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