Carter Matthews commits to RPI
RPI receives its first '06 commitment from AJHL defenseman
Last week, RPI received a commitment from Carter Matthews, a defenseman from Calgary, Alberta. Matthews is the RPI staff’s first ’06 commitment who I expect is tabbed for a 2026 arrival, but perhaps 2025 if his development goes swimmingly. Matthews is playing with the Camrose Kodiaks of the AJHL and becomes the 10th! RPI recruit currently playing in this league.
Matthews has appeared in 28 games in his first AJHL season, producing 3 goals and 5 assists thus far. He is third in the league in scoring for ’06 defensemen, which excites me that he is developing well at his young age. He also has logged solid powerplay time which is encouraging that there is offense to dip into down the road. Carter is listed at 5’11 and 160 pounds on the AJHL page but 6’1 and 172 on Elite Prospects which obviously makes a difference but nonetheless he seems to have average size. An old scouting report notes Matthews as an athletic skater who plays with poise along the blue line. He is also described as a strong player with good natural speed. I think his package resembles Nick Strom’s, as both are strong puck movers with average size and good hockey IQ.
One interesting note with this commitment is that Dave Smith and co. have found a few recruiting hubs over the years such as: Lone Star (NAHL) which produced Linden, Hallbauer, and Addamo as a transfer, West Kelowna (BCHL) with Ardanaz, Evans, Kyrkostas, Hilditch, and Caron, and now Camrose (AJHL) is the newest one, tabbing Sullivan, Lemieux, and Matthews.
It goes without saying that there is not a ton of information out there about a 17-year-old who is playing his first full year of junior, but early indications seem that he is a solid blue-line piece that brings stability and offensive upside. Additionally, Matthews has a younger brother who seems to be a very strong player but is not a candidate for RPI as he has gone the WHL route. Being from Alberta, I expect that he will likely stay in the AJHL for at least another year since that is close to home for him. I am excited to see how Carter develops over the next few years and expect him to arrive in Troy in 2026. Congratulations to Carter and his family!