Inside Wheeler’s Shocking Summer 2025 NHL Prospect Rankings: Who’s the True Future Star?
On talent, upside and pedigree, he’s a top prospect and was viewed as a potential top-five pick at one point. But the lost development time and the way his back impacted him across two seasons raise questions. As a player, I like his tenaciousness/willingness to go get pucks and then stick with them when he has them. When he was younger, he lacked strength, and his skating dragged behind/never properly loaded because he was trying to cheat his mechanics to keep up, but it has started to come, and there’s belief it will continue to develop as he adds strength (he moves well now) if he can stay healthy. He uses his linemates well. But it’s his ability to control and manipulate pucks in tight to his body, with his length, that I think distinguishes him and gets scouts excited. He can carry pucks into traffic and problem-solve in ways that players his size typically struggle to do. He can also go to the net and make tuck plays/rebounds with good dexterity, which has helped him play the net front successfully on the power play, a translatable role for him. His shot is pinpoint accurate around the home-plate area and even from tough angles. There are the makings of a really unique player there, and the payoff could be significant, especially given how quickly his skating has improved. When he’s on the ice, he looks like a potential top-six center with some really unique attributes.
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