Flyers prospect Jack Nesbitt confirmed Thursday evening that next season he’ll be heading to play for Michigan. Nesbitt made the announcement on his Instagram account but news spread through social media quickly.
Flyers first rounder Jack Nesbitt has committed to the University of Michigan, he announced on Instagram.
— Austin Kelly (@AustinReporting) May 21, 2026
The 19-year-old 6'4 center was drafted 12th by Philadelphia in 2025. Nesbitt had 25 goals and 58 points in 55 games in the OHL this season for Windsor. pic.twitter.com/Wi37heXtLI
It isn’t a huge shock regarding Nesbitt’s decision as there was speculation in mid-April he was heading to the Wolverines. The Wolverines will now see a horde of first-round picks joining Nesbitt, including Montreal prospect Michael Hage, San Jose Sharks prospect Cole McKinney, and Malcolm Spence who was taken by the Rangers. There’s no guarantee Michigan will end up in the 2027 Frozen Four, but they have a bevy of talented players to take a run at it.
Nesbitt follows in the footsteps of other recent Flyer draft picks such as Porter Martone, Carter Amico, Jack Murtagh, and Shane Vansanghi by going the NCAA route. The center, who turns 20 this coming January, spent the last three seasons with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. Taken twelfth overall by Philadelphia in the 2025 draft after the Flyers traded up in the first round with the Penguins, Nesbitt had 25 goals and 33 assists for 58 points, and added another 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in 13 playoff games. Over three years with the Spitfires, Nesbitt scored 59 goals and 81 assists for 140 points in 178 regular season games.
The move to Michigan should give Nesbitt another chance to enhance his game against better (and bigger) players in the NCAA. Whether he is committing for just the one season or plans to stay with the team for multiple seasons remains to be seen. Perhaps most importantly for Nesbitt and the Flyers is that the forward looks like he’ll have a spot in the team’s top six after T.J. Hughes took the next step in his career and signed with the Avs.
Nesbitt isn’t the first Flyer to play for Michigan. He joins Cam York and Cooper Marody as recent Wolverines, but the Flyers are no strangers to selecting players who have ended up in Michigan. Philadelphia’s first pick who played for the Wolverines dates back to 1975 when Gary Morrison was drafted in the fifth-round (90th overall).
