BOSTON - For an undrafted player, a rookie camp invite is a strange kind of prize. It doesn’t come with a contract, and it doesn’t promise anything beyond a couple of prospect games. But for Will Manchuso, it still meant a lot when the Bruins called.
The 18-year-old Concord, Mass., forward was ranked No. 104 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting for the 2026 NHL Draft after putting up 32 goals and 27 assists in 24 games for St. Mark’s School in 2025-26.
Still, all 32 NHL teams passed on using draft capital on him. Then, the next month, while Manchuso was skating, Matt and Ryan Keator - his family advisers - heard from Boston that the hometown team wanted him at 2026-27 rookie camp.
The Keators accepted for him, and Manchuso never got the chance to say no.
“Obviously, being from here,” Manchuso said with a laugh, “it’s a pretty easy decision.”
Manchuso is one of eight undrafted and unsigned players the Bruins brought in for camp, joining Jack Bar, Jordan Duguay, Nolen Geerdes, Jan Larys, Niko Tournas, Jaxsin Vaughan and Thomas Zocco. They’re there to help fill out the roster alongside higher-profile talent like James Hagens, the No. 7 pick in 2025, and the reward for all of them is limited to back-to-back prospect games against the Buffalo Sabres. Whether any of them move on to main camp on Wednesday is still up in the air.
As for the extras? Manchuso wasn’t exactly expecting a locker room haul.
“I don’t know about the gear,” Manchuso said with a smile when asked if he could leave camp with some swag. “Hopefully a few T-shirts.”
Even so, this camp matters to him. He’ll play this season for the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, and after being overlooked once already, he doesn’t want that feeling again in 2027.
“Just make the biggest impact,” the left-shot forward said of his camp objective. “Obviously, there are people watching.
My goal last year was to get drafted. It’s still a continuous goal next year.”
Vaughan’s path looks a little different, and so does the pressure attached to it. The 20-year-old right-shot forward from Kamloops, B.C., came to Boston after the Ducks invited him to rookie camp in 2024-25 and after a productive WHL season with Everett: 21 goals, 17 assists and 75 penalty minutes in 75 games. The Bruins had already seen him at summer development camp, then told him they wanted him back in September.
He even floated the possibility of doing what it takes if the games get chippy.
“Absolutely,” said Vaughan of fighting if needed. “That’s part of my role.
I’m willing to accept that at whatever level that I play in. If that opportunity presents itself, definitely I can see myself doing that.”
Vaughan spent Thursday flying from Seattle to Boston, and he’s likely headed back to Everett once this stretch is done, though the exact date hasn’t been set. He said making the Bruins would be “pretty cool,” but he’s not expecting that outcome.
“That would be pretty cool,” Vaughan said with a smile of making the Bruins. “But I’m expecting to be back in Everett.”
What happens after this season is still very much open. It’s Vaughan’s last WHL year, and next fall could send him in a few different directions: pro hockey, maybe even with Boston if the Bruins remain interested, or NCAA hockey as a 21-year-old freshman. The same uncertainty hangs over his twin brother, Corbin Vaughan, who last played defense for the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
“I wouldn’t say it’s 50-50, but school and pro are definitely on the table,” said Jaxsin Vaughan. “We’ll see how this year goes for me and for my brother as well.
If I’m going to go to school, I’d love to do that with my twin brother. Pretty uncertain right now.
We’ll see how this year goes and go from there.”
Manchuso’s timeline is less tangled. He’s headed to Dartmouth as a freshman in 2027-28, so this week is more about making an impression than deciding a future. Still, the camp gives him a chance to show he belongs against older, stronger players.
His road to Boston has already been unusual. He played the last two seasons for former Bruin Carl Corazzini at St.
Mark’s, where he loved the school, the boarding life and the daily rhythm with teammates. He called Corazzini the best coach he’s had so far.
“Best time of my life,” said Manchuso. “It was so much fun getting to be with your teammates.
You have a practice, get off the ice, go to dinner and hang out with them right until you go to bed. You got to know those guys so well.
They’re some of my best friends for life. The hockey part, Corazzini’s the best coach I’ve had in my life so far.”
He had committed to Dartmouth after his sophomore year, then made another big move after the St. Mark’s season ended in March.
Manchuso transferred to Concord-Carlisle High School, loaded up on schoolwork and graduated in June so he could devote himself to hockey with Moncton. He reported to Wildcats training camp on Aug. 17, missed the preseason finale and several practices while with the Bruins, and still found a way to make an impression quickly.
Providence coach Trent Whitfield, who is running rookie camp games and practices, noticed the shot right away.
“The Manchuso kid’s a really good shooter. He can score,” Whitfield said after the first practice.
“Is he going to be able to get to the hard areas at the net at the next level? This camp, this week, will be a good measuring stick for him.
He’s obviously got a ton of potential.”
Manchuso already scored two goals in three preseason games for Moncton before leaving for Boston, and he projects as an offensive driver for the Wildcats. Whether that eventually turns into something more with the Bruins is another matter entirely, but the invite alone has already given him a taste of what’s possible.
“Imagine that!” Manchuso said with a smile.
“That would be awesome. Maybe in a couple years from now.”
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