Stuart brings deep understanding of NHL lifestyle to 2025 draft

The 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held June 27-28 at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The first round will be held June 27 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on June 28 (Noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Today, a look at center Jake Stuart of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team. Full draft coverage can be found here.

Jake Stuart feels he is well-prepared for the NHL Draft.

After starring for the Los Angeles Junior Kings at high-profile tournaments, he spent the past two seasons as a forward with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. He added approximately 35 pounds during his time at the NTDP, guided by strength and conditioning coach Brian Galivan, who recently accepted the same role with the Buffalo Sabres.

Stuart (5-foot-9, 161 pounds) also has a hard-wired knowledge of the NHL lifestyle, which he began absorbing long before lacing up his first pair of skates.

Consider the chronology:

Brad Stuart was a Boston Bruins defenseman when Jake, his oldest son, was born Jan. 8, 2007. Barely one month later, on Feb. 10, 2007, Brad was traded to Calgary in a deal that brought future Stanley Cup champion Andrew Ference to Boston.

Stuart's contract expired after the 2006-07 season. He signed with the Los Angeles Kings in July, 2007, as Jake was about to turn 6 months old. The Stuarts would be based full-time in California.

Actually, not quite.

During the following season, the Detroit Red Wings sized up potential Western Conference playoff opponents and determined they needed to upgrade their corps of defensemen. On Feb. 26, 2008, they acquired Stuart from the Kings for two draft picks.

That's how Brad Stuart wore four NHL jerseys within his first 14 months as a father. For the record, the moves were worthwhile: On June 4, 2008, Stuart and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.

Brad would play another eight seasons in the NHL, the final four split between two seasons each with San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche, as the Stuarts tried to spend more time at (or near) their home in California. Jake was two months shy of his ninth birthday when Brad played his final NHL game, with the Avalanche on Nov. 10, 2015.

As Jake reflected on those years, he offered one of the greatest compliments a traveling parent could hear.

"I don't remember him being gone a lot," Jake said. "That's the weird thing. Even though he was [traveling], I don't remember him being gone. He was always kind of there. He'd always find a way to come back home for a little bit."

It helped that Jake and younger brother Logan spent time at the rink with Brad. Jake always loved the No. 9 and gravitated to the players who wore it for his dad's teams. That’s how Jake became a fan of Martin Havlat in San Jose and Matt Duchene in Colorado.

In retirement, Brad became an assistant coach with the Junior Kings, working with defensemen in Jake's 2007 birth year and Logan’s 2008 group.

The irony, of course, is that both Jake and Logan now are forwards.

What happened there?

"I don't really know," Jake said. "I did play [defenseman] for a year, but we both started at forward.

"I was always good at scoring goals when I was little. I tried to play defense when I was 12. I think that was good for me, helped me with my defensive play, but then I missed playing offense so I switched back."

Along the way, Jake and Logan became the 26th set of siblings to play for the NTDP. Logan, a center on the U-17 team this season, is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft.

They played two games together, one with Logan playing up on the U-18 team and one with Jake playing on the U-17 team when he was returning from injury.

Insert photo: stuart-brothers-split

"Off the ice people usually say we're pretty similar," Jake said. "I don't see it, but that's what everyone says. ... Hockey-wise, I think we're both really smart players. We can both play on both sides of the puck. He's usually a better goal-scorer than me, and I'm a better passer."

Stuart, playing center and left wing, had 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 44 games this season. A fractured knuckle kept him out of the 2025 IIHF Under-18 World Championship in April, but he has been cleared to resume full hockey activities.

He will play next season with Muskegon in the United States Hockey League before enrolling at the University of Denver in the fall of 2026. Stuart said he opted for Muskegon because of its winning culture, including the 2025 Clark Cup championship, and a track record of developing players.

Stuart credits Galivan's off-ice program and state-of-the-art training equipment at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, for setting up his future in hockey.

"All the machinery in there is just unbelievable," Stuart said. "I don't think anywhere else on the planet has what they have at GVN [Galivan's sports performance center]. The things we do are extremely hard, but it's really good for you. You put on a lot of weight, a lot of muscle. There's nothing like it in the world.

"[My dad] understands how hard it is. We're working out for an hour, hour and a half each day [after] being on the ice for an hour and a half. It's a lot. Back then I don't think he was doing all of this. I don't think anyone was."

Brad Stuart won silver for Canada at the 1999 IIHF World Junior Championship and played at the IIHF World Championship twice, including in 2006 alongside Sidney Crosby. Jake remembers cheering for Canada national teams as a kid. That changed just before his 10th birthday, when the U.S. won World Junior gold in a memorable shootout against Canada in Montreal at the 2017 WJC.

Jake has cheered for the U.S. ever since, and for the past two seasons he's worn a USA Hockey sweater. Now his NHL journey is set to begin. Undoubtedly there will be unexpected moves along the way but that's OK. For Jake Stuart, the lessons of a life in hockey began at 1 month old.