Ohio State men’s hockey saw four players drafted on Saturday in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Ohio
Better Know a Buckeye: Gabe VanSickle Gives Ohio State A Developmental Guard Prospect from the State Up North
Better Know A Buckeye is our look at every member of Ohio State’s 2024 recruiting class and how they became Buckeyes as they prepare to begin their OSU careers this fall.
Although he didn’t receive an offer from Ohio State until late in the process, Gabe VanSickle (No. 283 overall, No. 17 interior offensive lineman in the 2025 class) couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play for the Buckeyes when he was given the opportunity.
Now, he will be the only scholarship player from the state of Michigan on the Buckeyes’ 2024 roster.
How He Became a Buckeye
Gabe VanSickle
- Size: 6-5/315
- Pos: IOL
- School: Coopersville (Coopersville, Michigan)
- Star Rating: ★★★★
- Composite Rank: #283 (#17 IOL)
Ohio State’s 2024 offensive line class seemed to be getting quite full. With commitments from Devonta and Deontae Armstrong, Ian Moore and Marc Nave, along with the Buckeyes trying their best to land five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, OSU seemed done with that position group in the cycle.
But when Nave decommitted from Ohio State in September, that changed. It was back to the drawing board and the Buckeyes had to add another offensive lineman to complete its 2024 class. That’s when Justin Frye and Co. began to go after VanSickle, who was committed to Northwestern.
After taking an unofficial visit to Columbus for the Penn State game on Oct. 21, VanSickle received an OSU offer, which inevitably changed his recruitment. Soon thereafter, the Michigan product took his official visit for Ohio State’s game against Michigan State on Nov. 11. VanSickle decommitted from Northwestern 10 days later, seemingly set to make the switch to the Buckeyes.
He committed to Ohio State two days later on Nov. 23, becoming the fourth and final offensive lineman in the Buckeyes’ 2024 class.
When VanSickle first committed to the Buckeyes, he was the 41st-ranked interior offensive lineman (No. 613 overall) in the class. He ended up being ranked as the No. 17 interior offensive lineman (No. 283 overall) in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the cycle.
High School Years
VanSickle played left tackle primarily for Coopersville High School (Coopersville, Michigan) and helped lead the team to an 8-3 record in his senior season. He showcased his physicality, explosiveness and aggression on nearly every snap while anchoring the offensive line.
Along with driving opposing defensive linemen to the ground on the gridiron, VanSickle also played basketball and track and field for Coopersville. In fact, he won the Division 2 Michigan high school state title in shot put last weekend with a throw of 61-2.
State Champ! 612!!!! @MrAnnen1 @OhioStateFB @CoachJFrye pic.twitter.com/1zAqHaR5He
— (@gabe_vansickle) June 2, 2024
Immediate Impact
While VanSickle was a high school standout, especially as a run blocker, he comes to Ohio State as a developmental prospect. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound offensive lineman will need to improve his footwork and acclimate to the speed of the college game during his first year or two in Columbus before making an impact on the field for the Buckeyes.
He’s prepared for the developmental process in front of him.
“I want to just keep getting stronger and better every day because if you get 1% better every day, that adds up after a while,” VanSickle told Eleven Warriors in May.
Considering he’s already bulked up to 315 pounds after being listed at 283 pounds as a recruit, one could say that those 1% days have already begun to add up.
He believes going against some of the best defensive linemen in the country every day in practice at Ohio State will allow him to maximize his potential.
“You want to go against the best to be the best,” VanSickle said. “Obviously that’s the main goal at Ohio State is to be the best, and they have the best defense in the nation. So if you want to be the best, you’ve got to go against the best.”
Although he didn’t arrive in Columbus until this past weekend, VanSickle has been working on improving his game with the help of Ohio State coaches via Zoom, while also doing lifting and agility drills as part of a workout plan given to him by the Buckeyes.
As Ohio State looks for improved play up front in 2024, it will count on VanSickle to provide depth and be a regular on the scout team even though he’s likely to redshirt as a freshman.
Long-Term Impact
Although he was primarily a left tackle in high school, VanSickle will likely be a guard for the Buckeyes, with the potential to also play center depending on how he develops.
His first shot at earning a spot on the two-deep will likely come in 2025, but even then, he will face plenty of competition to earn significant playing time. Carson Hinzman and Joshua Padilla will be the frontrunners to lead the depth chart at center next year while Luke Montgomery, Tegra Tshabola, Austin Siereveld and Devontae Armstrong will be among those vying for playing time at guard, along with whoever else the Buckeyes add in the 2025 class.
VanSickle’s best shot at earning a starting guard job for Ohio State will likely come in 2026 or beyond.
Player Comparison: Demetrius Knox
Knox redshirted his first season at Ohio State before playing primarily on special teams in 2015. Slowed by injuries in 2016, Knox took over for injured Branden Bowen as a starting guard for the last eight games of the 2017 season and never looked back, starting his final 20 games as a Buckeye before a lower-leg injury forced him to miss his final two collegiate games.
Much like Knox, VanSickle will redshirt as a freshman and then likely play primarily special teams and as a backup as a redshirt freshman and sophomore. But he’ll look to follow in Knox’s footsteps by developing into a quality starter for the Buckeyes by the end of his collegiate career.
Unlike the NFL and NBA Drafts where when a player is drafted they can no longer play at the college level, the NHL allows players to play college hockey and the team that drafts them retains their rights for a certain amount of time.
Then again, using the NBA Draft as an example to describe how college eligibility works might not be the smartest thing to do since we saw some strange rulings over the past year on players who were already drafted and wanted to return to college.
The Buckeyes finished the 2025-26 season with a 14-21-2 record, missing the NCAA Tournament after losing in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game. All four of the players drafted on Saturday are incoming freshmen and are still scheduled to come to Columbus in the fall to don the scarlet and gray.
With these four additions to the roster, Ohio State could be in for a bounce-back season in 2026-27.
Ben Wilmott – 92nd overall pick – Las Vegas Golden Knights
The Las Vegas Golden Knights traded forward Pavel Dorofeyev on Friday to the New York Rangers for a number of draft picks. One of those picks Las Vegas received was the 92nd overall pick, which the Golden Knights used on Saturday to select Ben Wilmott, who will turn 20 years old in August.
The Seattle native split last season between the London Knights and Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League. In 37 games with London, Wilmott scored 12 goals and dished out 22 assists in 37 games. Wilmott would then play in 27 regular season games for Barrie, netting 15 goals and 17 assists before adding 11 goals and 11 assists in 20 games in the playoffs.
What stood out about Wilmott during his time in the OHL is the work he does around the net. Wilmott is a bit of a late bloomer and needs to work on his speed and his play away from the puck. If Wilmott is able to build on what he did in the OHL last year, the rest of the Big Ten could be in trouble this season.
Evan Jardine – 121st overall pick – Columbus Blue Jackets
The most notable pick involving an Ohio State player on Saturday was the selection of Evan Jardine by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the 121st overall pick. The Blue Jackets traded down a couple times earlier in the fourth round, accumulating a few more picks before taking Jardine.
While Jardine was already committed to Ohio State, where he is playing his hockey in a few years could just be a few miles down the road from campus.
Jardine has played in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms since 2023-24. Last year Jardine not only scored 27 goals and recorded 34 assists, he showed a bit of a mean streak, racking up 70 penalty minutes in 53 games. Much like Wilmott, Jardine has the ability to get under the skin of his opponents.
Jardine has a great mix of skill and grit, which could lead to him being a fan favorite in Columbus for both the Buckeyes and the Blue Jackets.
Tobias Tvrznik – 126th overall pick – Colorado Avalanche
This season we saw Jakub Dobeš take over as the starting goaltender in Montreal, helping the Canadiens reach the Eastern Conference Finals before they were eventually eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Tobias Tvrznik hopes to find success in the NHL in the future after he was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday in the fourth round.
The Czechia product will have a few years before he reaches the NHL, as he won’t even turn 19 until the end of July. Before committing to Ohio State, Tvrznik appeared in 39 games for the Wenatchee Wild of the Western Hockey League, posting a 3.10 goals against average and .913 save percentage.
While the goals against average is a little high, Tvrznik’s save percentage is impressive. With a pretty crowded pipeline at goalie, Tvrznik can afford to spend some time in Columbus to develop.
Will Tomko – 204th overall pick – Seattle Kraken
The final future Buckeye selected on Saturday was Will Tomko, who was drafted by the Seattle Kraken in the seventh round with the 204th overall pick.
There are a lot of similarities between Tomko and Evan Jardine, who was taken in the fourth round by Columbus. Tomko and Jardine are similar in size, standing at six-feet tall and weighing about 185 pounds.
In 59 games with the Sioux City Musketeers, Tomko scored 24 goals and handed out 36 assists. Tomko also spent a lot time in the penalty box, racking up 115 minutes in the sin bin last season. If his play with Sioux City is any indication of what he brings to the table, expect to see Tomko all over the ice during his time as a Buckeye.
There are several sign posts on the way to the start of the college football season and the ability to see Ohio State on the banks of the Olentangy again, and one of them is when single-game tickets go on sale. In that case, you rejoice a little because the ability to purchase tickets to a game of your choice is now available.
Ohio State welcomes Ball State, Kent State, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, Northwestern, and Michigan to Ohio Stadium this year, and you can now try to score tickets by going to the Ohio State football section of Ticketmaster and selecting the game you want to attend.
A quick search shows that tickets are still available for any home date if you are willing to buy resale tickets in most cases, though “The Game” against the Wolverines is much steeper in price than others. There’s a good bet that those tickets will disappear along with others, or become more expensive as the days go by, so if you were planning on trying to make that a day to remember, you might want to jump on things quickly.
The link to Ticketmaster also has the links to away games if that’s something you are interested in. The Buckeyes will travel to play at Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC, and Nebraska. Likewise, some are resale tickets and will set you back much more significantly, but there are tickets available if you want to spend the money.
Ohio State has a daunting schedule this year both at home and with away games and it’s almost a sure bet that some of these games will be hard-fought fourth quarter affairs.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
Having lived with Donald Trump’s infamous and baseless insult against them — “they’re eating the dogs … they’re eating the cats” — Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are bracing for a far bigger injury.
More than 10,000 Haitians across Ohio and hundreds of thousands more around the country who had Temporary Protected Status now face the imminent prospect of deportation. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can halt those legal protections for Haitians and Syrians and resume forcing them to leave.
Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion for the court’s Republican-appointed majority curbed the power of courts to review government decisions to terminate protections under the TPS program.
“They side with him on everything that he says or everything that he does, which means there is no check and balance,” said Viles Dorsainvil, a Haitian TPS holder and executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, a town Trump catapulted into a maelstrom of misinformation about immigrants when he was running to retake the White House in 2024.
“The president has that freeway in front of him to do whatever he wants to do, unfortunately, and most of the time to a minority group of people,” added Dorsainvil, who has lived in the United States since 2020.
In a country rife with political and economic instability, Haitians returning from the U.S. are in danger of being killed or kidnapped, said Dorsainvil’s colleague at the Haitian Support Center, Rose Thamar Joseph.
“There is this perception in Haiti that if you are living here in the United States, you have money, so you are living your good life, so sending people back to Haiti will put them in real danger,” Joseph said.
Staying in the U.S. without legal status creates a different crisis.
“We received calls this morning from people saying that, unfortunately, starting on July 1, they won’t be able to go to work anymore,” Joseph said Friday.
Joseph predicted that families would be separated during the deportation process.
“We know that there will be separation,” she said. “A lot of those parents with TPS … they have kids who were born in the United States, so we know that it will happen, not for everybody, not for all the families, but it will happen,” she said.
The oncoming nightmare for the Haitian community in Springfield was, in many ways, predictable after Trump notoriously targeted them on the debate stage against then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the fall of 2024.
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