Seven Massachusetts defensemen are at this week's USA Boys National 16 Camp in Amherst. Three are returning from last year's NAT 15 roster. Four are first-time camp invitees. Together they represent every team color on the ice this week except White and Kelly.
| Defenseman | Camp Team | 2025-26 Prep | G | A | P | NAT 15 ('25) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Fishbone | Orange | St. Sebastian's | 6 | 23 | 29 | — |
| Nicholas Ware | Grey | Belmont Hill | 0 | 25 | 25 | Yes |
| Logan Cotter | Yellow | St. Mark's | 5 | 17 | 22 | Yes |
| Tyler Poti | Black | Winchendon | 1 | 16 | 17 | — |
| Brodie Anderson | Royal | Cushing Academy | 3 | 9 | 12 | Yes |
| Ryan Porter | Red | Dexter Southfield | 2 | 9 | 11 | — |
| Jorden Marzi | Columbia | Rivers | 2 | 1 | 3 | — |
The Three Returners
Logan Cotter
Cotter wraps up his prep career at St. Mark's and heads straight to the Green Bay Gamblers for 2026-27. That's the cleanest path for a 2010-born defenseman: tendered to a USHL club at 15, skipping the rest of prep entirely. Last season at St. Mark's he produced 22 points (5G, 17A), with the Militia Hockey Club serving as his club program. He played on Purple at the 2025 NAT 15 camp. His Yellow team plays Orange, Columbia, and Black through the week. Cotter is the only one of the seven already locked into a junior commitment.
Brodie Anderson
Anderson is one of five players who left Massachusetts prep schools this off-season to join Master's Academy International, which opened a new Massachusetts campus this year. He put up 12 points (3G, 9A) at Cushing last season with the Minuteman Flames as his club program, and was on Forest at the 2025 NAT 15 camp. He plays for Royal this week — alongside fellow Mass returnee Robert Dekleine — and faces some loaded matchups: Lime (Jamie Calla) on Saturday, Black (Tyler Poti) on Monday, Gold (Drew Short) on Tuesday. Royal is a team to watch all week.
Nicholas Ware
Ware is the most curious story of the three. He played at last year's NAT 15 camp on Columbia. Coming off a 2025-26 prep season that included 25 assists from the Belmont Hill blue line — the most by any MA defenseman tracked here — he was not on the NAT 16 camp roster when it was initially announced, but is now in Amherst this week. He plays for Grey, alongside fellow Belmont Hill teammate Austin Wu (forward) and Will Torres (goalie, Rivers / Master's). His club program is the Neponset Valley River Rats. Watch Gray vs. Lime on Friday and Gold vs. Gray on Saturday — Ware is on the ice in both.
The Four First-Timers
Sam Fishbone
The headline first-timer on this list. Fishbone finished 2025-26 with 29 points (6G, 23A) — the top production of any MA defenseman tracked on State of Hockey. He skated for Minuteman Flames as his club team, and was not selected to the 2025 NAT 15 camp. The leap from "not on the radar" to "leading scorer at his position" in one prep season is the kind of trajectory U.S. Hockey notices. He's at camp on Orange — one of four Mass players on the same roster (Barrett, Carlin, Roe, and Fishbone). The Orange-vs-Yellow game on Saturday will pit him against Cotter; the Red-vs-Gray game on Monday puts him against Ware indirectly through the larger story.
Tyler Poti
Poti put up 17 points (1G, 16A) from the Winchendon blue line last season, with the Islanders Hockey Club as his club program. Sandwich, MA native. He's the only Mass player on Black, the smallest MA contingent on any team this week. That puts a bigger spotlight on him in every game — Black plays Gold (Drew Short) on Friday, Red on Saturday, Royal on Monday, and Gray on Tuesday. Returning to Winchendon for 2026-27 — same prep program, second year of camp consideration to come.
Ryan Porter
Porter posted 11 points (2G, 9A) at Dexter Southfield last season with Minuteman Flames as his club. Hanover, MA. He's on Red with forward Carter Felt — two Mass players on a team that gets matchups against Royal (with Anderson and Dekleine) on Friday and Gray (with Ware, Wu, Torres) on Monday. Returning to Dexter Southfield for 2026-27.
Jorden Marzi
Marzi finished 2025-26 with 3 points (2G, 1A) at Rivers, club program Minuteman Flames. Hopkinton, MA. He's the only Mass player on Columbia, which adds a particular spotlight: Columbia plays Kelly on Friday (Colin Walsh), White on Saturday, Orange on Sunday (Fishbone, Barrett, Carlin, Roe), and Yellow on Monday (Cotter, Sawyer). Several matchups with MA players in each.
What's at Stake
Per USA Hockey's own program book: "Players from the USA Hockey Boys 16 Camp will be evaluated and chosen to play for the U.S. Under-17 Men's Select Team playing in the Under-17 Four Nations Tournament."
For all seven, this week is the audition.