Winnipeg’s future takes center stage as elite scouts rank the game's brightest young stars. Discover where these high-ceiling talents land among the league's top 100 rising icons.
The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here
Also, go to thn.com/free to subscribe.
2026 Top 100 Prospects - Feb. 27 2026 - Vol. 79 Issue 8 - Brian Costello
IT’S ONLY THROUGH THE assistance of NHL head scouts, directors of player personnel and GMs that The Hockey News is able to provide readers a comprehensive list of the top 10 prospects within each organization and a ranking of the top 100 from that large collection of 320 prospects.
Team scouts offer us guidance on NHL-affiliated prospects who have the highest forecasted ceilings five to 10 years out. We then ask a panel of these scouts to rank the top 60 from a list of the 32 top 10s. The scouts’ rankings are added up to form the overall top 100, and, in some cases, a team’s top-10 list is adjusted based on the data from the top 100.
As you would expect, rebuilding teams often have far more than the average 3.13 prospects per team within the top 100, and current contenders typically only have one or two – or even none.
We start this project in mid-January after the World Junior Championship while NHL teams are in the midst of their winter scouting meetings. At that point, we draw a line in the sand about who’s a prospect and who’s an NHLer. In some cases, those scenarios change. That’s why names such as Sam Rinzel, Isaac Howard, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Gabe Perreault, Nick Lardis and Hunter Brzustewicz are listed as prospects, even though they’ve broken through as NHLers over the past month or two. Meanwhile, Michael Misa (San Jose) and Zayne Parekh (Calgary) haven’t played in the junior ranks all season (other than the WJC), but we decided early on that they should be listed as prospects since injuries kept them from establishing themselves as NHLers the first few months of the season.
Each player’s top-100 rank from last year is in parentheses, while unranked players are denoted as “NR.” Prospects drafted in 2025 are denoted as “NEW.”
1
C
CHICAGO
(NEW)
Djurgarden (SHL)
ANTON FRONDELL
2
C
SAN JOSE
(NEW)
San Jose (NHL)
MICHAEL MISA
3
C
BOSTON
(NEW)
Boston College (HE)
JAMES HAGENS
4
RW
PHILADELPHIA
(NEW)
Michigan State (Big Ten)
PORTER MARTONE
5
D
CALGARY
(6)
Calgary (NHL)
ZAYNE PAREKH
6
D
UTAH
(20)
Tucson (AHL)
DMITRI SIMASHEV
7
C
NASHVILLE
(NEW)
Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
BRADY MARTIN
8
C
UTAH
(10)
Kelowna (WHL)
TIJ IGINLA
9
C
MONTREAL
(42)
Michigan (Big Ten)
MICHAEL HAGE
10
C
ANAHEIM
(NEW)
Providence (HE)
ROGER MCQUEEN
11
C
UTAH
(NEW)
Moncton (QMJHL)
CALEB DESNOYERS
12
C
BUFFALO
(15)
Rochester (AHL)
KONSTA HELENIUS
13
C
DETROIT
(31)
Grand Rapids (AHL)
NATE DANIELSON
14
D
ST. LOUIS
(39)
Brantford (OHL)
ADAM JIRICEK
15
D
BUFFALO
(NEW)
Seattle (WHL)
RADIM MRTKA
16
C
WASHINGTON
(NR)
Hershey (AHL)
ILYA PROTAS
17
D
WASHINGTON
(62)
Boston University (HE)
COLE HUTSON
18
LW
SAN JOSE
(72)
San Jose (AHL)
IGOR CHERNYSHOV
19
D
OTTAWA
(11)
Belleville (AHL)
CARTER YAKEMCHUK
20
C
CALGARY
(NEW)
North Dakota (NCHC)
COLE RESCHNY
21
D
MONTREAL
(17)
Laval (AHL)
DAVID REINBACHER
22
C
SEATTLE
(NEW)
Brantford (OHL)
JAKE O’BRIEN
23
RW
MONTREAL
(NEW)
Ufa (KHL)
ALEXANDER ZHAROVSKY
24
C
COLUMBUS
(30)
Michigan State (Big Ten)
CAYDEN LINDSTROM
25
D
ANAHEIM
(84)
San Diego (AHL)
STIAN SOLBERG
26
D
PITTSBURGH
(71)
Kamloops (WHL)
HARRISON BRUNICKE
27
D
CHICAGO
(52)
Rockford (AHL)
SAM RINZEL
28
RW
NY RANGERS
(19)
Hartford (AHL)
GABE PERREAULT
29
RW
ST. LOUIS
(NEW)
Blainville-Bois. (QMJHL)
JUSTIN CARBONNEAU
30
LW
CAROLINA
(40)
Chicago (AHL)
BRADLY NADEAU
31
G
SAN JOSE
(NEW)
Prince George (WHL)
JOSHUA RAVENSBERGEN
32
C
VANCOUVER
(NEW)
Prince Albert (WHL)
BRAEDEN COOTES
33
RW
DETROIT
(48)
Grand Rapids (AHL)
MICHAEL BRANDSEGG-NYGARD
34
D
NY ISLANDERS
(NEW)
Barrie (OHL)
KASHAWN AITCHESON
35
D
COLUMBUS
(NEW)
Penn State (Big Ten)
JACKSON SMITH
36
RW
NY ISLANDERS
(NEW)
Djurgarden (SHL)
VICTOR EKLUND
37
G
DETROIT
(46)
Michigan State (Big Ten)
TREY AUGUSTINE
38
D
PHILADELPHIA
(34)
Lehigh Valley (AHL)
OLIVER BONK
39
RW
VANCOUVER
(22)
Abbotsford (AHL)
JONATHAN LEKKERIMAKI
40
LW
NY RANGERS
(47)
Windsor (OHL)
LIAM GREENTREE
41
LW
DETROIT
(NEW)
Everett (WHL)
CARTER BEAR
42
C
MINNESOTA
(NR)
Michigan State (Big Ten)
CHARLIE STRAMEL
43
D
NEW JERSEY
(24)
Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)
ANTON SILAYEV
44
C
TAMPA BAY
(NHL)
Syracuse (AHL)
CONOR GEEKIE
45
C
(75)
Boston College (HE)
DEAN LETOURNEAU
46
C
NASHVILLE
(NR)
Yaroslavl (KHL)
EGOR SURIN
47
D
UTAH
(56)
Tucson (AHL)
MAVERIC LAMOUREUX
48
C
PHILADELPHIA
(NEW)
Windsor (OHL)
JACK NESBITT
49
C
PHILADELPHIA
(16)
Brantford (OHL)
JETT LUCHANKO
50
LW
WASHINGTON
(43)
Hershey (AHL)
IVAN MIROSHNICHENKO
51
DAVID JIRICEK
D, Iowa (AHL)
52
ROMAN KANTSEROV
RW, Magnitogorsk (KHL)
53
JANI NYMAN
RW, Coachella Valley (AHL)
54
SASCHA BOUMEDIENNE
D, Boston University (HE)
55
TREVOR CONNELLY
LW, Henderson (AHL)
56
MATVEI GRIDIN
RW, Calgary (AHL)
57
BRAYDEN YAGER
C, Manitoba (AHL)
58
COLE BEAUDOIN
C, Barrie (OHL)
59
TANNER MOLENDYK
D, Milwaukee (AHL)
60
OSCAR FISKER MOLGAARD
C, Coachella Valley (AHL)
61
SACHA BOISVERT
C, Boston University (HE)
62
OTTO STENBERG
C, Springfield (AHL)
63
WILL HORCOFF
LW, Michigan (Big Ten)
64
QUENTIN MUSTY
LW, San Jose (AHL)
65
CULLEN POTTER
C, Arizona State (NCHC)
66
SAM O’REILLY
C, Kitchener (OHL)
67
JACOB FOWLER
G, Laval (AHL)
68
MAREK VANACKER
LW, Brantford (OHL)
69
CAMERON REID
D, Kitchener (OHL)
70
RYKER LEE
RW, Michigan State (Big Ten)
71
JOAKIM KEMELL
RW, Milwaukee (AHL)
72
HUNTER BRZUSTEWICZ
D, Calgary (AHL)
73
EGOR ZAVRAGIN
G, St. Petersburg (KHL)
74
SEMYON FROLOV
G, Spartak Moscow Jr. (Rus.)
75
JACK BERGLUND
C, Farjestad (SHL)
76
MIKHAIL YEGOROV
G, Boston University (HE)
77
PYOTR ANDREYANOV
G, K.A. Moscow Jr. (KHL)
78
DMITRY GAMZIN
G, CSKA Moscow (KHL)
79
ADAM KLEBER
D, Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC)
80
KEVIN KORCHINSKI
D, Rockford (AHL)
81
ISAK ROSEN
RW, Rochester (AHL)
82
MIKHAIL GULYAYEV
D, Omsk (KHL)
83
VACLAV NESTRASIL
RW, UMass (HE)
84
LYNDEN LAKOVIC
LW, Moose Jaw (WHL)
85
BEN DANFORD
D, Brantford (OHL)
86
ISAAC HOWARD
LW, Bakersfield (AHL)
87
SEBASTIAN COSSA
G, Grand Rapids (AHL)
88
TRISTAN LUNEAU
D, San Diego (AHL)
89
EDDIE GENBORG
RW, Timra (SHL)
90
LENNI HAMEENAHO
RW, Utica (AHL)
91
DAVID EDSTROM
C, Milwaukee (AHL)
92
CHARLIE CERRATO
C, Penn State (Big Ten)
93
BRAD LAMBERT
C, Manitoba (AHL)
94
ERIC NILSON
C, Michigan State (Big Ten)
95
DANNY NELSON
C, Notre Dame (Big Ten)
96
BLAKE FIDDLER
D, Edmonton (WHL)
97
EMIL HEMMING
RW, Barrie (OHL)
98
HENRY BRZUSTEWICZ
D, London (OHL)
99
OWEN BECK
C, Laval (AHL)
100
HAMPTON SLUKYNSKY
G, Western Michigan (NCHC)
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.