The NHL’s Top 100 Prospects Preseason Rankings NHL News, Analysis & More

Buium has a great motor and always finds himself in the thick of the action on both ends of the ice. He has good skill with the puck but his calling card will be his skating and sense which he uses to his advantage best on the rush both as a passer and a scoring threat. Buium falling to 12th in the draft could make a few teams look really silly if he becomes the player I expect he will. Zeev Buium is a complete defenseman who has had a ton of success early in his collegiate career, scoring well above a point-per-game as a freshman defender. He is an excellent skater and has plenty of hockey sense which allows him to defend incredibly well in the NCAA, and likely in the NHL as well. It’s becoming increasingly common to see NHL defenders succeed through puck skills and clever positioning rather than simply through physicality and I think Buium could fit that mold.

THE NHL’S TOP 50 PLAYERS: 10-1

I was eager to see how Matthew Wood would adjust to the college game after he dominated the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) two years ago, leading the league in goals and points as a 16-year-old. His freshman results were extremely positive with Wood being one of the top rookie point scorers and one of the top scorers on his team despite being the youngest player in all of men’s NCAA hockey during his draft year. He could use a bit more speed (who couldn’t), but he has shown that his timing and puck protection skills are strong enough for him to succeed in college. The Seattle Kraken are putting in work trying to build a high-end prospect pool from scratch, and drafting Jani Nyman in the second round of the 2022 Draft was a big step in the right direction. Nyman is a big Finnish winger with the size and strength to compete against men in Liiga (the top Finnish pro league) without looking out of place.

Kevin Fiala, LW, Los Angeles Kings

Östlund is also a skilled puck handler with the speed and agility to make plays happen both on and off the puck. He works hard in all phases of the game and could become a great middle-six center if all goes well in his development. After being selected 10th overall in the 2022 CHL Import Draft by the Vancouver Giants, Samuel Honzek has done nothing but impress in his two seasons in North America.

Matthew Tkachuk, F, Florida Panthers

He is the best player they have, one of the longest-tenured players with the Utah/Coyotes team, and provides great leadership. Keller has been scoring nearly a point per game over three seasons, during which time the Coyotes have struggled a lot. He has proven himself as one of the top-scoring wingers in the league and is starting to get recognition for it. They lost last year’s #2 goalscorer Ryan Kirwan to the transfer portal (ASU), and #3 goalscorer Jacques Bouquot graduated. PSU rolls over Aiden Fink, Matt DiMarsico, and Reese Laubach, all of whom were freshmen last year and they seem like a solid group to build a team around.

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Hutson sees the ice really well and was dominant offensively through two NCAA seasons. He earned a quick two game NHL tryout with Montreal at the end of last season and looked dangerous so expect him to be a difference maker on the backend there very soon. Cowan is a quick and hardworking winger whose offensive production skyrocketed in the OHL last season, nearly doubling his production from the prior season in fewer games. The skill and skating were always there, but his ultimate offensive potential was the biggest question. He has gone a long way to putting that question to rest this year so keep an eye on Cowan as he finishes his junior career and enters the pros very soon.

Goals Against Average

The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers both have plenty of star power, and those marquee names will go toe-to-toe for hockey’s ultimate prize. Back during the Oilers’ dynasty in the 1980s, those Wayne Gretzky clubs had the great Paul Coffey. There’s a clear path for Celebrini to become an excellent first-line center in the NHL and the San Jose Sharks are counting the days until he can show what he’s made of at their training camp in a few short days.

Trophy Tracker: Keefe of Devils preseason choice for Jack Adams as coach of year

He led the Giants in points per game during his draft year and was among the top scorers in the WHL at large before suffering an injury at the 2023 WJC with Slovakia. Honzek has played and succeeded on both special teams and his size and strength have made him too much for opposing defenders to handle on more than a few occasions. He is a great skater, which makes him a pest on the forecheck where he does a lot of damage both with his high motor and his large frame. Scott Morrow plays a high-octane style and he’s always quick and decisive in transition.

• He missed the World Juniors with an injury but will be eligible to join Canada there again next year where he should be a massive factor for them.
• The Sporting News ranks the top 10 players participating in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
• He’s a serious contender for the Calder Trophy next year, especially if the Flyers put him in a position to succeed.
• His red-hot start in the Finnish Liiga in his draft year had NHL scouts salivating at his goal scoring potential, and while he ultimately cooled off quite significantly, that potential hasn’t disappeared.
• Lamoureux looks like a future NHLer to me at this point, though his offensive play at the pro level will likely decide his ultimate ceiling.
• Hunter Brzustewicz is an offensive defender who skates incredibly well and has a lot to give offensively.
• Except for goalkeepers, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or feet.
• The violence broke out at the season-opening tournament for the Klevr League, which attracts some of Ontario’s best young players.

Alex DeBrincat, LW, Detroit Red Wings

Matthews was just named the 26th captain in Maple Leafs history and was well-deserving of it. He is consistently scoring 40+ goals, and on a relatively weak offensive group on the Wild, all of the offense runs through him. Another outstanding season from Filip Forsberg, especially in the goal-scoring department, has helped him establish himself as a top winger in the league. He has two 40-goal seasons in the past three years and has been the top forward on the Predators as they come out of a quick re-tool. Since his outstanding rookie season, Mat Barzal hasn’t been able to get back to the 85-point mark, but last season he came pretty close. After a few years where fans were questioning if he would ever get back, Barzal had a great offensive season and put those doubts to shame.

Oct. 3: NHL Preseason Roundup

Throw him on the left wing, or the right, or down the middle — regardless, Rantanen’s proven able to get to his game and inflict his offensive will . And yet, plying his trade in the shadow of two superstars in Colorado, you could argue he’s flown under the radar relative to what he’s done in this league. Players like these two don’t come around often, and where Brady thrives is in the physicality department. He provides strong offense, and set a new career-high in goals last season, but took a bit of a step back in point production after some nagging injuries throughout the season.

Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers

Adam Jiricek is very engaged physically, and has a penchant for taking big point shots. Jiricek produces a ton of chances on offense from the blueline, readily activating into play to support his teammates and keep the puck moving. Unfortunately, his excitement to join the play offensively means that he takes a lot of risks, leaving himself in really poor positions to recover defensively if things don’t go according to plan. Jiricek is really great at scanning the play off puck and he persists through pressure quite well so I think he will be able to cut down on the over-the-top risks in time. I like him as a two-way defensive prospect and his right-handed shot and 6-foot-2 frame will help him out on draft day. Hunter Brzustewicz is an offensive defender who skates incredibly well and has a lot to give offensively.

He has all the talent and the résumé to prove he can have a breakout year and become a core piece of the Flames’ future. Throughout Florida’s Stanley Cup run in 2023, Matthew Tkachuk constantly rose to the occasion, and nothing has changed this time around. Tkachuk currently leads the Panthers in points (19) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs with five goals and a team-high 14 assists. The veteran forward has thrived on the power-play throughout the postseason with a team-high six power-play assists thus far. Tkachuk plays with an ample amount of physicality, and will likely do his best to get under the skin of the opposition. He also has no problem making his living around the net on the offensive end of the ice.

I do think he’s a solid defender when he’s properly engaged, cutting off passes and angling opponents toward the boards. Parekh is a remarkable talent, with Quinn Hughes-like offensive upside if things go well, but the defensive end is in need of some real work. He’s talented enough and looked strong enough https://gambibet.org/ defensively in the Memorial Cup  that I think he’ll figure it out in the NHL though, if given enough time. Shane Wright’s biggest obstacle since being drafted has been the NHL/CHL agreement but he was granted an exception last year so he could compete in the AHL despite not being officially eligible.

Jesper Bratt, LW, New Jersey Devils

After ranking sixth last year, Victor Hedman tumbled down the list to No. 23 this year. Hedman’s Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Andrei Vasilevskiy also tumbled out of the top 10, checking in at No. 19 after placing seventh last year. Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey.

Marco Kasper, C, Detroit Red Wings

Matthews has also greatly improved defensively and in the faceoff dot, forming into an all-around star for Toronto. With the graduation of guys like Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli, and Connor Bedard, Matvei Michov is clearly at least a top-three best prospect in the NHL with an incredible ability to manipulate opposing defenses. He has a great shot, but more often than not he scores goals because he slipped his defender and managed to find the space and time necessary to score a goal. While Bedard scores by shooting a wrister as hard as possible, trying to punch a hole through the goalie, Michkov will outsmart the defense and score by finding holes in coverage. Will Smith is an incredibly shifty playmaker who can create high danger plays at will (pun intended) by threading passes through traffic, stickhandling around pressure, or taking a shot of his own.

• Matthews, though, is likely to see a slide down the list after finishing with 40 goals and 85 points in 76 games last season.
• That’s not to knock his offensive skillset at all, as the Senators captain exploded for 35 goals and 83 points last season.
• With Selke Trophy votes in two of the last three years, his defensive play has been on notice, and that is part of what makes him so valuable to the strong defensive team, the Islanders.
• Moldenhauer, Hallum, Eernisse, Werner, Humphreys could all reasonably chip in something in that range and then you’re hoping to get from Hughes and Schifsky based on their production last season.
• The Nashville goaltender led the league in goals saved above expected, finishing with a rate of 46.7.
• Helenius is level-headed under pressure and makes remarkable passes look routine, setting his teammates up for success.
• The veteran netminder also thrived during the regular season with a 2.37 goals-against-average and .915 save percentage.
• Rehkopf’s goalscoring is high-end, and his speed makes him a dangerous threat in transition.
• He looked much more comfortable with the North American game over the course of his first season and grew a lot on ice from his NHL pre-season games to the NHL games he played toward the end of the year.

Draft busts for 2024-25

He’s strong in breakout/entry situations, has some clever stretch passes in his toolkit, and walks the blueline with confidence. Ryan Leonard is a high energy winger who never takes his foot off the gas in terms of both speed and effort. He uses his speed and skill to blow by defenders in the neutral zone and pressure in-zone defenders who struggle to anticipate his next move.

• There’s been plenty of discourse surrounding the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four.” Over the last two seasons, including playoffs, you can certainly argue Nylander has been the most consistent out of the quartet.
• The Panthers are known for their structured systems that make scoring a pain, but at the end of the day, you need an elite goaltender as the last line of defense.
• Tkachuk plays with an ample amount of physicality, and will likely do his best to get under the skin of the opposition.
• Miroshnichenko made the move to North America last year, scoring roughly half a point-per-game in the AHL and skating in a handful of NHL games.
• A lot of high expectations will be placed on him after his incredible performances in the playoffs, but luckily for him, he has an outstanding defense in front of him in Vancouver.
• Cale Makar, a defenseman with remarkable offensive talents, continues to impress with his vision and ability to control the game from the blue line, earning accolades and respect from fans and peers alike.
• In the ensuing offseason, he was signed by the Canucks and loaned to the SHL where he played with Örebro HK and led all U20 SHL players in goals and points.

Here, in the twilight of his career, he’s still doing it, altering his game to keep up with a league that seems to be running a hundred miles-per-hour faster than it did when he was in his prime. Whether that’s enough to pull the team around him back into playoff relevancy remains unclear. But coming off another summer of roster tweaks, with a new young linemate to mold into an ideal wingman, it would be foolish to count Crosby out. Aleksander Barkov has taken over as the top two-way center in the NHL now that Patrice Bergeron has retired, and on top of that, has found strong offensive consistency over the past three seasons. During the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Barkov had some of the toughest matchups possible and did an excellent job shutting down the top players on all of the teams he faced on the path to winning the Stanley Cup.

He had a 90-point season as a 21-year-old, has an excellent shot, and great skating. While he dealt with injuries throughout last season, this will be a big year for him as he tries to cement himself as a player who can score closer to 90 points or more every year, rather than 70. After a very unnaturally slow start to the season, Alexander Ovechkin rebounded to score 30 goals again for the 18th time. There is no doubt that as it stands today, Ovechkin is the greatest goal-scorer in history, and he will challenge Wayne Gretzky’s goal record this season. He still has a phenomenal shot, but as he starts pushing 40 years old, he is becoming less effective in other aspects of his game.

He’s headed to the University of North Dakota this Fall, a program that has a long track record of developing solid NHL talent. Grizzled veteran scorers who are more consistent and don’t make the mistakes that 18/19-year-old future NHLers do is a very valid way to win in college hockey. The Badgers were an excellent goal prevention outfit this season and that’s what you have to have alongside that forward corps.

McDavid can take over games and has fared well against even the toughest defensive matchups through the first three rounds. The Panthers will throw the kitchen sink at him, but McDavid is just operating on another level right now. Draisaitl could be the No. 1 guy on many teams around the NHL, but in Edmonton he has Connor McDavid as a teammate. Draisaitl gives the Oilers a truly elite finisher, both at five-on-five and on the power play. After notching 41 goals in the regular season, he has 10 goals this postseason, which is second in the NHL and would be first on the Panthers. What makes Draisaitl so key in this series is that, although he’s earned a reputation as a prolific goal-scorer, he’s no pushover in the physicality department.

On top of the offense, Barzal is one of the best skaters in the league and puts in good work defensively as well. Not many would have been able to predict Gustav Forsling to make this kind of list even just a few years ago. From being a throw-in in a trade and being waived, to now in the Top 50 for the best players in the league is remarkable. Forsling is a great shut-down defenseman and was given a heavy workload in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on the path to winning a Stanley Cup, and received eight third-place votes for the Conn Smythe.

He plays well in all situations, including dominating on the power play and shutting things down on the penalty kill. Sebastian Aho has quietly crept his way into the superstar-caliber player conversation. He is one of the most underrated players in the game and has a huge impact on the team each night. He has developed into a perennial Sekle Trophy candidate while also being a 70-point center.

Marchand is still a pesky winger, but he’s more notably known for his ability to drive offense and be a sensational defender. After a 67-point campaign last year, it will be intriguing to see how Marchand produces without his longtime center, Patrice Bergeron. I saw the massive frame and good skating and understood why he would be drafted in the first round (29th overall in the 2022 Draft), but I didn’t expect him to develop so well, so quickly. Lamoureux has made some really big strides in a positive direction since being drafted, with his play improving in all phases of the game. We turned to our Sportsnet Insiders for an answer, asking them to untangle the whirlwind of sticks, skates, and bodies flying around the sheet, and rank the top 50 players in the NHL at this moment. Not just the best forwards or defenders, not just the best offensive-minded phenoms or shutdown talents, but the best — full-stop.

The veteran netminder also thrived during the regular season with a 2.37 goals-against-average and .915 save percentage. However, this is likely the most lethal offense that he has faced throughout the postseason. Considering Bobrovsky’s track record, it’s possible that Bobrovsky will be one of the top x-factors that will determine how this series plays out.