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.

Lucas Raymond, Detroit Red Wings

Had Makar played a full season last year, there’s a chance he would be entering this year as a back-to-back Norris Trophy winner. Nonetheless, Makar enters this season as the league’s best defenseman and a top-three player in the league. He missed 22 games last year with injury, but still managed to finish top-10 in defensemen scoring (66 points) and one of only two blue liners to put up a point-per-game (1.10). He absolutely torched the MHL this year (2 points per game) and scored 28 points in 17 playoff games. I’m confident he’ll score a ton of points in the NHL, it’s just a question of how effective of a player he can be at even strength given his smaller frame and strange skating stride.

Editor’s Picks

• Lamoureux has made some really big strides in a positive direction since being drafted, with his play improving in all phases of the game.
• As the team pushed closer to making the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, Larkin was injured and the team fell apart in his absence.
• Luchanko reads plays really well and has that knack for timing and finding openings in defensive coverage that is difficult to teach.
• Similar to Heiskanen, McAvoy has always provided the Bruins with strong, two-way play on the blue line.
• 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 produces a ton of chances on offense from the blueline, readily activating into play to support his teammates and keep the puck moving.
• It’s a tough blow for Minnesota’s roster, which was looking pretty darn good with Pitlick but now will look less good, but still solid.

If one of their two goalies pans out, I expect ND to be annoying and defensively sound enough to scrape towards .500. Either way I don’t really see an NCAA path here because this roster looks even more questionable than the one that wasn’t close to the tourney last year. Your Lucius and Whitelaw types are out the door and are replaced with old, experienced college hockey transfers from Minnesota State-esque schools. From RIT they snagged the likely goalie for this season (Tommy Scarfone) and 1st Team All-AHA forward Cody Laskosky.

NHL Fantasy On Ice

Nick Suzuki had one of the best offensive seasons by a Montreal Canadiens player since 2000, and not only was he producing at a great rate, but he is also an excellent defensive center. With Suzuki being the first-line center on a team that struggled as much as the Canadiens did defensively, what is even more impressive is that he earned Selke Trophy votes. There is so much potential for Cole Caufield to become one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL, and while he has yet to hit the 30-goal mark, he has a great release and plays well. There is hope that with an improved top-six, Caufield’s new teammates will help him reach his full potential and challenge for 50 goals someday. Regarded as one of the top two-way players in the entire league, Mark Stone is likely only this low because of his health.

Leon Draisaitl C Edmonton Oilers

He exploded for 39 goals and 91 points last year, both career highs for the Swedish center. The No. 1 pick from 2018 had his breakout campaign, putting up 73 points in 78 games. Dahlin is only going to get better, and as he improves, so will the Sabres’ success.

THE NHL’S TOP 50 PLAYERS: 10-1

But as the season begins and expectations are all over the place, rosters could be more malleable. This rookie class looks to be one of the best in recent memory, with plenty of young star power to wow fans. With all this talent ready to be debuted, the Calder Trophy race will be as enjoyable as ever. So, to kick the season off, here are ten rookies to keep an eye on (listed alphabetically).

Roope Hintz, Dallas Stars

He missed most of his freshman season at the University of Michigan due to injury, but had an excellent sophomore year last season and is set to go pro this Fall. Sam Rinzel was drafted 25th overall by the Blackhawks back in 2022, largely for the massive potential he brings to the table. As a 6-foot-4, right-shot defender, Rinzel has the basic tools that all NHL teams look for.

Prospects #80-71

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.

Artemi Panarin, LW, Rangers

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.

Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings

He is among the best wingers in the league, he has the skating and speed to compete with anybody and adds a physical element to his game to help with puck retrievals. In his very young career, Jason Robertson wasted no time getting himself on the award ballots. In just four seasons in the NHL, he has a second-place finish in Calder voting and has already earned votes for each of the Hart, Lady Byng, and Selke Trophies twice. He is a goal-scoring winger with high-end defensive play and has been one of the most important players on a Dallas Stars team with high aspirations. After his time in Buffalo came to an end, his fresh start with the Golden Knights has been very promising.

After winning his second Art Ross Trophy, Nikita Kucherov is well deserving of a spot this high on the list. Not only did he become the fifth player to ever score 100 assists in a season, he was the first winger to do it. On top of that, he led his team by a whopping 54 points, which was the biggest gap between the first and second player on a team in the league last season.

• He never gives up on a play and works incredibly hard on both the forecheck and the backcheck, often re-gaining possession for his team entirely on his own.
• He is a bit of a hot-and-cold player with his offense, but over the course of a season, he has proven he can be relied upon for 50+ points regularly, he could even challenge the point-per-game mark soon.
• In the age of up-and-coming stars taking over the league, the 36-year-old Penguins captain remains one of the most consistent performers at both ends of the ice.
• 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.
• TJ Hughes’ point totals may take a step back because Michigan’s PP likely won’t be the most efficient PP in modern NCAA history, but you scan this lineup and see a lot of guys with the potential to give you 8-12 goals.
• The Panthers captain trails only Tkachuk on the team in playoff points with 17 in as many games.
• 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.

From Michigan Tech they snagged a pair of touted forwards, 1st Team All-CCHA Ryland Mosley and 2023 CCHA Rookie of the Year Kyle Kukkonen. India and the Netherlands, in the men’s and women’s competitions, respectively, have been tremendously successful at the Olympic Games. India has won eight gold medals, including six consecutive between 1928 and 1956 – scoring 197 goals and conceding just eight in the process! The Netherlands has won nine total medals at the Games, including four golds (with their most recent one coming at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games).

HE has built great chemistry with most of the high-end wingers on the team, making him easy to build around. Despite missing time with an injury last season, Andrei Svechnikov showed just how important he is to the lineup when he returned. With his 52 points, he had a pretty average regular season by his standard, but once the playoffs hit, he was scoring a point per game and making an impact every night. Since signing with the Ottawa Senators, he has been a fantastic addition to the top six and as a quality leader in the locker room. He transitioned from center to the wing as he got older, but he still plays a strong defensive game and has good offensive numbers.

Connor McDavid, F, Edmonton Oilers

His goal-scoring ability is unmatched in today’s league, and on top of that, he was a nominee for the Frank J. Selke Trophy last season as well. Artemi Panarin had the best season of his career last season and finished fourth in scoring league-wide. He has always been among the most productive wingers around the league, but took a huge step this season scoring 49 goals and shattering his career-high of 31 goals before that. On top of that, it was his first time hitting the 100-point mark, and while he was on pace to do it plenty of times, he hasn’t been able to push that number until now. A career year from William Nylander earned him not only a massive contract extension but also a high spot on this list. He has scored 80+ points in each of the last three seasons and has back-to-back 40-goal seasons.

• Rehkopf’s goalscoring is high-end, and his speed makes him a dangerous threat in transition.
• The veteran netminder also thrived during the regular season with a 2.37 goals-against-average and .915 save percentage.
• 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.

After taking huge steps in his game over the past two seasons, Josh Morrissey has entered the conversation of one of the best defensemen in the league. With 145 points over the last two seasons, being a strong defensive presence for the Jets, and earning a fifth- and seventh-place finish in Norris Trophy voting, he has really emerged as a true number-one defenseman. One of the best shorthanded players in the league, while also having good offensive numbers and playing a physical, gritty game, Brad Marchand is the heartbeat of the Boston Bruins. Robert Thomas had a big breakout year last season, scoring 86 points, but even more impressively, 60 assists, which only 16 players accomplished last season.

William Wallinder, LD, Detroit Red Wings

Tkachuk may be the face of the franchise, but Barkov is the engine that runs the machine. He leads the playoffs with 31 points heading into the Stanley Cup Final and has recorded at least one point in 14 of the 18 postseason contests in 2024. McDavid is undoubtedly one of the frontrunners for the Conn Smythe entering the Stanley Cup Final. The Sporting News ranks the top 10 players participating in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Matthews impresses every season, but this one was arguably his best all-around performance, and that should bode well for Toronto’s playoff prospects.

• I am not sure we’ll have a 20-goal scorer on this team, as this one is less about the blue chip scoring talent and more about being able to build multiple scoring lines with a veteran defense behind them.
• He proved that last season in the AHL for the Milwaukee Admirals and has the power and reaction speed to command his crease at a high level.
• The thing keeping him below the rest of the players ahead of him is likely the team success aspect.
• On top of that, he is a very good player on the defensive side too, and doesn’t sacrifice his two-way game for the offensive output.
• There is still a lot of faith that he can bounce back after last season, and with his shooting and utilization of his size, there isn’t much reason to think 56 points is going to be a regular season for him.
• Dozens of voters participated, choosing one winner in a series of head-to-head voting matchups of the players on the 16 postseason qualifiers.
• Celebrini excels at everything, with great skating, goal scoring ability, off-puck play, defensive effort, confidence, and just about every other attribute you could dream of.

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.

This feels like the right level of competition for him right now, challenging enough that he’s not going to score two points each night but manageable enough for him to be one of the best players on his team. He had a great season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds and is looking like the player everyone thought would go first overall back in 2022 once again. Dickinson’s defensive game has shone in an increased role this year and his offense has improved as well, nearly tripling his previous career high for points. There’s a ton of two-way, top-four defender potential in his game, and room for something more if his offensive numbers from this year are to be believed. Jonathan Lekkerimäki had a really tough post-draft season, with multiple injuries/illnesses ruining any momentum he tried to build. That was true all year until the Allsvenskan playoffs where he seemed to finally look like his old self again, scoring 15 points in 15 games.

Unlike the Stars defender, we are still waiting to see McAvoy break out offensively. Don’t get me wrong, 52 points in 67 games is nothing to sneeze at, but if the Boston defender wants to shake his underrated status, he’ll have to put up more on the score sheet. The 2021 Norris Trophy winner finished second in Norris voting in 2023, losing to Erik Karlsson for the honor. I’d expect Fox gets at least one more nod for defenseman of the year before his career is over.

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 scored 22 points through 43 regular season and playoff games with Dallas, and should be a serious contender for the Calder Trophy next season. For my money, he was the most talented offensive creator on the backend in the 2024 Draft, however, Parekh’s defensive game leaves a lot to be desired. Some may be worried about his lack of production in the WHL, but anyone who saw Danielson play in the NHL Preseason last Fall should know he’s well on his way to becoming a high-end NHLer. He’s got the size, skating, shot, and skill to be an impactful player in all areas of a hockey game and I will be a massive Danielson apologist until he’s a full time NHLer in the near future. Few centers in junior hockey enter their draft year as well-rounded as Nate Danielson.

He was great in the MHL last year, even earning himself a five game tryout in the KHL as a 17-year-old. Chernyshov plays a very direct style, charging the net frequently whether he has the puck or not. He has had a rather slow start to this year production-wise, but his skill set looks well https://gambibet.org/ designed for the pro game with the ability to make strong plays and smart decisions at a higher pace than most teenagers. With two high-end center prospects in Celebrini and Will Smith both coming in at 6-feet tall, adding wingers with size has clearly been a priority for the Sharks.

Isak Rosen laced up for exactly 120 professional hockey games by his 20th birthday, and has added quite a few since. The main reasons he has been so successful against larger and stronger competition are his phenomenal skating and his ability to make good decisions at a very high speed. Rosen has the defensive effort and technique to be a solid two-way winger in the NHL one day, which has served him well in the AHL so far, where he’s been one of the league’s best young players for the past two seasons.

Skinner was even benched for two games during Edmonton’s second-round meeting with the Vancouver Canucks. Apparently, that time to clear his head worked because Skinner was exceptional in the Western Conference Final, boasting a .922 save percentage and 0.45 goals saved above average. With former Bruins star Patrice Bergeron out of the league, you can easily argue that Barkov is the best two-way center in the game. He’s dominant down low, he excels in the faceoff dot, he’s incredibly skilled offensively, and he is an absolute pain to play against defensively.

One explanation is that Hastings’ coaching style is regarded as, shall we say, abrasive and perhaps players got tired of him as the year went along and those who didn’t fit his style exited in the offseason. That’s an explanation as to why they specifically lost players with NHL potential to the portal. Despite the strong goaltending from Augustine, MSU gave up 117 goals last season which was quite a few (way more than Minnesota, Wisconsin, or ND) and a lot of that was attributable to icing a very young D. Levshunov obviously exits but much of the defense returns and is a year more experienced in college hockey and could be ready to tighten things up.

Defenseman Gustav Forsling will likely consistently be matched up with the Oilers’ top line during the series. Forsling has tallied 31 hits, 23 blocked shots, and 14 takeaways up to this point in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The veteran blue-liner isn’t afraid to sacrifice his body as he’s averaging 3.49 blocks throughout the postseason. On top of his defensive prowess, Forsling is a gifted offensive option on the blue line as he’s registered 11 points (four goals & seven points) this postseason.