Cerrato Goes 49th Overall in Second Round of the 2025 NHL Draft

Cerrato becomes the 18th Nittany Lion all-time to hear his name called in the NHL Draft and he is now the second-highest draft pick all-time behind incoming freshman Jackson Smith who was selected in the first round on Friday.

Cerrato burst onto the scene in Hockey Valley and was voted by his peers as the 2024-25 Freshman of the Year following the second-best rookie campaign in program history. Cerrato finished the year with 42 points on 15 goals and 27 assists topping all freshmen in the Big Ten in each offensive category while his point and assist totals ranked second nationally and his goal total was good for third among first-year skaters.

The Fallston, Maryland native became just the second Nittany Lion rookie to reach the 40-point mark and tied for the fifth highest scoring season of all-time while his 27 assists are the second-most by a freshman and tied for the third-most in a single-season all-time and his 15 goals were tied for the fifth-most by a PSU rookie.

The 6-1, 195-pound centerman was also dynamite on the draw ranking in the top-10 nationally all season long winning 57.2 percent (388-for-678) of his faceoffs as a rookie.

After signing their national letters of intent back in November a pair of future Nittany Lions also heard their names called as Kieren Dervin was selected with the 65th overall pick in the third round by the Vancouver Canucks and Kale Dach went in the seventh round to the Pittsburgh Penguins at pick No. 201.

Dervin and Dach will each play junior hockey in the CHL next season before enrolling at Penn State in the future.