LOS ANGELES — Incoming Penn State men's hockey freshman Jackson Smith was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft inside the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Friday night, June 27.
The smooth-skating, 6-4 defenseman now holds the distinction as the first-ever Nittany Lion to be selected in the opening round of the NHL Draft. He also becomes the 17th Nittany Lion all-time to be drafted and the first since Aiden Fink in 2023.
Smith, who committed to Penn State on June 15, arrives in Hockey Valley this fall after spending the past two-plus seasons with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. The Calgary, Alberta, native registered career-highs across the board with 11 goals and 43 assists for 54 points in 68 games this past season. Smith added one goal and two assists in a pair of playoff games for the Americans.
Smith’s 54 points in 2024-25 ranked as the 10th most among WHL blueliners while his 43 assists tied for ninth. In 143 total WHL games, including playoffs, Smith tallied 88 points on 20 goals and 68 assists for the Americans.
Back in the spring, Smith captured the gold medal with Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championships in May. He skated in all seven games scoring four goals from the backend while adding one assist for five points and a plus-7 rating.
Last Summer, Smith also donned the Maple Leaf earning gold with Team Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, Alberta. The Canadians edged Czechia 2-1 in the gold medal game last August. Smith skated in five games collecting three assists during the tournament.
Cerrato goes 49th overall in second round of NHL draft
Rising sophomore Charlie Cerrato was selected in the second round, No. 49 overall, by the Carolina Hurricanes on day two of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Cerrato became the 18th Nittany Lion all-time to hear his name called in the NHL Draft and is now the second-highest draft pick all-time behind Smith.
Cerrato burst onto the scene in Hockey Valley and was voted by his peers as the 2024-25 Freshman of the Year following the second-best rookie campaign in program history. Cerrato finished the year with 42 points on 15 goals and 27 assists topping all freshmen in the Big Ten in each offensive category while his point and assist totals ranked second nationally and his goal total was good for third among first-year skaters.
The Fallston, Maryland, native became just the second Nittany Lion rookie to reach the 40-point mark and tied for the fifth highest scoring season of all-time, while his 27 assists are the second-most by a freshman and tied for the third-most in a single-season all-time and his 15 goals were tied for the fifth-most by a Penn State rookie.
The 6-1, 195-pound center also was dynamite on the draw, ranking in the top-10 nationally all season long, winning 57.2% (388-for-678) of his faceoffs as a rookie.
After signing their national letters of intent back in November, a pair of future Nittany Lions also heard their names called as Kieren Dervin was selected with pick No. 65 pick in the third round by the Vancouver Canucks and Kale Dach went in the seventh round to the Pittsburgh Penguins at pick No. 201.
Dervin and Dach will each play junior hockey in the Canadian Hockey League next season before enrolling at Penn State in the future.