The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, and the organization’s developmental model has begun to yield results, with 2023 first rounder Zach Benson making an impact in the playoffs, and 2024 top pick Konsta Helenius appearing as one of the AHL’s top prospects the last two seasons.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. These players are all 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 82 NHL games.
15. Ryan Johnson - D (Rochester - AHL, Buffalo - NHL)
Johnson was a late first round pick for the Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver, and played four years at the University of Minnesota before signing an entry-level deal in 2023. He split time between the AHL Amerks and Buffalo as a rookie, playing 41 games in 2023-24, but has only seen spot duty the last two seasons.
Who will pick up the scoring this season with the departure of Alex Tuch?
Last year, he scored a career-high 19 points (5 goals, 14 assists) in 56 games with Rochester, but in spite of injuries to both Conor Timmins and Michael Keseelring, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff opted to call up and use Zach Metsa throughout the season.
The 25-year-old is an excellent skater, but is of average size (6’1”, 194 lb), is not overly physical, and has never been a big offensive producer. Following his two-year ELC, Johnson signed a three-year contract extension in July 2025. The first year was a two-way deal since he was waiver exempt, but this and next season, he will have to clear waivers to go down to the AHL.
This increases the possibility of him being dealt before the start of next season or being lost on waivers if he does not make the 23-man roster.
The band of former Philadelphia Flyers players signing contracts with teams overseas continues to grow with yet another addition to the crew.
Already this offseason, we have seen former Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula leave the NHL behind to continue his playing career in the KHL, and journeyman Anthony Richard ended his run with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms to play in Switzerland.
Now, another former Flyers forward will join the growing group and will get to play against Zamula in the KHL, albeit a member of the opposite conference.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that ex-Flyers forward Kevin Hayes would be leaving the NHL after 12 seasons, singing with KHL outfit Ak Bars Kazan on a one-year deal.
Hayes, 34, spent the last two seasons with the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring 17 goals, 14 assists, and 31 points in 92 games there, and did not appear in any of the Pens' Stanley Cup playoff games.
In his last NHL game, back on April 14, Hayes recorded two assists in a 7-5 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the team to which the Flyers traded him in the 2023 offseason to end his tenure in Philadelphia.
The 34-year-old former first-round pick flamed out under former Flyers head coach John Tortorella despite racking up 54 points in a career year in 2022-23, and Hayes was never quite the same after that.
Hayes now joins a high-octane Ak Bars team that finished 38-17-5 last season and lost to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the Gagarin Cup final.
On Ak Bars, Hayes will be lining up alongside the controversial Mitchell Miller, Alexander Chmelevski, Grigori Denisenko, and star goalkeeper Timur Bilyalov.
If this is it for Hayes in the NHL, the veteran forward finishes his career with 185 goals, 261 assists, and 446 points in 805 regular season games, including 63 goals, 84 assists, and 157 points in 253 games with the Flyers.
Although the Philadelphia Flyers were interested in the likes of Zach Werenski and John Carlson this summer and came up short, a mulligan could be in the cards as time winds down on the 2026 offseason.
The Flyers swung and missed on the Leo Carlsson offer sheet and took care of their own business, re-signing Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Nikita Grebenkin following the free agent addition of Noel Acciari.
But, without Carlsson, Werenski, and John Carlson, the Flyers did nothing to address their woeful power play and, realistically, didn't improve at forward or defense.
A second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2027 would depend on internal improvements and the overall health of the roster.
However, if the Flyers are still interested in executing a blockbuster move -- they still have $13 million in cap space to operate with -- there is an RFA available who could be worth the trouble.
Up north in Detroit, Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson is one of the seven remaining unsigned restricted free agents, alongside the likes of Cutter Gauthier, Adam Fantilli, and Alexander Nikishin.
Edvinsson, 23, just finished his entry-level contract and is in need of a long-term, big-money deal following two successful years at the NHL level.
The 6-foot-6 former sixth overall draft pick scored seven goals, 24 assists, and 31 points with a +12 rating for the Red Wings last year, and followed that up with nine goals, 16 assists, and 25 points with a +12 rating again this year.
It took him some time, but Edvinsson has finally arrived at the NHL level and looks like a top-pairing defender to-be... that just might not happen in Detroit.
The problem for Detroit, and the good news for the Flyers, is that the Red Wings still do not have a general manager after Steve Yzerman left his post last month.
Indeed, the Red Wings aren't going to deal Edvinsson without a general manager in place, but neither side is making guarantees of what will ultimately come of this holding pattern afterwards.
"We are patiently waiting for a new general manager," Peter Werner, Edvinsson's agent, told Swedish publication Expressen. "We don’t speculate anything, but patiently await the new general manager."
And Nick Lidstrom, the Red Wings' vice president of hockey ops, doesn't know what will happen either.
Edvinsson continues to develop into a very strong two-way defenseman. (Evolving-Hockey)
“Simon we want to keep, but it's a bit quiet right now. As you know, we are looking for a new general manager," Lidstrom said.
The longer the situation with Edvinsson, the Red Wings, and the general manager search drags out, the bigger a distraction it will become with training camp looming.
And that's not necessarily something Detroit needs with the Dylan Larkin saga ongoing at the same time.
The Flyers have loads of draft capital, including four first-round picks in the next three drafts (thanks, Toronto), and young players to deal to Detroit in an Edvinsson trade with the Red Wings hurtling closer and closer to having to blow up the operation.
With the majority of their core players locked down, the Flyers can pay Edvinsson whatever they need to in order to sign him, which could reasonably exceed $9 million on the current market.
It's a situation worth monitoring closely, as the Flyers want to get bigger, meaner, and more talented on defense, and Edvinsson checks all three boxes.
Hayes heading to the KHL comes after he spent nearly two months on the free agent market. Now, he should be a solid part of Ak Bars Kazan's roster due to his NHL experience.
Hayes heading to the KHL comes after he had a quiet 2025-26 season with the Penguins. He played in just 28 games for Pittsburgh this past season, where he posted four goals and eight points.
Hayes kicked off his NHL career with the Rangers after they signed him to an entry-level contract during the 2014 NHL off-season. This was after Hayes chose not to sign an entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him 24th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Hayes ended up playing five of his 12 NHL seasons with the Rangers from 2014-15 to 2018-19. In 361 games as a member of the Rangers, he posted 87 goals, 129 assists, 216 points, and a plus-31 rating.
Hayes' time with the Rangers ended during the 2018-19 season when he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets ahead of the deadline. From there, he would have stints with the Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, and Penguins.
In 805 career NHL games over 12 seasons, Hayes recorded 185 goals, 261 assists, and 446 points. He was also an All-Star with the Flyers during the 2022-23 season. Overall, the former Rangers forward had himself a nice NHL career, and it will be interesting to see what he can do in the KHL with Ak Bars Kazan from here.
Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kevin Hayes is taking his talents to the KHL.
Ak Bars Kazan has announced that they have signed Hayes to a one-year contract for the 2026-27 season.
Hayes heading to the KHL comes after he spent each of the last two seasons with the Penguins. In 28 games during this past campaign for Pittsburgh, he posted four goals, eight points, 32 hits, and a minus-1 rating. This was after he recorded 13 goals, 10 assists, and 23 points in 64 games with the Penguins during the 2024-25 season.
Overall, Hayes was primarily a depth forward for the Penguins last season but was a solid part of their group because of his leadership qualities. Now, he will be looking to make a big impact in the KHL with Ak Bars Kazan from here.
In 805 career NHL games over 12 seasons split between the New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, and Penguins, Hayes posted 185 goals, 261 assists, and 446 points. He played 92 of those games with Pittsburgh, recording 17 goals and 31 points.
Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka has shaken up the organization on all fronts, notably the roster. There have been multiple additions through trade or free agency since he was hired, and some anticipate that he has more tricks up his sleeve.
On the latest episode of Sportsnet's 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman shared a 2026-27 prediction that someone gave him as he called around the league to get a grip on the latest NHL chatter. That unnamed contact said he predicts that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson will become a member of the Maple Leafs.
It's an interesting thought given the stature of the player that Karlsson is. Maybe he's not the same 100-point defenseman he was in 2022-23 with the San Jose Sharks. But the 36-year-old veteran is coming off a solid campaign with the Penguins this past year, in which he registered 15 goals and 66 points in 75 games, boosting his offensive production from the previous pair of seasons.
There are some aspects of alignment that make this prediction sensible.
Karlsson and the Maple Leafs have been linked before. Pittsburgh's current GM, Kyle Dubas, tried to trade for Karlsson before when he was Toronto's GM. Obviously, once Dubas joined the Penguins, he was able to acquire the offensive defenseman from the Sharks, which suggests he likes the player. While Toronto has a new front office, the Maple Leafs were interested in Karlsson before.
Speaking of the new front office, Maple Leafs icon Mats Sundin is now a big part of the organization as the senior executive advisor to Chayka. Not to mention, Daniel Alfredsson is joining Toronto's coaching staff as an associate coach for the 2026-27 campaign.
The biggest link there is Sundin and Alfredsson being influential figures in Swedish hockey, and Karlsson is one of the greatest Swedish players of his generation.
On top of that, Karlsson and Alfredsson have an extended relationship related to the Ottawa Senators. In the first four years of Karlsson's NHL career, he and Alfredsson were teammates in Ottawa.
If Chayka and the Maple Leafs truly wanted to acquire Karlsson from the Penguins, they may need to exercise that relationship with Alfredsson to convince the three-time Norris Trophy winner. With one-year remaining on his eight-year contract with a $11.5 million salary cap hit, Karlsson has a no-move clause that would need to be waived to go to Toronto.
He has been traded before while owning a no-move clause (San Jose to Pittsburgh), so it's possible that it could happen again.
The possibility of this trade happening also hinges on how this coming season goes for the two clubs. If the Maple Leafs are trending toward being a playoff team and the Penguins are falling out of that race, trading Karlsson becomes more probable.
On the other hand, it wouldn't work if Pittsburgh is pushing for the playoffs, or if Toronto sees a similar campaign to this past year.
In this hypothetical scenario of Karlsson to Toronto, he would immediately be an offensive presence from the back end, which is something the team has lacked in previous years.
The last time a Maple Leafs defenseman reached the production Karlsson achieved in 2025-26 was when Morgan Rielly notched 68 points in 2021-22.
Darren Raddysh will also be capable of putting up strong numbers from the blueline, too, after registering 22 goals and 70 points with the Tampa Bay Lightning this past year. Could adding Karlsson hinder what Raddysh can bring to the Leafs?
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OTTAWA, ON - JUNE 21: 52nd overall pick, Brandon Burlon of the New Jersey Devils poses for a portrait at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft at Scotiabank Place on June 21, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As summer drags on, we look at some past Devils draft picks that never quite made it to the NHL and what happened in their hockey careers. This week, we examine defenseman Brandon Burlon.
All About Burlon
Drafted by the Devils in the 2nd round (56th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Brandon Burlon was the third highest player ever selected from the St. Michael’s Buzzers of the OPJHL after longtime NHLers Andrew Cogliano and Brendan Smith. A 6’0 defenseman, Burlon was alternate captain of the Buzzers in his draft year and committed to the University of Michigan, where he would play three seasons including one final year with future Devils defenseman John Merrill. Burlon’s offensive numbers were never flashy, but solid, even finishing 2nd in defensive scoring for Michigan in his final collegiate season behind the aforementioned Merrill with 18 points in 38 games.
Then it was off to the Albany Devils for Burlon, who would be a mainstay of their defensive core for five full seasons between 2011-2016. Burlon’s best season would be an 8 goal, 36 point campaign in 2014-2015. It would be Burlon’s second to last season in the organization.
Burlon would never get the call. In his final season with the franchise, the playoff-missing Devils would suit up a long list of defenseman, including Eric Gelinas (35 games), David Warsofsky (10 games), Marc-Andre Gragnani (4 games), Seth Helgeson (19 games), Vojtech Mozik (7 games) and Steven Santini (1 game), while seeing regular contributions from the likes of David Schlemko (67 games) and Burlon’s former collegiate teammate John Merrill (47 games), but never Burlon.
The then 26-year-old defender would try his luck with a new organization and would be the first signing of the newly-minted Tuscan Roadrunners after the Coyotes moved their AHL affiliate from Springfield that summer. Injuries would hamper any chance with the Coyotes and 2016-17 would prove to be Burlon’s last season in North America.
Burlon would bounce around Europe first with the of the Dusseldorfer EG of the Deutche Eishockey Liga, then the Stavanger Oilers of Norway’s EHL, followed by a split season between the Hockey Allsvenskan and Austria’s EBEL before the pandemic shut down hockey. Burlon would attempt a brief comeback in 2024-25 playing 8 games for the Orangeville Blitz of the OSHL and two games for the Indy Fuel of the ECHL before ending his career.
Your Thoughts
Do you remember Brandon Burlon? Any other former prospects you would like profiled in this segment? Let us know in the comments below.
Mike and Dan reconvene after some family time to talk about the Islanders third jersey design contest and an article at The Athletic.
After 80,000 submissions, a fan-designed jersey has been chosen for the Islanders to wear in the 2027-28 season. The contest was the brainchild of the Islanders Lord Business himself, Kelly Cheeseman, who can pat himself on the back for a job well done. But we expected to see a little more creativity or “funk” in the final choices, not hear more about how the 54-year-old NHL team is a “Challenger Brand.” The final choice was fine but how we got there raised some questions that may never be fully answered.
In the second half, we discuss The Athletic’s NHL front-office confidence rankings for 2026 and the Islanders’ middling place that shows the disconnect between how the public sees the roster and how fans do. Usually, it was non-Islanders fans thinking too little of them and fans having belief. Now, it’s flipped, and the NHL at large sees an okay team and fans see a directionless disaster. It’s a new dynamic that should raise some eyebrows in the front office and make them see how the customers are looking at their product.
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After a 2025-26 season that saw the Anaheim Ducks finally put their elongated rebuild in the rearview mirror and qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season, they didn’t have quite the 2026 offseason they were hoping for. A historic offer sheet extended to franchise center Leo Carlsson by the Philadelphia Flyers placed the Ducks in an unexpected cap crunch, and now the team will be forced to heavily rely on an influx of youth if they’re to continue to take steps toward perennially contending for Stanley Cups.
However, in an offseason that saw the loss of several roster pieces, including the entire right side of their blueline (Jacob Trouba, John Carlson, Radko Gudas) and two young, talented pieces (Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger), the Ducks’ prospect pool got exponentially deeper and more potent.
With a core firmly in place and playing roles at the top of the lineup, the Ducks will need several of the next 20 names to gradually fill out the depth chart behind said core for the next few years to maximize and elongate their contending window.
Let’s take a look at some of the players with the best chance of breaking through and contributing in the future for the Anaheim Ducks, starting, in reverse order, with players ranked 16-20:
Author’s Note: To qualify for this list, players must be rookie-eligible in 2026-27. Unfortunately, that disqualifies Tristan Luneau from this particular exercise.
20. Emile Guite, 19, University of New Hampshire (NCAA)
W, 6-foot-2, 176 Pounds, 159th overall in 2025
Once a top junior prospect, Guite was a second-overall draft pick by Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the QMJHL and the league's Rookie of the Year in 2023-24; he struggled to produce in his second junior season, which led to his fall to the fifth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Ducks took a late flier on him in 2025, and he bounced back in his D+1 season, scoring 65 points (32-33=65) in 59 regular season games, adding 14 (8-6=14) in 20 playoff games en route to a QMJHL championship, but went scoreless in four Memorial Cup games.
Guite has an NHL frame (which he’ll need to fill out) and finishing ability, but his subpar skating and play-driving may ultimately limit his NHL potential. He’ll head to the NCAA for his D+2 season to work on the holes in his game while playing on a team where he’ll project to assume a sizable scoring role.
NHL Arrival Projection: Doubtful
19. Yegor Sidorov, 22, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
W, 6-foot, 183 Pounds, 85th in ’22
Sidorov went undrafted the first year he was eligible, but exploded for 164 points (90-74=164) in 119 games over his next two WHL seasons for the Saskatoon Blades. He produced at a decent clip during his first AHL season for the San Diego Gulls in 2024-25 (.58 points/game), but took a significant step back in that regard during his second year, only managing .43 points/game in 68 contests.
He’s a highly skilled, puck-dominant, offensive winger, but his lack of a “B game” limits his upside and NHL projection. If he’s not scoring, Sidorov isn’t positively impacting play. He has one year remaining on his ELC, and he’ll need a lot to go right in the near future, including getting his production back on track and elevating it to an eyebrow-raising rate if he’s to get a shot at NHL games while in the Anaheim Ducks organization.
NHL Arrival Projection: Doubtful
18. Cruz Lucius, 22, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
W, 6-foot, 179 Pounds, 124th in ’22
Admittedly, this may be a “shiny new toy” case for me regarding the organization’s newest player. Anaheim acquired Lucius from the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this month in exchange for “future considerations” after a productive senior season at Arizona State University, where he scored 46 points (15-31=46) in 36 games.
The smart, playmaking winger with perimeter skill and a high defensive floor has his work cut out for him if he’s to eventually crack an NHL lineup, but he’s been productive at every level he’s played to this point in his career, including at the U18 level alongside current Ducks star Cutter Gauthier. He’ll need to improve his small-area battles, on and off puck, and develop a forechecking game, as he likely won’t be initially awarded a scoring role if/when he makes his way to the NHL. He’s likely to play the entirety of the 2026-27 season in the AHL.
NHL Arrival Projection: 2028-29
17. Herman Traff, 20, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
W, 6-foot-3, 216 Pounds, 91st in ’24
Traff was acquired from the New Jersey Devils at the 2025 trade deadline along with a second-round pick (Lasse Boelius) in exchange for defenseman Brian Dumoulin. Traff played the majority of the 2025-26 season in HockeyAllsvenskan (Sweden’s second-tier professional league), where he tallied 41 points (23-18=41) in 51 games before making the late-season jump to North America to play three (scoreless) games with the Gulls in the AHL.
Traff’s NHL-ready traits are his heavy release, which can beat quality goaltenders from distance, and size, which he uses to bully pucks to interior ice. His skating is good for his frame, and he should be able to leverage it into a plus forechecking game on North American ice. He’s projected to play his first full season for the Gulls in 2026-27.
NHL Arrival Projection: 2027-28
16. Jayden Kurtz, 18, Chicago Steel (USHL)
RHD, 6-foot-3, 194 pounds, 45th in ’26
The Ducks drafted Kurtz out of the Minnesota high school hockey circuit with a pick acquired from the Buffalo Sabres, along with Anton Wahlberg, in exchange for young defenseman Olen Zellweger. It came as a bit of a surprise, as he was (and is) viewed as a long-term project with big-time upside, and given his skill set and background, the similarities to Jackson LaCombe in 2019 are uncanny, and that panned out pretty well for the Ducks.
Kurtz is raw, smart, mobile, and capable of progressing into a two-way force at the NHL level many years down the road. He’ll return to the Chicago Steel of the USHL in the upcoming season, where he played 16 games in 2025-26, looking to expand his tools and pace before heading to the University of Wisconsin in 2027-28.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have 37 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #37.
Let's take a look.
Mattias Timander - 2001-02 - Timander was drafted in the 9th round of the 1992 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins.
Timander was taken by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft. After playing for the Jackets during their first two years of existence, he was traded to the New York Islanders in 2002. He finished his CBJ career by playing in 154 games and totaling 22 points.
When the lockout of 2004-05 happened, Timander left for his home country of Sweden, where he played until he retired in May of 2013.
Darrel Scoville - 2003-04 - Scoville was undrafted out of Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
Scoville played in 10 games as a Blue Jacket during the 03-04 season and had 1 point. He spent the majority of his time playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL.
He left for Europe in 2005 and played the next five seasons in Poland. He then left and played a single season in Italy before retiring in 2011.
Joe Motzko - 2006-07 - Motzko was undrafted out of Bemidji, Minnesota.
After playing four years at St. Cloud State University, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Motzko. He would go on to play 11 games for Columbus and record 1 point. He spent the majority of his time playing for the Syracuse Crunch, where he had back-to-back 60-point-plus seasons.
On January 26, 2007, he was traded by the Blue Jackets, along with Mark Hartigan, to the Anaheim Ducks for Curtis Glencross and Zenon Konopka.
In 2009, he left for Europe and played six seasons before retiring in 2016. He played in Germany, Poland, and Italy.
Darcy Campbell - 2007 - Campbell was undrafted out of
Airdrie, Alberta.
Campbell was signed as a free agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 19, 2007, and made his NHL debut on March 30th. That would be the only NHL game Campbell would play in.
On January 22, 2008, Campbell was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Mark Rycroft. He would never play in another NHL game after leaving Columbus. From there, he would play in the AHL, ECHL, CHL, Finland, Czechia, Germany, and Italy.
He retired in 2014.
Sean Collins - 2015 - Collins was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 7th round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
After Collins left Cornell University, he spent the next three seasons playing for the AHL's Springfield Falcons. He was called up by Columbus a few times, totaling 19 games and three points.
On July 1, 2015, Collins left the Blue Jackets as a free agent and signed a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals.
In 2016, Collins left for Europe, where he's played ever since. He's played in the KHL, DEL, LIIGA, Switzerland, and three seasons in Austria. He is signed to play his first season in the EIHL for the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL in England.
Markus Hännikäinen - 2018-19 - Hännikäinen was undrafted out of Helsinki, Finland.
Hännikäinen had signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 20, 2015. Over parts of four seasons, he played in 91 games for Columbus and had 15 points, which included 8 goals. He spent most of his time playing for the Lake Erie/Cleveland Monsters.
In February of 2020, Hännikäinen was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Arizona Coyotes, ending his time with Columbus.
Hännikäinen left for his native Finland when the COVID pandemic hit and never returned. He's played in the KHL(Finland), DEL, and SHL, and signed with HC Litvínov in Czechia for 2025-26. For 26-27, he'll play for Jokerit in Finland and will captain the team.
Cameron Butler - 2024 - Butler was undrafted out of Ottawa, Ontario.
Butler signed an ATO with the Cleveland Monsters late in the season of 22-23. On March 16, 2023, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
He played in one career NHL game for the CBJ. In that game, he only played 54 seconds because he arrived at the game just minutes before the start of the game after being called up from Cleveland due to a late Boone Jenner scratch.
He spent most of his time playing for the Monsters. After playing 37 games in 2024-25, Butler was traded to the Minnesota Wild on June 26, 2025, for ex-Monster Brendan Guance.
He will play for the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins next season.
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Going into this season, the Winnipeg Jets are looking to get back on track as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, and some of that could come from fresh blood joining the roster full-time.
Toward the end of this past season, Brad Lambert became a fixture in the lineup, and as it stands now, both Elite Prospects and Daily Faceoff have the 22-year-old projected to make the roster. A pair of other prospects, though, remain bigger question marks heading into training camp: Brayden Yager and Elias Salomonsson.
Salomonsson was a regular presence for the Jets over a portion of last season, but with the addition of Jack St. Ivany on the right side of the defense, along with Haydn Fleury also capable of playing that side, it's not yet clear whether there's a spot for him on this roster.
The former second-round pick from 2022 has finally grown into a defenseman ready to play at the NHL level, and last season he finally got the chance to show it, appearing in 32 games and recording a goal and four assists for five points with a minus-six rating.
The 21-year-old Swedish defender also spent 29 games with the Manitoba Moose at the AHL level, picking up a goal and eight assists for nine points and a minus-two rating. After returning from a concussion to help fuel the Moose's playoff push, Salomonsson appeared in two games before sliding hard into the boards on a routine neutral-zone hit, an injury that ultimately required shoulder surgery and closed out his season.
Yager, also 21, may not be quite as ready to make the jump, but he's making his own case. After playing his first full professional season with Manitoba, he produced 30 points in 68 games and closed things out strong with four points over seven playoff games. Some believe that next step is now Winnipeg.
He did get a brief look at the NHL level late in the season, appearing in three games with the Jets. He didn't record a point, but the taste of the top level, combined with an offseason of development, makes him a real candidate to push for a roster spot.
Yager and Salomonsson figure to be two of the more interesting names to watch once training camp opens, and either one could provide the kind of fresh look Winnipeg needs as it tries to move past its recent playoff disappointment.
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What more does Mark Scheifele have to do to crack the NHL's top 10 centres? Apparently, putting together the first 100-plus point season of his career isn't quite enough.
The NHL Network unveiled its annual ranking of the league's top 20 centres this week, with the Winnipeg Jets star checking in at No. 11 heading into the 2026-27 season.
The ranking is, in fact an improvement from his No. 14 placing from just one year ago, but after the season Scheifele put together in 2025-26, there is certainly an argument that the longtime Jet remains underrated.
Photo by James Carey Lauder/USA Today
Scheifele recorded 36 goals and a career-high 67 assists for 103 points last season, reaching triple digits for the first time in his 15-year NHL career. That wasn't simply just a career year by Scheifele's standards. His 103 points actually ranked fifth among all NHL players - regardless of position. Yet when the NHL Network ranked the game's best players at his position, Scheifele couldn't crack the top 10.
And no, he did not make the Canadian national team that played in the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games. Having 10 centres ranked higher than him just adds to what has already been a challenging offseason.
Jack Hughes landed immediately ahead of Scheifele at No. 10, while Nick Suzuki, Auston Matthews, Sidney Crosby and Jack Eichel occupied spots six through nine.
There's obviously no shortage of elite talent in that group, and ranking players is certainly subjective. But Scheifele's continued placement outside the league's upper tier is becoming increasingly difficult to justify based on production alone.
He has scored at least 20 goals in 11 consecutive seasons and has reached the 30-goal mark seven times. Last season, at 32 years old, he took his offensive game to another level. Scheifele also continued rewriting Winnipeg's record book along the way, further cementing himself as one of the greatest players in franchise history.
Perhaps some of the perception surrounding Scheifele stems from playing his entire career in Winnipeg, away from many of the NHL's largest markets. Perhaps it's the abundance of superstar centres around the league.
Whatever the reason, Scheifele has quietly continued producing at a level that stacks up against virtually anyone at his position. Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl occupying spots near the top of a list like this is hardly debatable. But once the conversation moves beyond that group, Scheifele deserves to be firmly involved.
Instead, even after a 103-point season, he's still looking in from the outside.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 11: Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Rutger McGroarty (2) looks on during the first period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals on April 11, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Rutger McGroarty, last season’s top prospect in the Pensburgh rankings, slips back to No. 4 in the 2026 rankings after playing 24 games with the Penguins last season.
McGroarty is still looking to find solid footing in the NHL despite an extended call-up with the Penguins last winter.
He missed training camp due to an upper-body injury and began the season rehabbing before starting out the campaign with Wilkes/Barre-Scranton.
The winger was called up to the NHL from Dec. 1 to Jan. 3, a span over which he posted three points (two goals, one assist) in 16 games while averaging 12:13 per game with minimal time on special teams.
This first stint in the NHL ended with a concussion diagnosis, after which McGroarty was reassigned to Wilkes/Barre.
McGroarty played four AHL games after recovering from his concussion. He was called back up to the NHL on Jan. 29 and played another four games with the Penguins before the NHL split for the Olympic break.
He got his third recall of the season once the Penguins had already clinched a playoff spot in late March, scoring his third goal of the season in a regular season finale loss to the St. Louis Blues.
In part due to his usage, McGroarty wasn’t always an impact player in the NHL.
The same couldn’t be said for his work in the AHL last season. McGroarty celebrated his return to the WBS lineup at the beginning of the season by racking up four goals in his first four games back from injury in November.
McGroarty put together a point-per-game AHL campaign before playing a key role in helping Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a run to the Eastern Conference Final.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) June 4, 2026
McGroarty told Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis after the season he saw the 2025-26 campaign as “a year of learning.”
“I think that, being between two teams, kind of having a few different roles helped me a lot mentally… going through those growing pains of going up and down, playing well here, maybe playing well there and not producing,” McGroarty said in June.
McGroarty is currently signed through next season before he is set to hit restricted free agency ahead of his age-23 campaign in 2027.
Especially in the wake of Ville Koivunen’s eight-year extension earlier this offseason, will McGroarty be able to earn himself the increased NHL playing time that could give him a better shot at making an impact with the Penguins?
One skill that’s gotten in the way of McGroarty making a full-time NHL jump before now is his skating, an area in which Kyle Dubas said in May he has seen improvement.
“He’s put in a lot of work. I think it’s evident when watching the games, for me, anyway,” Dubas said about McGroarty in May. “Especially without the puck on the forecheck, able to generate much more speed, pressure the opponents. I think that’s the type of game he’s going to have to play.”
Dubas continued, “I think, with Rutger, he’s proven to be an excellent penalty killer, excellent netfront power-play guy with Wilkes/Barre. The skating has always been the thing with him, and he’s put in the work, and improved on it.
“So we expect next year that he’ll have every opportunity to earn a spot here. How high in the lineup that is will be up to him, and earning a spot at large will be up to him.”
The Penguins’ forward depth and McGroarty’s contract could make this close to a make-or-break year for the 22-year-old winger.
He’ll be looking to earn a roster spot, and potentially some special teams playing time, out of training camp this fall. That will start with him staying in good health that allows him to stay with the team for the entirety of training camp next month.
Jakub Dobes started last season as the Montreal Canadiens’ backup goaltender, and by the time the playoffs started, he had wrestled for the starting job away from Samuel Montembeault and outdueled Jacob Fowler to get the nod for the postseason. It was an eventful rookie season, to say the least; there were ups, there were downs, there was a crisis of confidence. At one point, the young netminder showed he was incredibly emotional, which earned him a break from the media, but at the end of the day, Dobes pocketed 29 regular-season wins and nine more in the playoffs.
In the offseason, he signed a three-year contract extension with a $5.6M AAV with the Canadiens, even though he still had a year left on his existing deal. That was a great confidence builder for the netminder, who might have felt last year like the organization didn’t trust him when the Habs kept going back to Montembeault even though Dobes was winning his games. Later that summer, NHL Network named him the league’s 10th-best goaltender, which can be seen as another confidence builder.
What can we expect from Dobes this season? A more focused goaltender who doesn’t have to worry about an expiring contract or a battle for the top job in net. Of course, Martin St-Louis would say that anything can happen at training camp, but realistically, as things stand, the job is Dobes’ to lose.
In The Hockey News 2026-27 Yearbook, THN predicts Dobes will improve his win total to 31. That makes sense, as the Habs are expected to keep improving organically, and it’s highly unlikely that he finds himself stuck in a three-goalie carousel. Montembeault is still around, and since Fowler can be sent down to Laval without clearing waivers, that’s likely where he will be unless the Bécancour native is traded until then. Fowler needs a lot of action to keep developing, and the last thing he needs is a three-way battle.
While the Canadiens will likely want to give Montembeault a chance to both bounce back and improve his trade value as he enters the last year of his contract, expect Dobes to get the lion’s share of the work, perhaps between 40 and 50 games. The 25-year-old has already established himself as a fan favorite, and he should keep building on that with a strong season to show he wasn’t just a flash in the pan. By signing him to an early extension, Kent Hughes has put him in the best environment to succeed, which was a wise move, especially with Montembeault’s contract expiring at the end of this season and the future looking like a Dobes-Fowler duo.
Visite spéciale à l'École de hockey des Canadiens, alors que Jakub Dobes est venu passer du temps avec la prochaine génération de hockeyeurs 🏒
A special visit at Canadiens Hockey School, as Jakub Dobes dropped by to spend time with the next generation of hockey players… pic.twitter.com/n4QTx0TFaU
At No. 4 in this ranking of Toronto Maple Leafs prospects is Miroslav Holinka.
The players in this ranking do not have extensive NHL experience and are all under 23. Therefore, players such as William Villeneuve, Artur Akhtyamov and Easton Cowan, among others, won't feature in this ranking for either or both of those particular reasons.
In terms of where these players fall in the rankings, it is a mix of their ceiling and potential, as well as how they've performed in the past year with their respective clubs.
The Maple Leafs drafted Holinka in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL draft with the 151st overall pick. Ever since Toronto made that pick, the 6-foot-2 center has turned into a star at the Jr. level.
He made his first appearance in the WHL for the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2024-25 and had a solid rookie campaign. Holinka posted 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points in 47 games. He finished sixth in team scoring and announced himself as a top prospect within the Maple Leafs' organization.
His following WHL campaign was even more impressive as he nearly doubled his scoring totals for the Oil Kings. Holinka notched 37 goals and 43 assists for 80 points in the regular season. He led Edmonton in goals and was second in scoring.
With that regular-season performance, he was named to the WHL's Eastern Conference second all-star team.
His impressive scoring rate carried through to the post-season when he recorded seven goals and 11 points in seven contests, leading the team in both categories. Holinka's ability to score goals seriously heightened in 2025-26.
Going back to 2024-25, he represented Czechia at the World Junior Championship. In seven appearances for the national team in this competition, Holinka registered a goal and four points. He and the team went on to win the bronze medal.
In a professional hockey sense, Holinka featured for the AHL's Toronto Marlies for one outing this past year. He was in the lineup on April 12 to take on the Syracuse Crunch and posted a secondary assist in that game.
He'll have a spot on the Marlies' roster this coming season and will take his first step to play a full year at the professional level in North America. Without a doubt, he's one of the best young prospects in the Maple Leafs' system, and next season will be a big measuring year for the 20-year-old.
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