7 NHL Prospects Seeking to Win Jobs Throughout 2024 Coaching Camp

Sure NHL prospects will be safely penciled into opening evening lineups. No. 1 total decide Macklin Celebrini may have zero competitors in San Jose. Matvei Michkov excelled in opposition to males within the KHL and can waltz right into a Flyers lineup determined for expertise.

Most prospects won’t enter the season with a presumed lineup spot. If you happen to’re not clearly prepared for a outstanding function coming into coaching camp, you are probably combating for a spot down the depth chart. Groups are likely to have veterans readily available for these positions, and the onus falls on the kids to grab their spot on the roster.

Some prospects have clear paths to opening evening however might want to clinch the job. Others are on the bubble and must fend off direct competitors. Just a few may be written for the minor leagues in pencil, however they are going to have the prospect to drive their groups to maintain them within the NHL.

Listed below are seven notable NHL prospects who will try and earn a full-time job within the NHL this preseason.

The Bruins would like it if winger Fabian Lysell made the soar. The Bruins moved on from Jake DeBrusk and James van Riemsdyk over the summer season and did not add anybody of observe, as a substitute investing closely at heart and protection.

Lysell, 21, will be electrifying in his finest moments. The 2021 first-round decide is about nearly as good of a straight-line skater as you may see, and he’s able to highlight-reel moments when carrying the puck down the wings. That software alone forces groups to actively place in opposition to the specter of his velocity and he does a pleasant job of setting groups up off the push. Lysell collected 50 factors in 56 video games final season and ranked fifth amongst all U23 gamers by assists.

There are questions as as to whether the 5’10” winger is prepared to bodily interact on the stage essential to play within the NHL or if he’ll stay purely a fringe participant who capitalizes off the push. Moreover, Lysell usually drew the ire of his coaches with unhealthy decision-making and overzealousness with dangerous choices.

In literary phrases, the coaching camp competitors right here is man versus self. Boston has a gaping gap at proper wing and Lysell is greater than gifted sufficient to play a middle-six function as quickly as this season. His goal these subsequent few weeks can be to show to go coach Jim Montgomery that he can play a mature recreation worthy of 15-16 minutes on a nightly foundation.

The Maple Leafs took Easton Cowan within the first spherical and obtained plenty of flak for doing so. Their scouting workers is vindicated up to now. The winger scored 34 targets and added 62 assists in 54 OHL video games after which dominated the playoffs with 34 factors in 18 video games.

The Leafs’ state of affairs at wing is unclear at finest. Administration has offered new head coach Craig Berube with many choices, although none supply any certainty. Max Domi is their best choice for second-line left wing, however they could want him at heart. Max Pacioretty could also be too injured to return to his earlier kind. Calle Järnkrok and Bobby McCann will be patchwork options at finest. Nick Robertson desires out.

Can Cowan fill the necessity? The expertise is definitely there. His manufacturing speaks for itself, however there’s extra to his recreation than scoring. He performs with power each shift, hounds pucks and places in a full defensive effort.

Cowan has confirmed every part he must in juniors, however he is too younger to be eligible for the AHL. That provides the Leafs some additional incentive to see if there’s a spot for Cowan within the NHL initially of the season. At 19 years previous and 5’11”, Cowan might not be ready for the trials of enjoying in opposition to grown males in the very best league on the earth. However he’s precisely the kind of participant to take that type of skepticism and use it as gas to annihilate the doubters.

No workforce had a harder offseason than the Hurricanes, who have been victims of their very own successes. They’d a number of superb gamers in want of recent contracts and solely a lot room with which to suit them. Specializing in the forwards, the ‘Canes will transfer on with out Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, and Stefan Noesen. Including harm to insult, Jesper Quick will miss all of subsequent season.

The excellent news? Carolina’s scouting workers has the workforce ready for this second. It has been a sluggish boil, however the Hurricanes’ skill to search out expertise with out premium draft picks is about to repay. There can be some recent faces battling for the ultimate few roster spots. Amongst them are Bradly Nadeau, Felix Unger Sorum, and Gleb Trikozov.

The main target right here can be on Jackson Blake. The son of former NHLer Jason performs with the kind of engine that may endear him to the Hurricanes’ teaching workers. He performs larger than his 5’11” body and has no points combating by way of visitors, battling alongside the partitions, and enjoying by way of contact. He isn’t going to be a high-end offensive participant, however Blake, who totaled 60 factors in 40 video games at North Dakota final season, has sufficient scoring contact and offensive acumen so as to add secondary offense.

He ought to have the within observe to an NHL job, as he is 21 and has the make-up of a bottom-six winger, however there can be heavy competitors in Carolina. High prospects Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger Sorum are youthful however extremely gifted and really near NHL-ready.

One thing has to alter in Buffalo. They’re effectively previous the purpose of introducing children to the NHL to skate some laps and study the league. The Sabres have to make the playoffs subsequent season. Any rookies who make the workforce want to have the ability to present an on the spot affect.

Jiří Kulich may very well be precisely what the Sabres want. He’s 20 years previous, however the 2022 first-round decide is already enjoying a person’s recreation. The Czech ahead held his personal two years in the past within the Czech league. Final season Kulich scored 27 targets in 57 AHL video games and dominated on the world junior championship.

Kulich can play all three ahead positions and will present heaviness to the Sabres’ roster in a number of methods. His shot is heavy. His engine is at all times operating. He is very balanced on his skates and will not be pushed round on the NHL stage. The Sabres’ offseason strikes confirmed a transparent precedence for velocity, which Kulich would not essentially match. He may deliver a spark that the Sabres want and he will make some veterans in Buffalo’s bottom-six very nervous about their job safety.

Of all of the gamers on this record, Brennan Othmann could be the closest to a real bubble participant.

The Rangers can get by with out him. They received the Presidents’ Trophy with bare-bones wing depth and have since added Reilly Smith. The Rangers, who’ve high-end expertise in so many different spots within the lineup, can be positive if Will Cuylle or Jimmy Vesey slots in at third-line left wing.

It will certain make head coach Pete Laviolette’s life simpler if Brennan Othmann etched his identify in that spot. The Rangers drafted Othmann sixteenth total in 2021, and his improvement has been optimistic although unsteady. Coming off his first professional season, Othmann’s affect got here too intermittently. His 49 factors in 67 video games are positive however didn’t meet the height of expectations.

Othmann did practically make the workforce out of coaching camp and did not look misplaced in his first three NHL video games. At his finest, Othmann is a deadly purpose scorer who can bury probabilities across the internet or snipe from the circles. He destroys gamers with massive hits and performs with the kind of tempo and aggression that may endear him to coaches and followers alike.

Beneath GM Chris Drury, the Rangers have reversed course from the earlier regime’s ethos and take their time creating younger gamers beneath the NHL. Othmann nonetheless has one thing price proving within the AHL. If he can bypass that step and earn a task on the Rangers’ third line, the workforce would very a lot welcome it.

It seems like now or by no means for winger Samuel Poulin. The Penguins drafted him within the first spherical in 2019, and he crushed the QMJHL the next season. Nonetheless, as a 19-year-old, Poulin’s recreation plateaued.

He then was solely okay within the AHL earlier than taking a go away from hockey for private causes. Poulin returned for the 2023-24 season and did sufficient to remain related, gathering 31 factors in 41 video games. These are adequate numbers to ask the query if he has an NHL future, however they don’t seem to be fairly adequate to ignite heavy confidence in that future.

Poulin performs a heavy recreation, and the 208 kilos sitting on his 6’1″ body point out as a lot. The difficulty is his skating and the way that hinders his skill to connect with the stream of play.

The main target in Pittsburgh can be on Poulin for just a few causes. First, the sort-of-rebuilding Penguins have to infuse younger expertise who can outperform their contracts for the subsequent few seasons. Poulin, now 23 and proudly owning a $775K cap hit for the subsequent two seasons, may very well be a part of the answer.

The opposite difficulty? If Poulin doesn’t make the reduce, the Penguins can be pressured to position him on waivers. Poulin has the heavy recreation and scoring contact to carve out a bottom-six function, however he has to make it occur in these subsequent few weeks. This can be his final probability in Pittsburgh.

The St. Louis Blues have been stale for just a few seasons now. Normal supervisor Doug Armstrong seems to have lastly conceded that the workforce wants a shakeup, and notably one constructed to win sooner or later reasonably than instantly.

They could have the very best dark-horse prospect in any workforce’s coaching camp. Dalibor Dvorský solely turned 19 years previous final June, and he is coming off his first season within the OHL. These aren’t the small print that counsel an NHL function in October.

He may nonetheless beat the chances. Dvorský, whom the Blues drafted tenth total in 2023, had a straightforward time within the OHL final season, scoring 45 targets and including 43 assists in 52 video games for the Sarnia Sting. Beforehand, Dvorský performed high quality minutes for AIK in Sweden’s second tier. At 6’1″ and 201 kilos, the Slovak ahead has NHL measurement. He’s exceptionally balanced on his skates—good luck attempting to knock him off the puck—and his wrist shot is an enormous asset.

Dvorský’s skating leaves lots to be desired, however he’s a play driver who can sustain bodily within the defensive zone even in opposition to absolutely mature professionals. The Blues can be in no rush to insert Dvorský into the NHL lineup and he will should drive his approach onto the roster. However with roster spots open and a need to inject youthful expertise, he has the instruments to make St. Louis at the very least give it some thought.