Matias Vanhanen confirms commitment to Boston College
Published 11:00 am Wednesday, July 22, 2026
The Everett Silvertips lost another key piece to their championship core.
Matias Vanhanen committed to Boston College for the upcoming season, departing after one season in Everett where he finished as the team’s leading scorer and set a franchise rookie record with 87 points (21 goals, 66 assists) in 62 games. The 18-year-old winger becomes the latest Canadian Hockey League talent to make the move to the NCAA, and he will be the first WHL player to join the BC program.
The commitment was first reported by The BC Hockey Blog. Vanhanen both confirmed the move to The Herald and posted the news on his Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’ll go there next year and hopefully play (a) couple years and then make my NHL debut,” Vanhanen told The Herald via text message.
The New Jersey Devils selected Vanhanen with the 37th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on June 27, and Vanhanen delayed in making a decision for next season in order to receive input from the organization that drafted him. In the end, both Vanhanen and the Devils decided he would benefit more from facing bigger, stronger competition in the NCAA.
“I got to play against bigger guys, so I can improve my strength,” Vanhanen told The Herald over the phone last week. “They know I’m pretty good with the puck, so I got to just play with bigger and older guys, so I can improve what I think I can improve off the ice being in the gym (a lot), and I think that’s something colleges (do) pretty good.”
With Vanhanen’s departure, the entire Silvertips top line from last season will be in new places this year. Detroit Red Wings prospect Carter Bear and Seattle Kraken prospect Julius Miettinen will each be trying to break into their respective team’s opening night lineup, but will otherwise play for their AHL affiliate.
Everett’s top defensive pair of Tarin Smith (Minnesota) and Landon DuPont (Michigan) will also be moving to the NCAA, so there will be plenty of opportunity for returning players to take on bigger roles as the team attempts to defend the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL Champions.
The Silvertips started that process by trading up for the sixth overall pick in the CHL Import Draft, where they selected Czech forward Dario Blengino, who signed with the team on Monday.
“Dario has tremendous speed and skill,” Everett general manager Mike Fraser said in the team’s press release. “He’s someone that our European scout Alessandro Benin has kept a close eye on for over a year now. He plays the game like a Silvertip and has the potential to be a highly impactful forward in our league. We look forward to seeing him in Everett this season.”
As for Vanhanen, he’ll look to exceed what his sister, Sanni, accomplished at Ohio State this past season, when the Buckeyes reached the national title game before falling short to Wisconsin.
