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. 14: Jack Nesbitt
2024-25 Primary League/Team: Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
2024-25 Statistics: 25 G, 39 A in 65 GP
Age as of 9/2/2025: 18
Acquired Via: 2025 NHL Draft — Round 1, Pick 12
Next up in the Top 25 Under 25 is this year’s 12th overall selection, Windsor Spitfires center Jack Nesbitt!
Nesbitt, a selection that caused a lot of discourse within the fanbase as a potential reach, is a big toolsy centerman who lacks skating skills. After the Flyers’ selection of Porter Martone, the selection of Nesbitt represented the Flyers’ attempt to bolster their center organizational depth chart – despite the fact that Nesbitt likely tops out as a 2C at the NHL level. The Nesbitt selection was a risky one, but not the big swing for a 1C that many fans were hoping for in this draft. Still, he’s a solid prospect that has considerable room in his skillset to grow into an effective NHL centerman.
How did Nesbitt’s 2024-25 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?
Nesbitt’s season was an up-and-down campaign that sparked immense pre-draft debate in the public scouting sphere about the range of the draft that Nesbitt belonged in. Many of the public scouts that are more forward-thinking were generally anti-Nesbitt, while scouts that leaned into the importance of size and safer projections had Nesbitt much higher. The Flyers ended up agreeing with the latter, and selecting him at 12 vaulted Nesbitt’s stock upwards as we head into the new season.
With his on-ice performance, Nesbitt’s 64 points in 65 games is not an impressive total, but it was a massive improvement on his 18 points in 2023-24. Nesbitt’s main positives came from his shift-to-shift play, where he flashed real translatable skills as an effective top-9 player. On most shifts, Nesbitt gained a reputation for being a high-pressure, pest of a player on the forecheck. He became Windsor’s go-to shut-down forward, deploying Nesbitt in lots of defensive zone situations and on a penalty killing unit. Out of many of the centers in the middle to end of the first round, Nesbitt stood out among fellow draftees in his more polished defensive game.
A perfect example of Nesbitt’s growth over the course of the season comes via a game report by Elite Prospects’ Daniel Gee. He describes Nesbitt as a “brilliant pressure pusher and checker who plays with nonstop motor,” and as a player that “has a lot of nuance” to his offensive game. Gee also notes that Nesbitt is a primarily perimeter attacker, so that’s a potential area for him to grow heading into the new season. Overall, Nesbitt’s play greatly improved over the course of the season, and he became a focal point for the Spitfires, who deployed him in all game situations and relied on his consistency in the defensive zone.
What are we expecting from Nesbitt this season? What should we be looking for from him?
Nesbitt is going to have a central role on the Spitfires again, as he’s returning to the OHL for at least this season, and possibly in 2026-27 as well. For a player like Nesbitt, we’d hope that he reaches the 80–90-point range in the OHL, which would be a sizable improvement on his 64 points last season.
In terms of development of skills, Nesbitt has a few areas that he really needs to grow. As referenced earlier, his perimeter attacking style is something that probably won’t translate well to the next level, and Nesbitt will need to leverage his body more in the middle of the ice to be an effective pro player. That development can start in juniors, so seeing how Nesbitt scores his points this year will be an interesting tell about the player’s future. Other than that, it’ll be interesting to see if Nesbitt can find another gear in his skating, another level to his shot, and whether his defensive game continues to be a hallmark of his playing style. He’s got a long way to go to reach his ceiling, but Nesbitt is a project with solid early returns.
How does Nesbitt fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be a part of the next good Flyers team?
Really, Nesbitt is a vital piece of the Flyers’ rebuild, considering the draft capital that the organization invested in him. By no means is Nesbitt the No. 1 center answer, but he represents the highest pick used on a center in this rebuild. The Flyers are betting that Nesbitt’s skillset translates, and that he’s a big mean presence on the next great Flyers team. If he hits, he’s going to be a part of this, in a likely middle-six role.
He’s got a long way to go in his development path, as Nesbitt is looking at 1-2 years more in the OHL before signing his entry-level contract. He might fit into Phantoms’ plans next season though, courtesy of the new CBA rule that will allow 19-year-olds to play in the AHL starting in 2026-27. So, that’s a potential next step in the development of Nesbitt post-OHL, as he will likely not be ready for the NHL until around 2027-28. That fits pretty well with the expected timeline for the rebuild, as the organization will hopefully be kicking it into high gear during that time.
What do we think Nesbitt’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?
In all likelihood, Nesbitt’s absolute ceiling is a 2C who scores 50-60 points and can play in all situations. The best-case version of Nesbitt is a monster in front of the net, a menace on the forecheck, and an ultra-reliable player in all three zones. Considering the importance of the NHL center position, Nesbitt being a physical, point-producing 2C would make him quite the commodity for the Flyers. However, we aren’t sure if that outcome is the most likely for Nesbitt. Rather, it is more likely that he becomes a solid 3C instead, if the raw skills and offensive talent doesn’t increase enough to warrant the second line center spot. A player of Nesbitt’s size and skillset would still be a valuable asset for the Flyers, but that is probably not what the Flyers are envisioning, given their selection of him at 12.
Previously in Philadelphia Flyers Summer 2025 Top 25 Under 25:
