Philadelphia Flyers defensive prospect Carter Amico will be joining the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks for the remainder of the 2025-26 season after having spent the first half of the season with Boston University.
Amico, a second round pick from the most recent draft, had suffered a terrible injury last year that essentially wiped out his draft season, as he only played in 4 games for the U.S. National Development Team. The Flyers loved the potential that he carried and used one of their four second round picks on the hulking defenseman.
Amico made his return to the ice with Boston University this year but struggled to the tune of 0 points in 18 games. He was scratched this past weekend before making the decision to join the Lumberjacks in an attempt to regain his form, confidence, and momentum that had him pegged as a potential late first round pick pre-injury.
The 18-year-old admitted that this was the best path for his development after his injury and that the college route was a lot tougher than he had expected. However, he’s excited about what the future holds in store as a member of the Lumberjacks.
“I believe that my development path was thrown a curve ball with a tough injury over the past year, and I can admit that college was a tougher challenge than I was anticipating.” said Amico. “I think the Jacks can help propel my development in the direction I want to go. I’m grateful for the opportunity the Lumberjacks are giving me.”
Head coach Colten St. Clair is also excited about having a player like Amico on the club, as it gives the Lumberjacks an entirely different feel on the back-end when you can add a 6’5”, 225-pound puck-moving defenseman into the mix.
“You’re looking at a high-end ceiling defenseman who has good size, is somebody who was ready for college, but just needs more minutes and more puck touches. We are excited to develop his game into that, and he is going to be a good, experienced defenseman that plays a lot of heavy minutes for us.”
It’s also not the worst case scenario that Amico will be finishing out the season in the USHL, as he can follow in the path of fellow second round pick Ivan Ryabkin, who played out his draft season with the Lumberjacks as well.
At one point, Ryabkin was seen as a fringe first rounder with second round potential before a tough start to his season overseas plummeted his stock to the middle to late rounds. However, his resurgence with the Lumberjacks midseason propelled him back into the second round, where he was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes.
In the USHL, Amico can hone in on his skills and have a proper development season that the Flyers were hoping for. If he can ameliorate his numbers and regain his confidence, he should be a shoe-in to play major minutes for Boston University next year, but it’s going to be a critical end-of-season run for the Westbrook, Maine native as he needs to make a good impression.
The Lumberjacks are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference with a 23-10-0-0 record, but trail only Dubuque by 2 points and Youngstown and Green Bay by 3 points with plenty of games in hand. Amico will be leaned on by St. Clair to help the Lumberjacks finish out the season strong as they still have 29 games left on the docket, which could be music to the ears of the Flyers front office.
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