Verhoeff pushed to ‘next level’ by move to University of North Dakota | NHL.com

“I think one of the things that we noticed with the CHL guys was, even just after our first week of practice, we played so many competitive games, small-area games, and a lot of physical confrontation-type box-out drills and stuff,” Jackson said. “The guys, after week one, they came to us and said hey, is this is this normal? Is this a regular practice week? They were ready for the games, obviously, but I think the intensity and severity, the length of practice, it was an adjustment for them.”

He adjusted well enough that he earned a spot with Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship. Despite not playing the first two games, he had four assists in 11:10 of ice time in five games, including one assist in 12:08 of ice time in a 6-3 win against Finland in the bronze-medal game.

That gave him some confidence that carried through the rest of the season, and helped him play a significant role in North Dakota reaching the Frozen Four for the first time since 2016.

“His size and skill jump off the page right away obviously,” Central Scouting’s Pat Cullen said. “I saw him early and then in the second half. He likes to get involved offensively but he definitely made progress with his decision making, when to push the offense or make the simple, conservative play, which showed a lot of growth and maturity.”

Verhoeff finished his season with four assists in five games as Canada’s captain at the 2026 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. The team finished in sixth place, but Verhoeff made an impression on coach Drew Bannister.

“I think he’s going to be a shutdown guy that’s hard to play against,” Bannister said. “He’s got a very good physical aspect to his game. Outstanding human being. Quality person, quality leadership skills. I could see him being a captain of a team down the road.”

Scouts have compared Verhoeff’s game to Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers, but Jackson said Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators could provide the right road map to the NHL.

Sanderson spent two seasons at North Dakota after the Senators chose him with the No. 5 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. After leaving school, he stepped right into Ottawa’s lineup at the start of the 2022-23 season.

“The defense position is so hard and so much more nuanced in your reads and the experience you have,” Jackson said. “I see in young defensemen, play a little bit longer at lower levels is, I think, usually a benefit because it is such a hard position to play at the NHL. I think Keaton is aware of that, and I think he is cognizant that playing another year would probably lessen the learning curve that he would have when he makes that jump to the NHL.”