Keaton Verhoeff of the University of North Dakota in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference will file a draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2026 NHL Draft. The 17-year-old freshman defenseman (6-foot-3, 208 pounds), who was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, is No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American skaters eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. The third-youngest player in men's college hockey has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists), 42 blocked shots and 63 shots on goal in 33 games. He had 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 63 games with Victoria of the Western Hockey League in 2024-25, scoring the third-most goals by a defenseman 16-or-younger in WHL history.
Hello hockey fans,
It was a tough loss against Minnesota Duluth in the NCHA Frozen Faceoff semifinal round (on March 14). I think Duluth came out, played their game. I just think we lacked in areas that we talked about during the week. It probably wasn't our best game, but I think the thing to take away is that that's not our end goal. We got the NCAA Tournament Regionals to look forward to (beginning March 26) and just look forward to making a statement. After our game against Duluth, you're going to have people say things about you and really, for us, it's just making a statement and proving the type of team that we've proven to be all year.
I think if you look at our season, our team, we came into the year pretty young with lots of transfers and freshmen and new faces. I think at the start, we took a little time to find our footing but once we did, I think it just was up from there. I think each weekend, we really built and became a better overall team. Obviously, there's ups and downs throughout a season, but I think the way our team has played this year really proves that we are a contender for the national championship. I think we're a team that can come into the tournament and really turn some heads.
It's going to be awesome getting to compete in the NCAA tournament. Obviously, it'll be my first time, as a freshman. It's an exciting atmosphere. It's something we work towards all year. Ever since I got here in July, we've been talking about the tournament, talking about this time of year, and it's exciting. Any playoff series in the month of March is going to be fun ... you show up to the rink with a smile on your face getting ready for that weekend. We just have to focus on that first game, that first shift, getting our feet under us and really take it shift by shift and period by period.
I like how my game has progressed this season. I think for me, it's kind of been growing and learning how to play against these older, stronger players. The biggest takeaway is just my defensive game, stepping up in different areas of the game. Coming into the season that really was an area I needed to grow and build upon to eventually get that chance to play pro. I think I've taken a pretty big step. Obviously, there's room for improvement, but I think that the steps I've taken in the defensive game and kind of finding ways to use my size and my strength to end plays, to kill plays, has really improved.
I think one of my favorite classes to attend my first semester at North Dakota has been Sports Communication. It's great to learn a lot about different elements of talking with the media and kind of get the perspectives from a media point of view. It's a unique class; I like being able to implement them into my lifestyle.
I've never been to Buffalo, New York, where the 2026 Draft will be held. I think for sure there's going to be lots of family and friends supporting me there. I think I'll get pretty used to the area with the NHL Scouting Combine there as well. It'll be fun to kind of be around that area and be around that element.
Well, that's it for this month. Thanks for reading.
