Buffalo Sabres Draft Pick Ethan Miedema Commits to Bemidji State Beavers

Ethan Miedema, a 6-foot-4 left wing taken 109th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, has committed to Bemidji State University for the 2026-27 season, handing head coach Tom Serratore one of the most decorated incoming forwards the Beavers program has seen in years.

The 21-year-old from Cobourg, Ontario, wrapped up his fifth OHL season with the Guelph Storm this spring, posting 21 goals and 22 assists for 43 points in 58 games as an overage forward. His earlier OHL career, split across four seasons with the Windsor Spitfires and Kingston Frontenacs, produced 188 points on 75 goals and 113 assists. EliteProspects has described him as a player who "easily turns passes into blistering wristers" while reading the ice well enough to make teammates better, a dual-threat quality that is notable at any size and particularly rare at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds.

Miedema attended Buffalo's training camps in both 2023 and 2024, but did not sign a professional contract with the Sabres before the June 1, 2025 deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent and clearing the way for his NCAA commitment. That deadline passing is a familiar inflection point in college hockey: when professional rights expire after a player has maximized junior eligibility, Division I programs can land a finished product rather than a prospect still finding his game.

What Serratore is bringing to Bemidji was a tracked commodity long before Buffalo selected him. Miedema was the 4th overall pick of the Windsor Spitfires in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection, giving him a pedigree that predates even his NHL draft year. Guelph Storm coach Mann, who carries 13 years of AHL experience into the Ontario junior level, pointed to Miedema's professional off-ice training habits as a defining characteristic, suggesting the forward arrives in Beltrami County already operating with the discipline of someone preparing for a professional career.

For Bemidji State, which competes in the CCHA after helping co-found the conference in 2021-22, the commitment signals recruiting credibility that reaches beyond any single season's roster needs. Serratore is in his 25th year leading a program with seven NAIA national championships and a 2010 NCAA Frozen Four appearance on its resume. Landing a fourth-round NHL pick with 188 junior points and the backing of a coach with more than a decade of professional experience is the kind of recruiting headline that resonates with prospects in Ontario as much as it does with longtime Beaver fans in Bemidji.