BGSU hockey first hired head coach Dennis Williams in March of 2024. Williams had spent the previous six seasons coaching the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He had also coached Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championships.
In November, the NCCA ruled that the previously ineligible players of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) would be permitted to commit to and start playing for NCAA teams beginning in the 2025-2026 season.
The CHL consists of the three junior leagues of the WHL, Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Québec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
Coach Williams’ connections with junior hockey, thanks to his time with the Everett Silvertips and Team Canada, have led to great success in terms of recruiting for the upcoming hockey season.
BGSU hockey’s 2025-2026 recruiting class consists of five forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie and has been ranked as the best recruiting class in all of NCAA hockey by Neutral Zone.
With such a large influx of talent, along with BGSU hockey losing a large number of players due to graduation or the transfer portal, the Falcons’ lineup will be noticeably different starting next season.
FORWARDS:
Brandon Whynott, Tri-City Americans, WHL:
Whynott is often overshadowed by the many NHL prospects and generational talents within the WHL, such as Gavin McKenna and Andrew Cristall, but Whynott had a very successful campaign to close out his junior career with the Tri-City Americans while serving as the team’s alternate captain.
The left-handed, left winger tallied 60 points, made up of 26 goals and 34 assists, through 67 games during the regular season. Fitting perfectly into Coach William’s style of hockey that focuses on producing high shot volumes, Whynott produced 215 shots on goal last season, averaging 3.2 shots on goal per game.
At that rate, the Langley, British Columbia native would have produced 115.2 shots on goal throughout a college season, which would have been good enough to rank second on the Falcons’ roster, only behind graduating senior Ryan O’Hara.
Whynott also played on the Americans’ power play and penalty kill units and scored seven power play goals and two shorthanded goals throughout the season. He did finish the regular season with a -7 +/- rating, which is less than ideal but could be attributed to him playing on one of the lower-ranked teams in the WHL playoffs.
Whynott’s Americans were eliminated from the playoffs by the Victoria Royals after five games. Whynott played in all five games and contributed two goals, a power play goal, and had 20 shots on goal, but did finish the playoffs with a -5 +/- rating.
Official Burkett Prediction: Whynott will be a consistent member of the lineup and will play in about half of BG’s games. While he won’t be a constant fixture on either the power play or penalty kill, he will get time on both sparingly.
Jake Sloan, Tri-City Americans, WHL:
Sloan spent all six years of his WHL career playing with the Americans and recorded 241 career points (101 goals, 140 assists) in his 265 career games with the club.
In his final season, Sloan served as the Americans’ captain and scored 29 goals and 44 assists for 73 points in 62 games and finished the year with a +14 +/- rating. The Leduc, Alberta native won 622 faceoffs during his last season and won 2119 faceoffs over his career with the Americans.
Sloan also won a pair of awards during his career, winning the 2023-24 Tri-City Americans Offensive Player of the Year Team Award and the 2023-24 Tri-City Americans Team MVP Award after scoring 70 points in 68 games during the 2023-24 season.
Similar to Whynott, Sloan plays on both the power play and penalty kill units and scored five goals on the power play and had a lone shorthanded goal.
Sloan’s five power-play goals were a down year for the center, who previously scored 10 in 2022-23 and 9 in 2023-24. Sloan also took a slight step back in his shot production as he recorded 179 shots on goal after having 195 the year before.
In the Americans’ recent playoff appearance, Sloan scored a goal and an assist through the five games and finished with a -4 +/- rating.
Official Burkett Prediction: Sloan will appear in the grand majority of BG’s games and will likely play on the same line as Whynott due to them already having solidified a chemistry through their time in juniors. Sloan will get substantial playing time on the penalty kill due to his experience playing on the unit in juniors and his ability to win faceoffs.
Connor Levis, Vancouver Giants, WHL:
A Winnipeg Jets round seven pick in the 2023 NHL entry draft, Connor Levis will join Adam Zlnka (Utah Hockey Club, seventh round of 2022 NHL entry draft) as the two NHL prospects on the Falcons’ roster next season.
Levis, a Vancouver native, started his WHL career with the Kamloops Blazers before finishing his career with his hometown Vancouver Giants. ‘
Throughout 287 career WHL games, Levis scored 234 points, made up of 99 goals and 135 assists, while also finishing his career with a +30 +/- rating.
Levis also has experience playing in the American Hockey League (AHL), appearing in two games for Winnipeg’s affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, as part of an amateur tryout following the WHL season in 2024.
Levis has a knack for creating scoring chances near the blue paint and scores a majority of his goals via rebounds, tipped shots, quick shots of passes in the slot, and by making quick moves up close to the goaltender.
Coach Williams voiced his displeasure with BG’s lack of crashing the net multiple times throughout last season, and Levis will fit perfectly into this needed role.
Speaking of roles, Levis is no stranger to taking on leadership roles as the right-handed winger served as an alternate captain for both the Blazers in the 2023-24 season and the Giants during the 2024-25 season.
Levis recorded 23 goals and 33 assists while taking 135 shots on goal and finishing with a +10 +/- rating during his final WHL campaign. Levis is also very good at staying out of the penalty box, only spending six minutes in the sin bin during the most recent season.
Levis was nearly a point per game player during the Giants’ brief run in the WHL playoffs, scoring two goals and two assists in five games before Vancouver was eliminated by the Spokane Chiefs.
Official Burkett Prediction: Levis will play in the majority of BG’s games and will log major minutes on the power play. Levis, during both power play and even-strength play, will be stationed in the slot, in front of the opposing team’s goalie, to set screens and create scoring chances.
Tanner Scott, Saskatoon Blades, WHL:
The left-handed winger played in 278 games during his time in the WHL and scored 62 career goals and 100 career assists for 162 total points throughout his WHL career while playing for the Victoria Royals and Saskatoon Blades.
The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native is a playmaker who uses his speed and stickhandling ability to find and create passes and scoring chances.
In the most recent season, Scott scored six goals and 10 assists through 25 games with the Royals before being traded to the Blades in January.
After joining the Blades, Scott scored eight goals and twelve assists through 33 games to finish the year with a total of 14 goals and 22 assists through 58 games played between the two teams. In those 58 games, Scott only took a total of 103 shots on goal (1.8 per game).
On the positive side, Scott only had five penalties called against him all season, totaling 10 minutes in the penalty box.
During the 2023-24 season, Scott served as an alternate captain for the Victoria Royals. Scott didn’t appear in any of the Blades’ playoff games that saw Saskatoon being swept by the Calgary Hitmen.
Official Burkett Prediction: Scott’s freshman campaign will be a season focused on development for the forward.
Noah Morneau, Windsor Spitfires, OHL:
A Windsor, Ontario native, Noah Morneau spent his three-season-long OHL career playing for the hometown Windsor Spitfires. Throughout his three seasons, Morneau scored 52 goals and 80 assists for 132 career points in 199 career games. The 6’0”, left-handed center had a career year in his final OHL season.
In 68 games, Morneau scored 32 goals and 41 assists for 73 points, a career high in all three stats. He also set a career high in power-play goals (eight), short-handed goals (five), and game-winning goals (six).
Arguably, the most telling stats that display Morneau’s improvement are his evolution in the shots on goal and +/– stats. In his first season in the OHL (2022-23), Morneau recorded 100 shots on goal and improved it to 121 in his next season.
This most recent season, Morneau recorded 243 shots on goal and averaged 3.6 shots on goal per game, which will fit perfectly into the high shot volume game plan of the Falcons under Coach Williams.
Similar to his improvement in the shots on goal, Morneau finished his season with a +28 +/- rating, a massive improvement from his -34 rating the year before. Morneau also had success in the faceoff dots throughout his season, winning 512 faceoffs. Morneau was able to carry his success in the regular season over into the OHL playoffs.
Morneau’s Spitfires beat the Soo Greyhounds in five games during the first round and were eliminated by the Kitchener Rangers in the second round after a seven-game series. Through the Spitfires’ 12 playoff games, Morneau has scored 11 goals and six assists for 17 points and has taken 49 shots on goal (4.1 per game) and finished the playoffs at a +8 +/- rating.
Of his 11 playoff goals, seven were scored while on the power play. Morneau has also won 45 faceoffs during the current playoff run.
Official Burkett Prediction: Morneau will play in the majority of BG’s games and will see consistent playing time on the power play. Morneau has proven to be a consistent offensive contributor and, along with his ability to win faceoffs, will contribute at full strength and on the power play consistently.
Jérémie Minville, Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL:
Hailing from Drummondville, Québec, Jérémie Minville’s QMJHL career lasted four seasons and saw stints playing for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the Gatineau Olympiques.
In 245 career games, Minville scored 83 goals and 92 assists for a total of 175 career points during his time in the QMJHL.
In his most recent season with the Gatineau Olympiques, Minville scored 35 goals and 31 assists in 63 games while taking an impressive 273 shots on goal (4.3 per game). The right-handed winger scored 11 power-play goals and six game-winning goals throughout the season.
Minville served as an alternate captain for Gatineau during the 2023-24 season, scoring 38 goals and 41 assists in 68 games, and impressed enough to be awarded the captaincy of the team during the 2024-25 season.
Minville’s game revolves around producing lots of shots on goal, which fits perfectly into Coach William’s style of play. While it is rare that college hockey games last to a shootout, Minville will be an asset when the situations are presented due to the forward finishing his QMJHL career, having scored on all six of his career shootout opportunities.
In Gatineau’s recent playoff run, Minville scored one goal and four assists before his Olympiques were eliminated by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies after five games.
Official Burkett Prediction: Minville will play in the majority of BG’s games and will also see notable minutes on the power play. His high shot production, matched with a player like Levis setting screens and looking for rebound opportunities, will be an effective combination that will provide the Falcons with dangerous scoring chances throughout the season.
DEFENSEMEN:
Mazden Leslie, Vancouver Giants, WHL:
Joining Levis at BGSU will be his Vancouver teammate and the Giants’ captain during the 2024-25 season, Mazden Leslie. Leslie proved to be among the best defensemen in the WHL during his final season of juniors.
In his five-year WHL career, spent in its entirety with the Vancouver Giants, Leslie scored 57 goals and 133 assists in 280 career games. In his last season, in which he served as Captain after being an alternate the year before, Leslie was truly one of the best defensemen in the WHL.
Through 66 games, the defenseman scored 21 goals and 51 assists for a total of 72 points while taking 182 shots on goal and ranked highly among the WHL’s defenseman in a multitude of stats.
His 21 goals tied him for second for most goals by a defenseman, the 51 assists ranked as fourth for assists by a defenseman, the 72 points were the second most by a defenseman, and Leslie’s 14 power play goals were the most by a defenseman in the WHL.
The Lloydminster, Alberta native’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed as the right-handed defenseman is among the finalists for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy, which is the WHL’s Defenseman of the Year Award, and was also included in the WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team.
Throughout his career, Leslie has also won the 2021-22 Vancouver Giants Most Improved Player team award, the 2021-22 Vancouver Giants High School Scholastic Player of the Year team award, and the 2022-23 and 2023-24 Vancouver Giants Defenseman of the Year team awards.
Official Burkett Prediction: Leslie will be a consistent piece in the Falcons’ defensive rotation next season and will play in the grand majority of BG games.
Brayden Crampton, Spokane Chiefs, WHL:
During the 2024-25 season, BG’s Gustav Stjernberg further cemented himself as a physical defenseman who was always finishing his checks and never shied away from an altercation.
Halfway through the season, the Falcons added Ivan Korodiuk, who played a similar game to Stjernberg. Next season, another defenseman of a physical description will be added to the roster with the addition of Crampton.
Throughout his four seasons in the WHL, spent entirely with the Spokane Chiefs, Crampton scored 151 points, made up of 23 goals and 128 assists, in 247 career games and built a reputation as a physical defenseman who was more than willing to engage in the occasional bout.
The right-handed defenseman showed improvement over every season of his WHL career that culminated with the Chilliwack, British Columbia native scoring 71 points made up of 10 goals and 61 assists through 67 games and ending with a +19 +/- ranking during his final season with Spokane.
Crampton finished the season ranking second in the WHL for assists by a defenseman, third in the WHL for points by a defenseman, and fourth in the WHL for shots on goal by a defenseman (203).
Official Burkett Prediction: Crampton will appear in the grand majority of BG’s games. His physicality will prove to be an asset, and he will log major minutes on the penalty kill.
Ty Higgins, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, QMJHL:
Similar to Leslie, Ty Higgins is a defenseman with high offensive upside. Playing in 208 career games between the Acadie-Bathurst Titans and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Higgins scored 45 goals and 111 assists, for a total of 156 points in his QMJHL career.
In his final season, played with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Higgins put together a stat line that bests many forwards offensively.
The right-handed defenseman tallied 19 goals and 48 assists for 67 points in 63 games and recorded 235 shots on goal despite finishing the year with a -4 +/- rating. Of his 19 goals, nine came on the power play, and four were game-winning goals.
Higgins ranked first in the QMJHL in points by a defenseman, goals by a defenseman, power play goals by a defenseman, shots on goal by a defenseman, and second for assists. Higgins was included on the QMJHL Second All-Star Team due to his productive season.
Higgins, while not an official prospect or draft pick of any NHL team, was invited to and participated in the Pittsburgh Penguins rookie camp in 2023.
The Stratford, Ontario native served as the captain of the Acadie-Bathurst Titans during the 2023-24 season before being traded to Rouyn-Noranda halfway through the season, and is currently an alternate captain with the Huskies during the season and the team’s playoff run.
During that playoff run, Higgins scored four goals and nine assists in 13 games and helped his team beat the Gatineau Olympiques in the first round and sweep the Halifax Mooseheads in the second round.
Higgins’ Mooseheads were swept and eliminated from the playoffs during their third-round matchup against the Moncton Wildcats.
Official Burkett Prediction: Higgins will play in the grand majority of BG’s games and will log massive minutes on the power play unit, likely quarterbacking it from the point.
GOALIE:
Jacob Steinman, Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL:
The first-ever QMJHL player to commit to an NCAA program, Steinman will have big shoes to fill with the departure of BG’s star goaltender Christian Stoever.
The Toronto, Ontario native, has quite the resume to match the big expectations being placed on the newcomer.
Through his three-year career in the QMJHL, Steinman only finished a season with a below .900 save percentage once, with that lone season being his rookie campaign, where he recorded a .899.
Ranking as the second-best goalie in the QMJHL during the regular season, Steinman made a total of 1448 saves (third most in the QMJHL), recorded three shutouts (tied for fifth most in the QMJHL), posted a .923 save percentage (second best in the QMJHL), and finished with 2.41 goals against average (second best in the QMJHL).
Steiman’s efforts led to him being included on the QMJHL First All-Star Team. Steinman led his Mooseheads past the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs in a seven-game series before being swept by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the second round.
Steinman played 11 games during the Mooseheads’ playoff run, posting a 3.17 goals against average and a .919 save percentage, and recorded one shutout.
Surprisingly, despite being a goalie, Steinman has also recorded a handful of offensive stats with the net-minder recording four assists throughout his QMJHL career and tacking on an additional three assists in playoff games. Steinman will split time next year with Cole Moore, who will be entering his junior campaign and third season with the Falcons.
Official Burkett Prediction: Steinman, along with Tyler Palmer( Transfer from University of Alberta), will start half of BG’s games with Moore starting the remaining half. While proven to be a quality net-minder in the QMJHL, it will take time for Steiman to adjust to the college game.
