ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Danny Briere was aggressive in the first round of the 2025 NHL draft Friday night, moving up to No. 12 and grabbing center Jack Nesbitt.

The Flyers sent pick Nos. 22 and 31 to the Penguins.

Nesbitt is an 18-year-old center with excellent length and smarts, which make him super effective on the forecheck and finishing in close. With more opportunity down the stretch, the 6-foot-4, 186-pounder stood out on a loaded 2024-25 Windsor Spitfires club in the OHL.

“That confidence took me a long way,” Nesbitt said Friday night in a Zoom interview. “Just kept getting better and better. I’m very happy with the outcome and I’m excited to get going.”

For a team that had 124-point Ilya Protas and 119-point Liam Greentree, Nesbitt recorded 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) and a plus-12 rating in 65 games. Six of his goals came on the power play, two were at shorthanded and he won 51.4 percent of his faceoffs. He added 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 12 playoff games.

“I think he’s just touching into what he can become, what we saw in the second half,” Briere, the Flyers’ general manager, said Friday night from the team’s draft headquarters at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “This was his 17-year-old season in the OHL, not too many players are difference-makers at that age. He was already a point per game at that age, at his size.

“I think next year, he’ll take another step. We hope so, that’s what we see. We’re pretty confident that he’s just touching the tip of the iceberg on his development part.”

From February to the end of the regular season, Nesbitt put up 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 18 games.

“We think his upside is really, really strong,” Dan Marr, the vice president of NHL Central Scouting, said June 11 in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. “I think teams will step up for him. It was consensus with our group and I think it’s consensus with a lot of NHL teams.

“Windsor was very well-scouted near the end of the year and in the playoffs just because he continued to elevate his game as the season went along. So I think this is a player that teams will step up for. He has got so much room to grow, so much room.”

Nesbitt was the 15th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. EliteProspects.com had him at No. 48 overall on its board, while TSN’s Craig Button had him at 38th.

As he develops, Nesbitt will have to improve his foot speed, which would help his ability to separate and score.

“I play a very physical game,” Nesbitt said. “As a bigger guy, I need to improve my skating. I’m looking to put on a lot weight, so that’s going to come, as well. I’m going to be working a lot on my skating, quick feet. As a centerman, I’m going to have to get out of those small areas pretty quick, get on the forecheck, stuff like that.”

Center has been a position of need for the Flyers organizationally. They addressed it in the first round last summer when they took speedster Jett Luchanko out of the OHL. Nesbitt gives the Flyers another OHL pivot with some all-situation qualities.

Earlier in the first round Friday night, the Flyers grabbed winger Porter Martone at sixth overall.

“We’re ecstatic to have the chance to draft those two guys,” Briere said.

The draft wraps up Saturday with Rounds 2-7. Here’s where the Flyers are slotted to pick.

More Flyers draft coverage

• Flyers take Martone at No. 6 to kick off their NHL draft 2025

• Flyers open second round of NHL draft 2025 with 6-foot-6 defenseman

• Flyers add a U.S. forward with some positional versatility in second round

• Busy second round continues with a teammate of a Flyers prospect

• Flyers grab another big center to wrap up four picks in second round

• Finnish winger who made impressive second-half climb goes to Flyers in fifth round

• Flyers draft 6-foot-4, righty-shot defenseman in fifth round

• Flyers close out their NHL draft 2025 class with a sixth-round center