Shane Vansaghi's Michigan State is one of the schools favorited to win the NCAA this year. (Photo: Matthew Dae Smith, Lansing State Journal)
The future of the Philadelphia Flyers is all about the player development of today, and many of their top prospects are set to be the chief competitors for this season's NCAA title.
Based on the latest odds released by DraftKings (and compiled by Everything College Hockey), a number of Flyers prospects and their respective schools are among the favorites to reign supreme.
Superstar 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna, Jackson Smith, and Penn State lead the way at +400 odds, and perhaps top Flyers draft pick Porter Martone joins forces with them in short order.
Things become a little muddier after, with three schools having effectively the same odds.
Recent Flyers draftees Jack Murtagh and Carter Amico, alongside fellow Flyers prospect Owen McLaughlin and their Boston University teammates, have the second-best odds to win the NCAA title at +800.
Next in the batting order is Shane Vansaghi and Michigan State, who are also among the favorites to land Martone if he goes the NCAA route this season, at +900.
Among those whose schools weren't featured are Heikki Ruohonen (Harvard), Cole Knuble (Notre Dame), Austin Moline (Colorado College), and Noah Powell (Arizona State).
On the inverse side, Flyers prospects Karsen Dorwart, Devin Kaplan, and Ty Murchison will all be kicking off their pro careers this fall, making the full-time leap from the NCAA to, presumably, the AHL.
The future of Martone is less clear at this moment in time.
The Flyers could opt to allow Martone the opportunity to compete for an NHL roster spot in training camp and risk forcing him back to the OHL if he can't make it, or they could find a school in the NCAA that offers the right package for him and send him there.
You can bet, literally, that if and when a school lands Martone, their odds to win the NCAA will skyrocket with dramatic effect.