NHL Power Rankings: Checking in on top prospects for all 32 teams

While NHL clubs are still firmly in the stretch drive, the playoffs have already arrived for many high-level hockey players elsewhere.

In major junior, the three leagues are set to embark on a two-month journey that will culminate with three teams joining the host Rimouski Oceanic at the Memorial Cup, beginning May 22. As for the NCAA, 16 teams are now set to scrap it out for a spot in the Frozen Four final, which is set for April 12 in St. Louis.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, playoffs are underway on European pro circuits, too.

For many NHL teams that won’t be making the playoffs, fans are already wondering which prospects might be able to make the jump next fall to improve the big club’s fortunes. And even clubs with Stanley Cup hopes need to keep the pipeline flowing, as those cost-controlled, entry-level contracts mean a player can provide serious bang for your buck.

With playoffs ramping up in leagues across the globe, we thought we’d use this week’s power rankings to see how a notable prospect or two has fared for all 32 clubs.

1. Washington Capitals (47-15-9) Ryan Leonard is the rare prospect you believe can really help an NHL team in the playoffs the second he’s done with college. Leonard, the eighth-overall pick from 2023, is chasing a national title with Boston College, but his size and strength could help lengthen the Caps lineup after that. By the way, Aliaksei Protas’ younger brother, Ilya, had an incredible debut OHL season with the Windsor Spitfires, finishing second in league scoring with 124 points. Five years after taking Aliaksei in the 2019 third round, Washington snagged Ilya in last year’s Round 3. On top of that, Andrew Cristall (40^th overall, 2023) led the WHL in scoring with 132 points and Cole Hutson (43^rd overall, 2024) became the first defenceman in nearly 20 years to lead the World Junior Championship in scoring. This organization is just killing it.

2. Winnipeg Jets (49-19-4) Elias Salomonsson, a second-rounder in 2022, made his North American pro debut this year with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and, basically, it could not have gone any better. The right-shot defenceman, who turns 21 this summer, could really push for a spot on the blueline next spring.

3. Dallas Stars (46-21-4) Emil Hemming, the 29th-overall selection last year, joined the OHL’s Barrie Colts from Finland for this season. The winger finished strong with eight points in his final eight games and he’s on a good Colts team that has a shot at a post-season run.

4. Los Angeles Kings (40-21-9) Big winger Liam Greentree took a nice step in his draft-plus-one season. He finished third in OHL scoring with 119 points behind potential 2025 first-overall pick Michael Misa and his Windsor teammate, Ilya Protas.

5. Vegas Golden Knights (43-20-8) 2024 first-rounder Trevor Connelly won gold with Team USA at the WJC, but had an injury-marred freshman season with Providence College. He’ll be looking to step up as a sophomore next season.

6. Colorado Avalanche (44-25-3) Ilya Nabokov, 22, has been one of the better goalies in the KHL for the past two seasons. It’s always a bit murky trying to predict when Russian players will land in North America, but Nabokov — a second-rounder last summer — could make the jump by next fall.

7. Carolina Hurricanes (43-24-4) Bradly Nadeau is leading all AHL rookies in goals with 27. That’s a wonderful showing for the 19-year-old, who was taken 30^th overall in 2023. D-man Scott Morrow, a second-rounder in 2021, also had a fantastic freshman campaign in the AHL and got an NHL call-up in March.

8. Florida Panthers (43-25-3) Jack Devine, a seventh-rounder in 2022, is trying to finish his fourth and final NCAA season with a second straight title in Denver. The small winger plays a tenacious game and will likely keep pursuing his NHL dream in the AHL next year.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs (43-25-3) There’s a reason the Leafs hung onto Easton Cowan (28^th overall in 2023) when they were trading prospects at the deadline. His ceiling remains that of a top-six guy and he’ll be on a mission to help London — which lost in the Memorial Cup final last year — finish the job and go all the way in 2025.

10. St. Louis Blues (38-28-7) The Blues are making a playoff push and you wonder, should they get there, if winger Jimmy Snuggerud will join them. The University of Minnesota junior — the 23rd-overall selection in 2022 — led the Golden Gophers in goals (22) and assists (27) this season.

11. Tampa Bay Lighting (41-25-5) Isaac Howard, the 31^st pick in 2022, took a huge offensive leap as an NCAA junior. On a Michigan State team where nobody else scored more than 12 goals, Howard scored 26. He’ll be the go-to offensive guy as the Spartans try to make the Frozen Four.

12. Edmonton Oilers (41-25-5) Matthew Savoie — drafted by ninth overall by Buffalo in 2022 and traded to Edmonton last summer — has shown some offensive flash as an AHL rookie. Though he’s cooled a bit lately with Bakersfield, Savoie put up 14 points in a 12-game stretch from late January through early March.

13. Calgary Flames (34-25-11) Zayne Parekh might be hockey’s top prospect in terms of offence-first defencemen. The ninth-overall pick in 2024 posted his second consecutive 33-goal campaign with the Saginaw Spirit and his 107 points made him just the 10^th D-man in OHL history to hit the century mark and the first since Windsor’s Ryan Ellis in 2010-11.

14. Minnesota Wild (40-27-5) The conversation about the top prospect in hockey probably comes down to a Canadiens-affiliated Russian forward we’ll mention shortly and Minnesota’s Zeev Buium. Somehow, Buium fell to 12^th overall last June. Two years ago, the Wild added Brock Faber out of college and he instantly became an impact defenceman on the path to stardom. This spring, it’ll be the same story for Buium once he’s done chasing a second straight NCAA title with Denver.

15. Vancouver Canucks (34-26-12) Jonathan Lekkerimaki — the 15^th pick in 2022 — is up with the big club and notched a huge goal this week in New Jersey. His 19 goals in 32 AHL games this season tell the story of an undersized scoring winger who is adapting well to North America.

16. New Jersey Devils (38-28-7) It will be fascinating to see how things play out on the Devils blueline in coming seasons. They have right-shot Simon Nemec — the second-overall pick from 2022 who’s in Jersey now — another righty in offence-oriented Seamus Casey (second-rounder, 2022) and six-foot-seven Russian Anton Silayev (10^th overall last June), whose strong skating gives him the potential to be an extremely rare presence on the back end. Are they all Devils in two years?

17. Ottawa Senators (37-28-5) Big body, big (right) shot, bit of a mean streak; it’s not hard to see why the Sens took Carter Yakemchuk seventh overall last June. He hasn’t produced this season the way he did in his draft-eligible year, but let’s see what he does with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL post-season.

18. Montreal Canadiens (33-28-9) Understandably, most of the attention goes to Ivan Demidov, a super-skilled winger who — after slipping to fifth overall in 2024 — is expected to join Montreal from the KHL next fall and immediately fill a second-line role. The less-talked about story, though, is that of David Reinbacher. Drafted fifth overall a year before Demidov, Reinbacher sustained a knee injury in pre-season action that looked like it might scuttle his whole season. Instead, he’s back playing in the AHL with top-flight Laval and looks good patrolling the right side of the blueline.

19. New York Islanders (32-29-10) Given their druthers, the Isles would have hung onto Brock Nelson at the deadline. That said, flipping him to Colorado for forward Calum Ritchie — the 27^th pick in 2023 — was one heck of a backup plan. Ritchie — who scored a goal in a seven-game showing with the Avs in the fall — instantly became the Ises’ top prospect and will turn pro next year.

20. Utah Hockey Club (32-28-11) Tij Iginla — the sixth-overall pick last year — had hip surgery in December that ended his season. He’ll be looking for a monster draft-plus-two campaign with the Kelowna Rockets next year. Keep an eye on KHLer Dmitry Simashev. The sixth-overall pick one year before Iginla, Simashev is easy to overlook because, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t post big offensive numbers as a young D-man in Russia. He’s long (six-foot-five) and smooth, which is an ultra-desired package on NHL bluelines.

21. Anaheim Ducks (31-32-8) Boy, the Ducks know how to unearth defencemen. Tristan Luneau, a second-rounder in 2022, has the best points-per-game mark of any AHL defenceman who’s played at least 20 games this year, at 0.96. Luneau is a righty who could make the permanent NHL jump next fall. 

22. New York Rangers (34-32-6) Winger Gabe Perreault has two WJC golds to his credit and is chasing an NCAA title with Boston College. It sure looks like the Rangers got a good one 23^rd overall in 2023.

23. Columbus Blue Jackets (32-29-9) Defenceman Denton Mateychuk made the NHL jump in December and the 12^th pick in 2022 should be an offensive presence at the highest level for a long time. The tough story in Columbus is the fact Cayden Lindstrom, the fourth-overall selection last June, is going to miss the entire season and — thanks to a back trouble — will play a total of 36 games over two years with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Fans are hoping this young man has a monster season next year in the Dub.

24. Pittsburgh Penguins (29-33-11) Rutger McGroarty really hit his stride in the back half of the AHL season. Even with just one point in his past five outings, the big winger has 18 points in 19 games in February and March. McGroarty, of course, was chosen 14^th overall by the Jets in 2022, but did not want to play in Winnipeg. He was swapped to Pittsburgh for Brandon Yager — pick No. 14 in 2023 — last summer. Ville Koivunen, a second-round selection of Carolina’s in 2021 who was sent to Pittsburgh 13 months ago in the deal that sent Jake Guentzel the Canes, leads all AHL rookies in scoring, with 55 points in 62 games.

25. Detroit Red Wings (33-32-6) Axel Sandin-Pellikka produced a point total of 29 points in 46 games, which is incredibly impressive for a 19-year-old playing in Sweden’s top league (he just turned 20 on March 11). The idea of a top four in Detroit that will include two huge guys in Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider alongside the dynamic, five-foot-10 Sandin-Pellikka should make Wings fans very excited. Like Seider, Sandin-Pellikka is a right shot.

26. Buffalo Sabres (29-35-6) Isak Rosen, the 14^th pick in 2021, has seen his production increase in all three of his AHL seasons. After going 27-27-54 in 55 games this season, he’s in Buffalo for his second NHL look. Noah Ostlund, drafted 16^th in 2022, is on fire in 2025 as an AHL rookie; the winger has 28 points in his past 28 outings.

27. Seattle Kraken (30-36-6) Berkly Catton, the eighth-overall pick last June, has a good chance to be that top-of-the-lineup threat the Kraken just haven’t had enough of in their brief existence. Catton is one of the top offensive players in the WHL and could go on a run with Spokane playing alongside offensive wizard (and Caps pick) Andrew Cristall.

28. Nashville Predators (27-36-8) Tanner Molendyk was traded from Saskatoon to the powerhouse Medicine Hat Tigers and is a point-per-game defenceman in the Dub. The 24^th pick from 2023 has a great shot to be an all-situations defender in Nashville.

29. Boston Bruins (30-34-9) Fraser Minten, acquired from the Leafs at the deadline, was always viewed as a high-character, high-floor prospect after being taken in 2022’s second round. He’s got seven points in as many games with the Providence Bruins and the B’s obviously hope there’s not just a solid citizen coming, but maybe a second-line centre.

30. Philadelphia Flyers (28-36-9) It’s worth remembering, on the prospect front, it’s just a monster win that the Flyers got Matvei Michkov in North America for this season at least two years ahead of when most expected he’d land. Meanwhile, after making the Flyers just four months following his 13^th-overall selection in June, centre Jett Luchanko didn’t have the greatest season with a weak OHL team in Guelph Storm. Assuming he’ll remain in the OHL next fall, let’s see if the centre has a big year to close out his time there.

31. San Jose Sharks (19-42-9) The Sharks are loaded with great prospects, many of whom are high picks who have either already landed in the bigs or will be there soon. How about 2023 fourth-rounder Luca Cagnoni, though? The five-foot-nine defenceman is third in AHL scoring from the back end this year, with 47 points in 56 contests as a freshman. He recently got the call to San Jose and recorded his first NHL point in his second game on Saturday.

32. Chicago Blackhawks (21-42-9) It’s tough right now, no doubt. But the Hawks blueline could look pretty good in a couple years. Artyom Levshunov, the second-overall selection last year, thrived as an AHL rookie and is in Chicago now. He’s playing over 20 minutes per night and has four assists in eight games. Meanwhile, big Sam Rinzel — the 25^th selection in 2022 who, like Levshunov, is a righty — had a great year that’s still going with the NCAA’s Golden Gophers. Finally, don’t forget about Kevin Korchinski, the seventh pick in 2022. The fact he played in the AHL this year after suiting up in 76 NHL games as a 19-year-old doesn’t mean he’s hit a wall. There’s nothing wrong with a longer development path, especially for a young defenceman.

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