NHL’s Hidden Gems: Discover the Explosive Prospects Ready to Dominate Each Team’s Future!

Every NHL team dreams of that electrifying moment when a prospect breaks through the ranks, proving they’re ready to shoulder greater responsibility and step up to more challenging tiers of the game. We’re well into the thick of the 2025-26 season now, with the buzz around the 2026 World Juniors crescendoing, and it’s clear certain young talents are carving their path forward in undeniable fashion. Curious about which players are sprinting ahead fastest within their organizations? I had The Athletic consult its NHL insiders to zero in on those not quite established as full-time NHLers yet, but who are knocking loudly on the door. The results? A compelling mix of high-profile draft picks poised for stardom, underrated gems capitalizing on newfound opportunities, and players on the cusp of leaving a significant mark at the NHL level. Strap in, because the next wave of hockey prodigies is here, and some of these names are too hot to ignore. LEARN MORE

It’s what every NHL organization wants to see in its prospect pipeline: the player who takes the next step and shows he is ready for more responsibility and a look at a higher level. Now, over two months into the 2025-26 hockey season, and with the 2026 World Juniors around the corner, these rising-stock prospects are starting to emerge.

Who’s rising the fastest for each team?

The Athletic posed that question to its NHL staff, stipulating that while very recent call-ups are eligible, the prospects should not be current full-time NHL players.

In response, we heard about top picks ready to make the leap, hidden gems earning bigger opportunities and players on the precipice of making an NHL impact. Here are the picks.

Anaheim Ducks

Lucas Pettersson, C

It’s not easy for a teenager to gain quality ice time in the veteran-laden SHL. But Pettersson, a 2024 second-round selection, has been finishing his scoring chances and has vastly improved this season with Brynas IF. He’ll learn a lot from highly respected, longtime NHL forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Jakob Silfverberg before coming to North America. — Eric Stephens

Boston Bruins

Dean Letourneau, C

Letourneau had zero goals in 36 games as a Boston College freshman in 2024-25. Part of that lack of production was because he was an 18-year-old who had accelerated his NCAA arrival by a season. Now that he’s acclimated, the 6-foot-7, 228-pound center has become a point-per-game player (nine goals and 17 points in 16 games). — Fluto Shinzawa

Buffalo Sabres

Isak Rosen, RW

Rosen, a 2021 first-rounder, had an uneventful rookie camp entering a key season for his development. Then he got off to a hot start in the AHL and earned an NHL call-up. He put up seven points in 10 games in his first stint in Buffalo and was recently called up again. He’s showing a scoring touch but also has the speed and stick to be a reliable defensive player. — Matthew Fairburn

Calgary Flames

Matvei Gridin, RW

The Russian winger had a dominant 2024-25 season in the QMJHL with Shawinigan, winning both offensive and overall rookie of the year honors. Months later, he scored his first NHL goal in his debut against the Edmonton Oilers. He’s now at a near-point-per-game pace in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers. — Julian McKenzie

Carolina Hurricanes

Joel Nystrom, RHD

The Hurricanes’ wave of injuries on defense to start the season has a silver lining: Nystrom. The 2021 seventh-round pick, in his first full season in North America, was recalled Oct. 23 and played 24 games. Jaccob Slavin’s return Sunday pushed Nystrom out of the lineup and back to the AHL, but the Swedish rookie’s solid play earned him a four-year contract extension on Friday that will pay him a total of $4.9 million. It’s no surprise Carolina would want to lock him up — Nystrom is a perfect fit for the Hurricanes’ system, a defenseman who can skate, aggressively gaps up defensively and is quick to get shots through from the blue line. — Cory Lavalette

SWEDE CAROLINA 🇸🇪

The #Canes have signed defenseman Joel Nystrom to a four-year contract extension.

Details » https://t.co/HjMU9f1Nlg pic.twitter.com/5SXYRO55ra

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 12, 2025

Chicago Blackhawks

Roman Kantserov, RW

Kantserov, a 2023 second-round draft pick, looked like he had a chance to be a decent prospect after the last couple of seasons in the KHL. He’s gone to a whole other level this season. Through 34 games, he leads the KHL with 22 goals and is tied for second in 39 points. Kirill Kaprizov was the last player around that age to produce similarly in the KHL. With increased production, Kantserov looks a lot more like a top-six NHL winger. His KHL contract expires after this season, and he is expected to sign and join the Blackhawks next season. — Scott Powers

Colorado Avalanche

Francesco Dell’Elce, LHD

The third-round pick from the 2025 draft has continued to impress at the collegiate level. Dell’Elce is a left-shot defenseman who moves well and creates offense from the point. He had a breakout freshman season at UMass with 24 points in 40 games last year, and is on an even better pace as a sophomore. The 20-year-old already has three goals and 10 assists in the first 18 games for the Minutemen. — Jesse Granger

Columbus Blue Jackets

Luca Pinelli, C

Pinelli is 5-foot-9, 176 pounds. He was a fourth-round pick (No. 114) in 2023, not one of the Blue Jackets’ many recent first-round picks. However, Pinelli is ahead of schedule, becoming a point-a-game player in the AHL (seven goals, nine assists in 19 games) and showing well in a recent three-game call-up to the Blue Jackets. Coaches love Pinelli’s pace and fearlessness, his willingness to battle for pucks and play in traffic, and, of course, his ability to score. Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason was so enamored that he sent Pinelli out for the first shift of overtime (against Sidney Crosby) in a Nov. 28 game vs. Pittsburgh. — Aaron Portzline

Dallas Stars

Cameron Schmidt, RW

The Stars have only made one first-round pick and one second-round pick in the last three years. That’s the cost of doing business when you’re going for a championship every year. So there aren’t any can’t-miss prospects in the system. That said, Schmidt, a third-rounder this past summer, is tearing it up for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, third in the league in scoring with 18 goals and 26 assists in 32 games. At 5-foot-8, 158 pounds, it’s fair to wonder if Schmidt has the size to play in the NHL. But he’s certainly got speed and skill to spare. — Mark Lazerus

Detroit Red Wings

Eddie Genborg, RW

The Red Wings’ 2025 second-round pick was drafted for how hard he could be to play against, with size, skating and physicality on the forecheck. And none of that has changed. However, his stock is rising this season because of how much offense he’s been able to produce in the SHL at age 18. His 15 points in 26 games are third among all U20 skaters in the league, behind only Ivar Stenberg and Anton Frondell. — Max Bultman

Edmonton Oilers

Quinn Hutson, RW

Hutson was signed by Edmonton in the spring out of Boston University. His two-way ability and speed made him an attractive signing for the Oilers, who are badly in need of plug-and-play forwards who can push for NHL opportunities. Hutson is on fire, both as a two-way winger and as a goal scorer (16 goals in 24 games). He is undrafted, 23, and on the kind of scoring run that sometimes earns an NHL recall. — Allan Mitchell

Florida Panthers

Shea Busch, LW

Big, physical and loves the front of the net: He’ll fit right in as a Panther. Busch, whose father played pro in Germany, came through the Junior A route in the BCHL but has made a huge impact in his second WHL season on the league’s top team. He’s up to more than a goal a game with the Everett Silvertips so far this season despite missing time due to injury, and many of his tallies come from the hard areas. He has work to do on his skating and is committed to Penn State, so the pro game is likely a ways away. However, the 2025 fourth-round pick’s rapid improvement is worth noting. — James Mirtle

Los Angeles Kings

Jared Woolley, LHD

The 19-year-old Woolley, a 2024 sixth-round pick, has impressed in past Kings camps and is flourishing this year as the top defenseman for the reigning Memorial Cup champion London Knights, one of the Ontario Hockey League’s premier franchises. The Kings signed Woolley to an entry-level contract in March, and he could be contending for the club’s blue line in a couple of years. — Eric Stephens

Minnesota Wild

Charlie Stramel, C

After two tough years at Wisconsin, the 2023 No. 21 pick transferred to Michigan State to be coached by his old U.S. National Team Development Program coach, Adam Nightingale. Stramel’s game has improved significantly over the two years since. After scoring 20 points in 60 games at Wisconsin, he had 27 in 37 last season and is second on the Spartans with 18 in 16 this season. He also leads the team with a plus-16 rating and was tied for eighth in the nation with 196 faceoff wins through Thursday. Nightingale told The Athletic last week that Stramel is the best net-front player he has ever coached. Former NHLer and Spartans national champ Justin Abdelkader has come in to work with Stramel. — Michael Russo

Montreal Canadiens

Bryce Pickford, RHD

Pickford scored 20 goals in 48 games last season, his second year of draft eligibility. He was playing on a powerhouse Medicine Hat team with Gavin McKenna and Cayden Lindstrom that won the WHL championship and lost in the Memorial Cup final. The Canadiens drafted him with the No. 81 pick in 2025. This season, with no McKenna and no Lindstrom, Pickford has 24 goals in 30 games, first in the WHL, as a defenseman. — Arpon Basu

Nashville Predators

Yegor Surin, LW

Surin just turned 19 in August, and he’s Yaroslavl’s second-leading scorer on the year (as well as the KHL’s top U20 scorer) while playing just 14-15 minutes a night. He’s got this year and next on his KHL contract, so Predators fans will have to wait until 2027 to potentially get eyes on him in North America, but they’re going to like his brand of hockey when he does. He’s a scrappy and skilled player who is always involved in something — whether it’s making plays between the whistles or stirring something up after them. — Scott Wheeler

New Jersey Devils

Mikhail Yegorov, G

Yegorov is on this list mostly because of his performance as a freshman at Boston University. The 2024 second-rounder had a .927 save percentage that year. That’s regressed this season (.892), and the Terriers are off to a tough 8-8-1 start. New Jersey doesn’t have any other obvious picks, in part because so many of its promising young players are in the NHL. Yegorov isn’t the Devils’ top prospect, but he’s probably risen the most of any New Jersey player since he was drafted. — Peter Baugh

New York Islanders

Jacob Kvasnicka, RW

Kvasnicka didn’t have a great draft season, but he’s looked promising in his draft-plus-one in the WHL. He’s a good skater with legit skill who has shown more consistent effort. His size is the only issue in his projection at 5-foot-11. — Corey Pronman

Gabe Perreault might be the only forward in the Rangers pipeline with legitimate top-six upside. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

New York Rangers

Gabe Perreault, LW

Power winger Jaroslav Chmelař deserves a nod as an under-the-radar prospect who recently earned a call-up, but Perreault has to be the choice. He may be the only forward in the pipeline with legitimate top-six upside, and he’s showing why in his first full pro season. The 20-year-old needs to work on his “physical maturity,” as Rangers coach Mike Sullivan put it, before being deemed NHL-ready. However, it hasn’t hindered his production with AHL Hartford, where he leads the team with 17 points (10 goals and seven assists) in 20 games. An Eastern Conference scout called him “too smart” for the AHL. — Vincent Z. Mercogliano

Ottawa Senators

Stephen Halliday, C

The 23-year-old continues to generate positive momentum after a successful rookie camp and a solid start in his second pro AHL season. And with injuries plaguing the Senators, Halliday has been called up to play center in recent games. Even some brief spells on the power play. For a prospect pool that isn’t considered among the league’s best, Halliday is making the most of his NHL time, which is a win for the Senators. — Julian McKenzie

Philadelphia Flyers

Ty Murchison, LHD

The easy answer would be Porter Martone, whose stock has already risen at Michigan State after the Flyers picked him No. 6 in the 2025 draft. But let’s instead go with Murchison, who was a surprise call-up a week ago. A fifth-round pick in 2021, Murchison has not only leapfrogged other defensemen in the organization, but he was also given a chance over ineffective veteran Egor Zamula, too. He won’t ever be a star, but could still develop into a solid NHL depth guy. — Kevin Kurz

Pittsburgh Penguins

Will Horcoff, LW

The 24th pick in the 2025 draft, Horcoff was obviously a player the Penguins liked when they drafted him in June. They love him now. The 6-foot-5 forward is tied as the NCAA’s leading goal scorer this season, putting on quite a show playing for Michigan. While Horcoff is probably a year or two away from being NHL-ready, the Penguins are excited about his development and delighted that his goal-scoring touch is further along than anyone could have anticipated. The Penguins believe this player has the potential to become a top-six mainstay at the NHL level. — Josh Yohe

San Jose Sharks

Joshua Ravensbergen, G

The 19-year-old Ravensbergen is one of the three goalies Canada brought to its World Juniors selection camp. Taken with the 30th pick in the 2025 draft, the Prince George Cougars goalie leads all WHL netminders with 16 wins and sits in the top five in save percentage (.921) and goals-against average (2.50). — Eric Stephens

Seattle Kraken

Jake O’Brien, C

O’Brien is the OHL’s second leading scorer and is having a thoroughly dominant draft-plus-one campaign for the Brantford Bulldogs. The big, skilled center was invited to Team Canada’s U20 training camp and could slot into a scoring-line role, especially if fellow Kraken prospect Berkly Catton, who is currently injured, isn’t released by Seattle to participate in the tournament. — Thomas Drance

St. Louis Blues

Adam Jiricek, RHD

The Blues liked the Czech defenseman so much that they selected him at No. 16 in 2024 even though he was recovering from multiple injuries. Then he went to the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs and dealt with more injuries. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said the goal this season was for him to just get on the ice and stay healthy. Jiricek has done that and more. He has 10 goals and 29 points in 25 games, he made the Czech roster for World Juniors, and the Blues believe he has true No. 1 defenseman potential. — Jeremy Rutherford

Tampa Bay Lightning

Benjamin Rautiainen, C

Liiga doesn’t carry the same weight it used to, but what Rautiainen has done at that level the last two seasons is still undeniably impressive for his age. He’s got a chance to lead the league in scoring as a 20-year-old fourth-round pick. He’s got twice as many points as the nearest U21 player, and is significantly outproducing recent near-point-per-game seasons from players his current age, such as Ville Koivunen and Jani Nyman, who are both in the NHL now. He’s average-sized, but his hands and skill level get high marks. — Scott Wheeler

Toronto Maple Leafs

Tinus Luc Koblar, C

Koblar, 18, has gone from being the last pick in the second round of the 2025 draft to, in the words of his Leksands coach Johan Hedberg, potentially the SHL team’s “best player by the end of the year.” That’s an incredible jump, considering there was a possibility Koblar would play Under-20 hockey this season. Instead, the skilled but pesky playmaking center’s quick adaptation to the pro game suggests any NHL future could come sooner than anticipated. — Joshua Kloke

Utah Mammoth

Daniil But, LW

But, drafted No. 12 in 2023, has had an auspicious transition to North America. The hulking 6-foot-6 winger was producing at a near-point-per-game clip in the AHL, which has recently earned him a call-up. But hasn’t looked out of place in Utah’s top six, flashing exciting hands and skill, while registering one point in seven games. — Harman Dayal

Vancouver Canucks

Braeden Cootes, C

The Canucks’ first-round pick at the 2025 draft, Cootes’ scoring rate has taken a step forward in his draft-plus-one campaign in the WHL, and he was recently named to Team Canada’s U20 training camp (where he’s expected to make the World Junior team as an 18-year-old). Cootes is skilled and fast, has mature details in his game and brings leadership qualities to boot. He’s clearly on the fast track and trending toward being a full-time NHL player as a teenager as soon as next season. — Thomas Drance

Vegas Golden Knights

Braedan Bowman, RW

The undrafted 22-year-old wasn’t on many radars before this season, but Bowman has taken an opportunity and run with it for the Golden Knights. He parlayed a red-hot start in the AHL into the chance to play with Jack Eichel on Vegas’ top line when Mark Stone went out with an injury. He took advantage immediately with four goals in his first six games, and has played well enough to hold onto the spot, even with Stone back in the lineup. — Jesse Granger

Washington Capitals

Ilya Protas, C

At some point soon, the Capitals will have two Protases (or “Proti”) on the roster. Ilya, the younger brother of top-sixer Aliaksei, is a similar player — enormous and enormously skilled — and he’s having himself a nice season as a 19-year-old with AHL Hershey. A third-round pick in 2024, he had a seven-game goal streak in November, leads the team in goals and points, plays in all situations and generally seems close to NHL-ready. Spencer Carbery has taken note, too. — Sean Gentille

Winnipeg Jets

Elias Salomonsson, RHD

The 21-year-old Salomonsson showed promise in his recent four-game NHL call-up. His outlet passes were crisp, his read of the defensive zone was solid and he put up the same kind of mediocre possession numbers as Winnipeg’s more veteran third-pairing defensemen did. There were mistakes, too, including giveaways that led to scoring chances, but it’s a big deal that Salomonsson stepped up and didn’t look out of place. — Murat Ates