gets marginally better next year, we should expect Murtagh’s forechecking and physicality to become even more central to his game. Also, it’s worth noting that his NCAA scoring might not be entirely indicative of Murtagh’s effectiveness as a player, if his ultimate ceiling is truly a bottom-sixer.
On the flipside, if Murtagh makes a leap or two offensively and plays higher up in the Terriers lineup, maybe there’s more offensive skill to be developed. Whatever happens with Murtagh, he’s a fun player to watch on a shift-to-shift basis. For a low-scoring prospect in the NCAA, you’d be hard pressed to find a guy more involved in the play than him.
How does Murtagh fit in the Flyers’ organization?
While Murtagh played some center in his time with the USNTDP, he’s primarily a winger prospect now. Obviously, the Flyers have so much winger depth across the organization right now, especially in the NHL. However, in 2-3 years time, Murtagh’s going to be a part of the next group of potential young players knocking on the door. When the Flyers have to pay guys like Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone, and other higher-end players, they are going to need cheap young guys on ELCs like Murtagh to fill out the bottom-six. Hopefully, if things continue in the positive direction in his development, Murtagh can be a candidate for that role. He’s in the Cole Knuble, Matthew Gard, Max Westergard tier of prospects for this organization.
What do we think Murtagh’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?
Murtagh feels like a guy that tops out in a bottom-six role in the NHL, but one that can be deployed up and down the lineup. Essentially, his high-intensity forechecking and plus shot will be able to play top-6 in a pinch, but he is the quintessential depth piece in a contender’s bottom six. The peak version of Murtagh would be a pain to play against, and he feels like a player that coaches would love. Time will tell if Murtagh can reach that, but if he improves his offensive output a bit and keeps the other details of his game intact? There’s a good chance Murtagh can find himself in that position sometime in the near future.
How we voted
…At No. 20:
| Brad | Cole | Evan | Jason M | Kelly | Kurt | Maddie | Readers | Ryan G | Thomas |
| Max Westergard | Heikki Ruohonen | Ty Murchison | Nikita Grebenkin | Helge Grans | Carter Amico | Cole Knuble | Carter Amico | Ty Murchison | Jack Murtagh |
For Jack Murtagh:
| Brad | Cole | Evan | Jason M | Kelly | Kurt | Maddie | Readers | Ryan G | Thomas |
| 17 | N/A | N/A | 23 | 15 | N/A | N/A | 17 | 18 | 20 |
