Jack Nesbitt 2025 NHL Draft Profile

Nesbitt’s on-ice production

Growing up in Sarnia, Nesbitt watched a lot of guys like Steven Stamkos and Jordan Kyrou, trying to implement their game into his. His underage year in the OHL was difficult for him because he didn’t get a lot of playing time. The Windsor Spitfires fired their coach, Jerrod Smith, halfway through the season. The general manager, Bill Bowler, took over and told him to work on some things over the summer. Primarily skating and face-offs.

This season, under new head coach Greg Walters, Nesbitt played significantly more. He averaged 19:29 of ice time per game, including over three minutes of power play time per game. It worked for him. At almost a point-per-game this season, he helped lead the Spitfires to the OHL playoffs.

After this season, Nesbitt is ranked by Sportsnet at 17th overall in this year’s draft.

Nesbitt’s strengths

Using his size

Today’s NHL is a lot more focused on skill than it used to be, with guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid being the faces of the league. Having said that, Nesbitt knows how to use his 6’4” frame to his advantage. He uses it on the power play as the net-front guy and can utilize his long reach to retrieve pucks. Because of his size, he can also use it defensively against the opponent’s top line in the OHL. He’s very good at getting his stick in lanes on both sides of the ice.

Versatility

Nesbitt is the type of player who can play at any time in the game. He can go on the power play, kill penalties, and he’ll be on the ice if his team needs a goal late in the game. Whether his team is up one or down one, he’s usually on the ice in the six-on-five situations.

It’ll be interesting if those skills of his can and will translate to the NHL as Nesbitt takes his hockey career to the next level.

Nesbitt’s areas of improvement

Quickness

Nesbitt lacks explosive first steps and will need to work on gaining separation in the neutral zone. In today’s NHL, it’s super fast. When some guys get the puck, if you blink, they’re already at top speed. If Nesbitt works on quickness, he will be better and more effective at the next level.

Nesbitt’s comparables

Nesbitt’s player comparison is similar to Adam Lowry, due to his size, physicality, and net-front presence. Scouts think he’ll become a third-line NHL centre when it’s said and done. Obviously, it’s impossible to know what an 18-year-old will be like in the NHL because scouts are trying to predict what they’ll be at 25.

An entry-level contract is worth $950K, and it’s hard to know what an 18-year-old kid will do after signing for that much. It’ll be interesting to see where Nesbitt’s next chapter is as a hockey player.

Fit with the Flames

Nesbitt would fit with the Calgary Flames because every successful team has a couple of guys whose playmaking and scoring aren’t necessarily their strong suit. Like a Jamie Benn-esque player for the Dallas Stars. Nesbitt could be that type of player in Calgary and add him to a very skill-centred core, including the likes of Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau.

Adding Nesbitt to the prospect pool would add more depth to the young core that the Flames will continue to build around. That includes guys like Dustin Wolf, Matt Caronato, Connor Zary, and Zayne Parekh.

Summary

Overall, picking Nesbitt is probably not going to be a franchise-altering move. He’s not going to be the kind of guy who sells the tickets by himself. But if he pans out, he will be a good middle-six centre in the NHL. Only time will tell what happens next for the Sarnia-born centre.

Check out all of The Win Column’s individual player profiles of selected 2025 NHL Draft prospects:

Matthew Schaefer | Michael Misa | James Hagens | Porter Martone | Anton Frondell | Victor Eklund |
Roger McQueen | Caleb Desnoyers | Jackson Smith | Jake O’Brien | Carter Bear | Radim Mrtka |
Lynden Lakovic | Brady Martin | Justin Carbonneau | Malcolm Spence | Cameron Reid | Logan Hensler | Cameron Schmidt | Ben Kindel | Kashawn Aitcheson | Cullen Potter | Braeden Cootes | Ivan Ryabkin |
Blake Fiddler | Cole Reschny | Joshua Ravensbergen | Bill Zonnon | William Moore