Brantford pipeline via Sault
They are a well assembled, finely tuned Ontario Hockey League machine with championship aspirations for this season. And while the Brantford Bulldogs are flush with 2006 and 2007 birth year forwards that include National Hockey League first round draft picks Jett Luchanko, Marek Vanacker and Jake O’Brien, their general manager has not lost sight of the future and younger players such as 2008 birth year right winger Nik Rossetto.
A Sault Ste. Marie native, the 5 foot 9, 160 pound Rossetto is in his season OHL season with Brantford. The youngster, who missed the first 16 games of this ’25-26 OHL campaign following major off season shoulder surgery, is slowly but surely rounding into form, according to Brantford GM Spencer Hyman.
“He is starting to come on more and more every game and look like himself again,” Hyman relayed to Hockey News North. “Shoulder injuries are difficult to come back from and they take time. But Nik is doing a great job and we are excited for what is to come from him. He is going to be a top six forward for us at some point.”
Known for being a team player of good character and someone who is from a good family that includes his mom Meisha and his dad Mark are traits of Rossetto’s that are not lost on Hyman as the Brantford GM.
“Not only is Nik a very good hockey player but he is a great human being,” Hyman noted of Rossetto, who has two goals, two assists, four points in 21 games for Brantford thus far this season as a depth forward in the ultra talented Bulldogs lineup.
Rossetto had himself a better than average OHL rookie season for a 16 year old in ’24-25, one in which he tallied 10 goals, 13 assists, 23 points in 62 games, playoffs included for Brantford. He then had the shoulder surgery following the ’24-25 season.
An electrifying forward at the minor hockey level, Rossetto became somewhat of a gamble of a pick by Brantford in the third round of the 2024 OHL priority selections draft. With so much interest from major Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association schools and indications that he might be headed that way, Rossetto dropped from being a projected first or second rounder to the third round, where Brantford was quick to scoop up the skilled, speedy skater.
After playing all of his minor hockey at home, Rossetto left Sault Ste. Marie for Pittsburgh in 2023 to play in the Jr. Penguins Under 16 AAA elite program. Rossetto sparked all Jr. Penguins in scoring during the ’23-24 regular season with 47 goals, 27 assists, 74 points in 53 games.
To be sure, Rossetto has a lot going for him. And while he may not be getting the playing time that he got as a rookie as he continues to progress from his shoulder injury — not to mention the fact that Brantford loaded up on older players as part of its clear cut intention to make a run at championship glory this season — Rossetto is definitely in a good place with what is a top shelf Bulldogs organization.