The 2025 NHL Draft will be held in June at a site to be determined. NHL.com will take a closer look at some of the draft-eligible players to watch. This week, a profile of defenseman Charlton Trethewey with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team.
CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Charlton Trethewey doesn't hesitate to name his favorite NHL player.
The 17-year-old right-shot defenseman looks up Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
"I think Charlie's definitely the main guy, for sure," Trethewey said. "He's just a great guy. I even model myself after (him), I want to be a person like him."
Trethewey got a first-hand account this summer, training with McAvoy at Boston University. In his second season with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, he wants to incorporate McAvoy's lessons ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft in June.
"He's a great person. I definitely think his play is a lot like mine," Trethewey said. "He's definitely a guy that I look up to. ... It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I definitely look back on it and just really appreciate the conversations, him taking his time to work out with me and talk through some things with me. It was a great memory, for sure."
McAvoy, who played two seasons with the NTDP (2013-15), has 284 points (56 goals, 228 assists) in 477 games since being selected by the Bruins in the first round (No. 14) of the 2016 NHL Draft. He has seven points (three goals, four assists) in 23 games this season.
Trethewey (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) is a right-handed shot and has a similar build to McAvoy (6-1, 213), but that's not where the comparisons end.
"They both have great shots," NTDP coach Greg Moore said. "A lot of using their skating to defend plays up ice, their gaps. It's definitely a player that we've targeted for him to watch and study, model his game after."
Growing defensively is key.
"Shutting down plays, taking time and space away from really good players," Trethewey said. "If you give them time and space, they'll take advantage of it."
That will come in time, Moore said.
"For him, it'll be a little bit of the consistency part," Moore said, "really for any kid this age, of defending and being quick to close on plays in the D-zone, which he does do. It's just finding the consistency in it."
For now, Trethewey considers his gapping a primary strength, letting him shut down plays before they begin.
Moore echoed that but also highlighted a shot he thinks could make Trethewey a successful two-way defenseman in the NHL.
Trethewey has eight points (four goals, four assists) and two power-play goals in 22 games with the Program this season. In 2023-24, he had 35 points (12 goals, 23 assists) and nine power-play goals in 52 games. He's an A rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list and projected first-round pick in the 2025 draft.
"He's got a really heavy wrist shot. He can place his puck really well," Moore said. "So he adds a lot of offensive power on the backend. He does a really good job of positioning himself early in the O-zone on gaps to take away time and space, and kill plays early."
Trethewey, who is from Woodbine, Maryland, couldn't remember exactly when he began playing hockey but said his dad, Bob, put him in skates "before I could even remember."
"It's just kind of been my life," he said.
That eventually led Trethewey to the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, a program that produced Utah Hockey Club forward Logan Cooley (selected No. 3 in the 2022 NHL Draft).
In 2020-21, he joined the under-13 team. Trethewey had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 13 games for the U-14's the next season, while also playing two games for the U-15 team.
"I definitely think it was a big stepping stone in my career," Trethewey said.
Whether it's studying McAvoy or having a start similar to Cooley's, Moore said neither should be the focus.
"We don't want to go down too many paths of telling these kids that they have to be like so and so," Moore said. "You be Charlie Trethewey. You're unique, you're special. You carve your path as well."
If he does, it could lead an NHL team calling Trethewey's name in several months.
"I definitely think that it's something that I'm excited about," Trethewey said, "but I'm really just focused on getting better with what I'm doing on the ice. That'll take care of itself."
PROSPECTS ON THE RADAR (listed alphabetically)
Carter Bear, LW, Everett (WHL): Bear (6-0, 177) was promoted to an A rated skater (from B) on Central Scouting's updated players to watch list on Nov. 20. He leads Everett with 41 points (20 goals, 21 assists) and seven power-play goals in 23 games this season. He has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) during a six-game point streak. Bear plays the bumper spot on the power play and is also a key part of the penalty kill (one short-handed goal).
Blake Fiddler, D, Edmonton (WHL): The right-handed shot (6-4, 210) and son of former NHL forward Vernon Fiddler has nine points (three goals, six assists) and a plus-4 rating in 22 games with the Oil Kings. Fiddler, chosen No. 1 by Edmonton in the 2022 Western Hockey League U.S. Draft, was born in Nashville and lives and trains in Frisco, Texas, in the summer. An A rated skater on Central Scouting's players to watch list, he has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada and has represented both countries on an international level.
Cameron Schmidt, RW, Vancouver (WHL): Schmidt (5-7, 161), a B rated skater on Central Scouting's players to watch list, leads Vancouver in goals (23), points (35) and power-play points (12) in 21 games. The right-handed shot scored 31 goals last season, setting the team record for goals in a season by a 16-year-old rookie. He was the seventh 16-year-old rookie in the past 30 years to score 30-plus, joining Gavin McKenna, Connor Bedard, Brayden Yager, Patrick Marleau, Nolan Patrick and Brett Connolly.
NHL.com senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report
