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Flames prospect Cole Reschny named NCHC’s Rookie of the Year
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Photo credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff
Ryan Pike
Mar 18, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 18, 2026, 10:52 EDT
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Lately it seems like every day or so, there’s another Calgary Flames prospect earning some sort of accolade from the world of college hockey.
On Tuesday afternoon, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference announced that University of North Dakota freshman Cole Reschny was named the conference’s Rookie of the Year.
Via the conference’s announcement, here’s what they had to say about Reschny’s 2025-26 campaign:
Reschny is the second straight Fighting Hawk to earn NCHC Rookie of the Year and the third in four seasons, after Sacha Boisvert took home the honor last season and current Carolina Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake captured Rookie of the Year in 2022-23. Reschny is the fifth North Dakota player to win NCHC Rookie of the Year in the conference’s 13-year history, with current Vancouver Canuck Brock Boeser (2015-16) and current Ottawa Senator Shane Pinto (2019-20) also claiming the award.
Reschny was a near-unanimous NCHC All-Rookie Team selection this year after leading all NCHC freshmen with 31 points and 26 assists in 30 regular-season games, while scoring five goals. The Calgary Flames draft pick is now up to 34 points and 29 assists in 33 games (1.03 ppg), both of which still lead all NCHC rookies. He is riding an eight-game point streak into the NCAA Tournament after tallying assists in all three NCHC Tournament games.
Reschny has also been strong in the faceoff dot, ranking third among NCHC rookies with 276 faceoff wins this season, while his 54.9 win percentage is second among NCHC freshman centers. The Macklin, Saskatchewan native led all NCHC rookies with a +12 plus/minus during the regular season, as well.
In conference play, Reschny also led freshmen with 23 points and 19 assists, scoring four of his five goals in NCHC action, including a game-winner. Overall, he recorded nine multi-point games in the regular season and has at least one point in 23 of 33 outings to date. He was twice named NCHC Forward of the Week and once Rookie of the Week this year.
A product of Macklin, Saskatchewan, Reschny played two seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Victoria Royals. He was a first-round selection by the Flames, 18th overall, in the 2025 NHL Draft. After a superb draft year with the Royals he took advantage of the new pathway to the NCAA for major junior players and committed to North Dakota.
So far, that move has looked pretty smart. Reschny lined up as a second line centre with the Fighting Hawks this season and emerged as a really strong two-way centre, winning face-offs at a high rate while also scoring consistently. In addition to being the conference’s Rookie of the Year, Reschny was previously named to their All-Rookie Team. He also was part of a Canadian national junior team that captured bronze at the World Juniors. All-in-all, he had a really successful freshman season.
Reschny’s Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie plaudits are among several impressive collegiate performances by Flames college prospects in 2025-26:
  • Tyson Gross was named the NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year
  • Jonathan Castagna was named to the ECAC First All-Star Team, and is a long-list finalist for the Hobey Baker
  • Ethan Wyttenbach was named to the ECAC First All-Star Team and All-Rookie Team, and also a long-list finalist for the Hobey Baker
  • Eric Jamieson was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team
  • Abram Wiebe was named to the NCHC Second All-Star Team
(And this is with Henry Mews missing most of the season and Cullen Potter missing a good chunk of the season, both due to season-ending injuries.)
We’ll have more on Flames prospects winning college awards as they continue to win them.

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