It’s 5:32 p.m. on a Tuesday, and Keaton Verhoeff is just wrapping up another day at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

As he makes his way out of the rink, the 17-year-old is explaining his decision to leave home (the small town of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, with its population of about 30,000 half an hour north and east of Edmonton) and his billet home in Victoria, British Columbia, for Grand Forks, N.D., in the most important year of his young hockey career.

Verhoeff, the consensus top defense prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft class, is among the biggest names to make the jump from the CHL to college hockey after the NCAA opened up eligibility to major junior players before the 2025-26 season.

Multiple schools expressed interest, but he was drawn to the University of North Dakota because of its “legacy” and facilities, and to Grand Forks because it felt more like home than some of the big-city schools. He calls the arena, affectionately known as The Ralph, a “one-of-a-kind building” and says “the atmosphere in that rink is something different.”

The commitment of his Victoria Royals teammate and 2025 Calgary Flames first-rounder Cole Reschny, with whom he is now living, also helped.

But the biggest reason the 6-foot-3.5, 208-pound right-shot defenseman — the youngest D in all of college hockey this year who won’t turn 18 until June 19, just a week before he’s expected to be picked near the top of the draft — made the jump was to test himself.

A year ago, he scored 22 goals and 55 points in 74 combined regular-season and playoff games for the Royals as a 16-year-old in the WHL, often playing 30 minutes per game and rarely playing less than 25.

His dad, Ryan, who used to be a professional goalie, says Keaton has always been bigger than his peers. Keaton himself played goalie all the way until U11 and still made the U15 Fort Saskatchewan Rangers AAA team as a D on his first try as a 13-year-old, quickly standing out and drawing attention at the iconic John Reed Memorial Tournament as an underager.

In his second year at the U15 level, he joined the RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, moving in with Jarome and Kara Iginla (Jarome also coached him). At the end of that year, the Royals selected him with the fourth pick in the 2023 WHL draft.

Keaton Verhoeff, left, as a goalie over the years. Right: One of his first games as a defenseman. (Photos courtesy of Ryan Verhoeff)

His strength coach, Barry Butt, who trains NHLers like Olen Zellweger and the Dach brothers (who are Verhoeff’s cousins on his mom’s side), says he “has a pro body already.” His sister is a dancer who has worked in New York City and is now dancing in London, England. Athleticism runs in the family.

When they all sat down at the dinner table to make the decision, how quickly he has developed and how far ahead he has always been were top of mind. Ryan credits Iginla and Victoria Royals coach James Patrick as hugely positive influences who challenged his son.

But Verhoeff, his parents and his representatives at The Sport Corporation decided it was time.

“I think the chance to play against bigger, older guys was a huge benefit for me,” Verhoeff said. “One of my main points when I was talking to people about it was lots of people saying if you play against 22- and 23-year-olds at 17 in college, then I might be ready to play against pros at 19 or 20. This pushes me to get better in different areas of my game that maybe I wouldn’t have been able to playing against my age in the WHL.”

To get ready for that next level, he made the switch to working with Butt in the gym this summer. Butt put him with his late-morning junior group to start, and he was “right at the top” of that group from an athletic standpoint, according to Butt.

“He’s big, he has filled out, he’s coordinated, he moves well, he’s got everything that you would want in a professional defenseman,” Butt said of his assessment of Verhoeff after their first summer together.

The one area where Verhoeff needs to continue working is his explosiveness and speed to get faster through his first few steps.

“I have other guys where you’re like ‘OK, he’s a speedster’ and other guys at the other end of the spectrum that are really strong, really muscular. Keaton is kind of good at it all,” Butt said. “He’s not super explosive. But I think that will happen.”

He has worked hard at getting quicker in straight lines with power skating coach Vanessa Hettinger.

“Is he ever going to be the fastest guy? No. But nobody who’s not gifted with speed is ever going to be the fastest guy. If you’re not the fastest guy when you’re 13-14, you’re never going to be the fastest guy. But you can get faster, and quicker, and more explosive. It can always improve,” Butt said. “Where Keaton is really good is he moves really, really well. For a big body like that, his mobility is really good. … And to me, that’s almost more important than being super explosive because he’s going to be able to get himself out of situations because he’s very coordinated.”

The progress has started to show. North Dakota general manager Bryn Chyzyk said Verhoeff stood out in North Dakota’s fitness testing before the year started.

He has performed like a top pick to begin his NCAA career, especially given his June birthday. Through eight games with the Fighting Hawks, Verhoeff has registered four goals, five points, 17 shots on goal and a minus-1 rating.

Verhoeff says the college game is tough, but he feels he has played “pretty solid.”

“I think one of my strengths is being able to adapt to pace of play to find my way, and hopefully I’ll just keep building throughout the year,” he said.

He has also had to adjust to the fact that a year after he played 26-27 minutes per game for the Royals and 24-25 minutes a night for Canada at both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup (where he was the team’s captain and registered four points in five games) and as an underager at U18 Worlds (where he registered five points in five games and won gold), he’s now averaging 19 minutes per game. Though he’s on the power play, he’s not yet killing penalties at North Dakota.

But that’s what he wanted — to have to earn it.

“The landscape is such a big question mark. This year and next year are going to be determining factors (for Canadians now considering the college route),” Ryan Verhoeff said. “I think for some people it’s going to make a lot of sense. For others, it may not. I think size is going to be a part of it. The hockey is heavier. It’s a decision that Keaton did not take lightly. He is always one that likes new challenges. These are all good lessons to learn. You can’t always be first PP, first PK and getting 27 minutes a night.”

Keaton Verhoeff celebrates a North Dakota goal early in the 2025-26 season. (North Dakota Athletics)

Chyzyk has been impressed by his mobility for a nearly 6-4 teenager, how smart he is with his feet and his efficiency with the puck. Dane Jackson, the team’s head coach, is committed to continuing to put Verhoeff out there even when he has some growing pains, too, and says he expects Verhoeff will feature more on the penalty kill as the season goes on.

“A lot of times when I’ve seen real good young players, especially D, they’re still a little bit awkward or growing into their body. He has none of that. He moves well, so he’s not just a big long body. He can handle the pace and the physicality,” Jackson said. “He’s highly competitive. He doesn’t shy away from any of the physical battles. He’s gritting his teeth and getting into the fight and seems to enjoy it.”

They’ve worked with him in practice to move pucks a little quicker and then join the rush (where his shot is a big weapon) instead of defaulting to holding onto the puck or turning back, too.

“I’ve just talked to him about, we know that you can add value and there are going to be times when you can make some great plays, but early on, take what the game gives you, be simple, and grow your game as you get more and more comfortable,” Jackson said.

He “doesn’t look like a 17-year-old at all,” according to new teammate Will Zellers, either.

“He’s a pretty big kid and very mature out there,” Zellers said. “When we’re doing skills or just shinny out there during the week at school, he’s go-time all the time, and that’s what makes him so good. You can’t turn him off, and that’s something you can’t teach.”

Reschny lit up when asked about his teammate at North Dakota and in Victoria earlier this summer.

“Oh,” he said, almost in a scoff, “he’s unreal. Very special. The plays that he makes are pretty high-end. Even in the games he played with us as a 15-year-old, he made some pretty high-end plays.”

Patrick let out a similar sound when asked for his assessment of Verhoeff’s season under him in Victoria.

“He played very well for a 16-year-old,” he told *The Athletic *at the end of April. “I mean, we played four defensemen the whole playoffs, and jeez, talk about a kid who played really well two ways. His offensive game, his handling the puck, his moving into the offensive zone, his play in the offensive zone rolling down and getting some motion off of the blue line was really impressive. The sky’s the limit.”

Verhoeff, who turns 18 in June, is the youngest defenseman in all of college hockey. (North Dakota Athletics)

Verhoeff describes himself as a “defenseman who can be reliable in all situations and is able to also push the play and join up in the rush.”

“I consider myself a two-way defender,” Verhoeff said. “I can create offensive chances with my shot and vision, but I really pride myself in taking care of the D-zone first and then being able to transition.”

He feels he has handled the student side of being a student-athlete well so far, too, but has leaned on his teammates for support with juggling school and the Dachs for guidance during his draft year.

Jackson, Chyzyk and their staff have also tried to manage expectations for him during his draft year.

“When you’re ranked so high, it’s a lot easier to slip a few spots in the draft in a perceived ranking. And even if you do end up getting drafted a little bit lower, to me it doesn’t really matter,” Jackson has told him. “You’re sharp listening in meetings, you have good workouts, you’re detailed in practice, and you do the right things, and whether or not you get drafted second or 12th, as long as you’re developing your game, your body, learning, growing, then you can go play 15 years in the NHL.”

They’re sure he’s already ahead of the curve and on that kind of path.

“I don’t believe that there’s many 17-year-olds that can come to college hockey, but Keaton is well beyond his years,” Chyzyk said.