Karsen Dorwart to make NHL debut Saturday for Flyers: ‘It is going to be a dream come true’

It’s a long, winding drive on roads with trees lining the way to the Hotchkiss School, tucked along the New York and Massachusetts borders in Northwest Connecticut. But for Karsen Dorwart, who spent two years at the New England prep school before heading to Michigan State, his travels to the NHL went a little straighter.

One week after the undrafted center signed his two-year entry-level contract with the Flyers, he will make his NHL debut on Saturday in an Original Six spot, Montreal.

“Anywhere you do it is going to be a dream come true,” said Dorwart, who will also be making his first-ever trip to the Canadian city. “[Playing in the NHL is] all I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid. So, just very fortunate and blessed to be in the position I am.”

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Dorwart had several NHL teams clamoring to ink a deal, but opted for the Flyers after wrapping up three years with the Spartans. According to Dorwart, general manager Danny Brière and president Keith Jones had been in contact with him throughout his junior season and expressed the opportunities available to him at center with the position thin in the organization.

So there he was, on the ice for practice on Wednesday sporting No. 23 — he wore No. 28 in college — and skating between Garnet Hathaway and Nick Deslauriers.

“He looks like a worker to me,” interim coach Brad Shaw said. “That could be a real effective line. … Going on the road, they’re two very veteran guys [who] probably can help calm the nerves a little bit and help keep him on focus and on point. So that’s how we’ll start it anyway.”

Hathaway, who was spotted giving the 22-year-old fist bumps often, also knows a thing or two about the unique pressure Dorwart is under: representing an entire state. According to Hockey Reference, the gritty veteran forward is one of eight players from Maine to don an NHL jersey. Dorwart will be the ninth guy from Oregon.

“Obviously, not a lot of guys have done it; hockey’s not very popular out there,” Dorwart said. “Hopefully it grows with the team in Seattle now, but it’s just cool. I was blessed to have so many influential people who helped me during my time there, just growing up. They deserve all the credit in the world to help me get to the next point.”

Growing up in Sherwood, located 17 miles outside of Portland, Dorwart watched a lot of Minnesota Wild games because of his parents, but became a fan of Nathan MacKinnon. In 2013, he watched the current Colorado Avalanche star and the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League beat the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League in the Memorial Cup championship game.

Now 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, Dorwart lived in Oregon until he was 14, heading to California to play for the San Jose Jr. Sharks in 2017-18. During his two seasons, he billeted with former NHLer Curtis Brown, who was the team’s head coach. After Hotchkiss, he played a year in the United States Hockey League with the Sioux Falls Stampede, before enrolling at Michigan State.

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Across three seasons, Dorwart played in 111 games for MSU, collecting 38 goals and 92 points. This season, he had 31 points in 35 games for the No. 2 overall seed Spartans, including tying for the team lead with five power-play goals. Dorwart was on the second power play for the Flyers on Wednesday.

“I asked him the first time I met him, ‘What’s your best asset?’ He said, ‘His head, his brain.’ He really thinks the game well he feels. And that’s a great answer for me,” said Shaw. “I like guys who are aware on the ice. But I was impressed with how he got around today. And it’s not easy sometimes, your first day, a lot of nerves out there. So seems like a really centered and focused and humble young man.”

With Hathaway returning Monday after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury and Dorwart set to slot in, Rodrigo Ābols and Olle Lycksell were the odd men out on Wednesday. … There is a chance goalie Aleksei Kolosov will play down the stretch. “We plan on playing him,” Shaw said. “There’s lots of different scenarios right now. I’m not sure when that is, but we anticipate him playing a game.” … Former NHL goalie Mark Laforest died Tuesday at the age of 62. Laforest played 38 games for the Flyers from 1987-89.