Flyers closing in on deal with notable college UFA Karsen Dorwart
The Philadelphia Flyers are on a path to bringing in one of the top undrafted free agents in college hockey.
Per Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco, the team is close to signing Michigan State forward Karsen Dorwart to an entry-level contract.
Sources say #Flyers are closing in on a deal with Michigan State undrafted free agent Karsen Dorwart.
Dorwart’s junior season ended in heartbreaking fashion on Thurs vs Cornell. The San Jose Jr. Sharks product could become just the 8th Oregon-born player to skate in the #NHL.
Dorwart just wrapped up his junior season with the second-ranked Spartans, losing in heartbreaking fashion to underdog Cornell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Toledo.
The Sherwood, Oregon native has been one of the big-time players in East Lansing, despite not carrying the same clout as an NHL an NHL prospect like teammates Trey Augustine (Detroit Red Wings) and Isaac Howard (Tampa Bay Lightning).
Dorwart finished second on MSU in scoring this season with 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points, trailing Howard’s impressive 52-point campaign. It came after a career-best 34-point season for Dorwart in 2023-24, in which he helped the Spartans make it to the national tournament for the first time in 12 years.
In his three years under head coach Adam Nightingale, Dorwart was part of a rejuventated Spartan program that won back-to-back Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Championships and has earned the respect of the rest of the country after hanging around the top of the national polls for most of the 2024-25 season.
It’s not yet known if Dorwart would go straight to the NHL or sign a contract for next season, giving the team the option to send the former Spartan to its American Hockey League affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, on an amateur tryout.
If and when he would debut with the Flyers, the 27-year-old would become the eighth player out of the state of Oregon to play in the NHL.
The Flyers (29-36-9) are last in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Buffalo Sabres for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Coincidentally, Philly is scheduled to host the Sabres on Saturday afternoon.