Welcome to Broad Street Hockey’s Summer 2025 Top Under 25! The series is back and with the Philadelphia Flyers focusing so much on the future, it’s more important than ever. Join us as we rank the 25 best players under the age of 25 for the next few weeks.
No. 17: Shane Vansaghi (RW)
2024-25 Primary League/Team: Michigan State University (NCAA)
2024-25 Statistics: 6 G, 10 A in 37 GP
Age as of 9/15/2025: 18 (10/11/2006)
Acquired Via: 2025 NHL Draft – Round 2, Pick 48
The Flyers made four selections in the second round of the 2025 draft: one was covered in the Honorable Mentions, one was ranked 22nd on our list, Jack Murtagh had his time to shine earlier this week, and now we’re onto the fourth and final 2025 second-round pick, Shane Vansaghi.
It is so, so easy to love Vansaghi’s game. He hits like a freight train, but brings enough puck skills and hockey sense to make plays that you’d expect from higher level prospects. This highlight reel from Vansaghi’s freshman year at Michigan State University really captures the major elements of his game: violence, net-front presence, and surprisingly astute playmaking.
This kid was born to be a Philadelphia Flyer.
How did Vansaghi’s 2024-25 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?
Vansaghi played for the Spartans at MSU, who ended up going 26-6-1 and won their conference. As a freshman, Vansaghi’s role on the team was limited; he spent most of his time on the third line, but boy, did he make the most of those minutes. The scoring doesn’t jump out at you (only six goals and 16 points in 37 games), and very early on in the season, scouts really only saw the physicality: Vansaghi was there to deliver crushing hits on the forecheck and get the puck back for his linemates. That’s it, very simple, and not enough ice time to show much else. A first-round pick? Probably not, but the kind of fourth line player coaches and fans alike could love if he made the league.
As the season went on, however, other elements of Vansaghi’s game started to pop. The smarts in his play came through in impressive passes and some softer skill (see: the video above). Scouts took note, and Vansaghi’s draft stock began to rise from “maybe a fourth liner, maybe” to “oh, he could be a middle sixer.” We don’t normally include full game reports from outside sources, but this March game report near the end of the NCAA season illustrates the culmination of Vansaghi’s season, evolving from a mid-round project to a borderline first-round power forward in the eyes of scouts:
“Few are this willing to engage, this violent in their game, and one NHL team is going to be very happy to have him. It’s not just the hits. Vansaghi shows every part of the physical play chain. He lands those hits but also chases inside positioning and makes contact before arriving to loose pucks. He protects them with his frame, by extending an arm, walling off with his leg, and he pushes through checks, sometimes dragging multiple defenders with him. And he battles! That’s the core of it. This obsessive desire to fight for every puck and fight for net front position. It’s just something innate about him and that will make him translatable (provided the skating improves slightly), as he also has skills. He can make plays inside contact, fire around sticks, fire with back pressure (from multiple defenders), and make backhand slip passes. He’s adaptable enough, and the hockey sense looks like an above-average projection. He could be a top-20 pick — it would make perfect sense to me. We look for special qualities and Vansaghi has them.”
David St. Louis, Elite Prospects 2025 Draft Guide.
“He battles.” We all know how much the Flyers love a hardworking player (all that smoke around Brady Martin going into the draft, for example), and that part of Vansaghi’s game was always present, but some of the softer skills were missed early on in the shadow of the extraordinary physicality. His stock trended up as more elements–the passing, the hockey sense–emerged alongside the hits and checks, and there’s still so much room for improvement. The Flyers getting him in the middle of the second round could be an outright steal.
What are we expecting from Vansaghi this season? What should we be looking for from him?
The Spartans saw a few of their top players (Ike Howard, Karsen Dorwart) move on to the pros at the end of the season, which means Vansaghi should get a bigger role on the team as a sophomore. More exciting is the fact that 2025 sixth-overall pick Porter Martone is joining Vansaghi; seeing those two on a line together would make for quite the season for Flyers fans. Whether they play together much at even strength remains to be seen, but you can picture a power play unit with Vansaghi at the net and Martone dictating play with his vision and passing. A sign of things to come for the Flyers’ power play? We can only hope!
There’s only one real knock against Vansaghi: poor skating. “Lumbering” may be too kind an adjective to describe it, and it’s the one thing that could dramatically reduce his ceiling or even keep him out of the NHL entirely. We’re not too worried about that outcome, though; his hockey sense is good enough that he can find his way to the right position even without high-end speed. We’d also like to see more production–which should come with an increased role this season–but more than anything we want to see an improvement in his skating. If he adds a step and some agility, he could be the most unique prospect in the Flyers’ pool.
How does Vansaghi fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be part of the next good Flyers team?
The Flyers seemingly set out this summer to draft beefy guys who can bring a physical element to future playoff runs–but every single one of them brings more than just size. Jack Nesbitt has legit puck skills; Carter Amico is a monster with skating ability; Jack Murtagh can fly and rip a puck; Porter Martone has elite vision and puck skill–Vansaghi falls into that mold with an elite checking ability and above average hockey IQ in a big body. He’s the right age to fit the timeline and has special elements to his game that make it easy to see him being part of the next great Flyers team–though he may take some time to get there.
Much like with Murtagh, however, the limiting factor is a numbers game on the flanks. Martone and Matvei Michkov are the clear top-line wingers, followed by some mix of Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, and Travis Konecny–maybe even Trevor Zegras, if he isn’t an NHL center. Then, there are all the other winger prospects that’ll be pushing for those coveted spots.
Vansaghi’s at an advantage here, though: his game has fourth line written all over it, and any movement up the lineup is icing on the cake. This isn’t a case of a player like Bobby Brink, whose game doesn’t translate to a fourth-line role due to his size and how he plays; Vansaghi can excel as a fourth liner, or move up the lineup if the skating approaches average and skills develop further. Of the Flyers’ forward prospects from the 2025 draft, Vansaghi might be the best positioned to stick on the main roster, simply because he could be versatile enough to be a fourth-line checker or bring a different feel to a second line in need of some jump. Being able to change roles like that can lead to a long NHL career.
What do we think Vansaghi’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?
Once again, like Jack Murtagh, there’s a clear projectability here: Vansaghi’s floor is probably “good fourth-line player” in the vein of Garnet Hathaway–but there’s enough skill elsewhere in Vansaghi’s game to believe there’s more upside and untapped potential than meets the eye. Does Vansaghi have what it takes to be a first-line winger? Unlikely–but an extra step in his skating and you’ve got a no-doubt middle-six winger that brings a physical element usually reserved for bottom-of-the-lineup plugs, as well as an absolute menace in a playoff environment. If the skating doesn’t improve, then he can settle in as the quintessential, hockey man’s dream of a fourth-line forward.
That outcome doesn’t seem like it would be a problem for Vansaghi, either. He seems to know and understand his role; he knows exactly what kind of player he is, and what he’s tasked with on the ice. If the skating improves, there’s a fascinating, physical middle-six winger there–and if it doesn’t, you have a fan-favorite fourth liner in the making. However Vansaghi pans out, one thing’s clear: we’re gonna have a good time.
Previously in the Philadelphia Flyers Summer Top 25 Under 25:
- Intro / Honorable Mentions
- 25. Hunter McDonald
- 24. Cole Knuble
- 23. Samu Tuomaala
- 22. Carter Amico
- 21. Helge Grans
- 20. Jack Berglund
- 19. Jack Murtagh
- 18. Spencer Gill
