The Young Player on Every NHL Roster with the Highest Upside
The NHL is swimming in young talent, with an incredible collection of rising stars who are set to become the new faces of the league.
Some have already started to make their names known and are just beginning to hit their prime.
Others have shown flashes or are just getting their careers started.
Either way, pretty much every team has at least one player with significant upside and stardom in their future.
We are defining a "young" player as anybody who is 23 or younger at the time of publication, and it is not necessarily about how good the player is at this moment, but what their highest potential ceiling in the future is.
There are one or two teams that do not really have anybody that fits that criteria, so we will make exceptions and go off the roster and dip into their farm system.
Away we go!
Atlantic Division
1 of 4
Boston Bruins, Matthew Poitras
The Bruins farm system hasn't been the best in recent years, but they also haven't really needed it given how good the veteran core has been. But every once in a while, somebody rolls through the system and becomes an impact player, and Poitras might be the next to do so. The 19-year-old was Boston's second-round pick in 2022. After a couple of big seasons in the OHL, he made the immediate jump to the NHL this season and doesn't look like he has any plans on going back anytime soon. He has already scored three goals in his first six games and been a big part of Boston's strong start.
Buffalo Sabres, Rasmus Dahlin
There are a couple of different directions we could have gone in with the Sabres, including on defense where they boast a pair of No. 1 overall picks in Dahlin and Owen Power. But for as good as Power already is—and can be—the answer to this question is Dahlin. He came into the NHL with enormous hype and the Sabres have finally found a coach and supporting cast that has been able to harness his potential and help him start to reach his ceiling. He has Norris Trophies in his future.
Detroit Red Wings, Moritz Seider
Another defenseman with enormous potential, Seider burst onto the scene with Detroit as a rookie and became one of the rare defenseman to win the Calder Trophy as the league's Rookie of the Year. He had some growing pains in year two when the Red Wings tied him to Ben Chiarot on a defense pairing, but once they broke that up, Seider started to shine once again. Every contending team needs a big-minute, all-situations defender, and Seider has a chance to be exactly that for the Red Wings.
Florida Panthers, Anton Lundell
Lundell has not yet been able to match the offensive potential he showed as a rookie for the Panthers, but he plays an advanced two-way game for his age and has a chance to be a really strong top-six center long term. The offense is not there yet, but players who are as good as he is on both sides of the puck at this age tend to have very long, productive careers.
Montreal Canadiens, Cole Caufield
The Canadiens are still a few years away from serious contention, but they do have some intriguing young players who can be a big part of that return to relevance. Caufield is at the top of that list. He is going to score a lot of goals for the Canadiens—and he already has. As of Thursday, he has scored 56 goals in 129 regular-season games, which comes out to a 35-goal pace over 82 contests. He is the type of player that if he is able to stay healthy could be a consistent threat for 40 goals or more at his peak. He is just starting to hit that peak.
Ottawa Senators, Tim Stutzle
When the Senators had to trade Erik Karlsson, they hit an absolute home run in that deal. Not only did they land a very good top-six forward in Joshua Norris, they also received a draft pick that turned into a top-three selection. They used that pick to select Stutzle, and now that he is entering his fourth year in the league, he already looks like a franchise player and potential superstar. He hit the 90-point mark as a 21-year-old and has steadily improved every year he has been in the NHL. Do not be surprised if he starts hitting the 100-point mark with regularity in the coming years.
Tampa Bay Lightning, no qualified players
There is not a single player on the Lightning roster this season under the age of 25, so that is going to send us into their farm system. And that farm system doesn't exactly have a fully stocked cupboard after years of trading draft picks in an effort to win now. Ethan Gauthier, the No. 37 overall pick in 2023, is probably the best prospect in the system here and is off to a strong start offensively in the QMJHL with 11 points in his first 11 games as of Wednesday.
Toronto Maple Leafs, Matthew Knies
The Maple Leafs resisted all temptation to trade Knies in recent years, and that might turn out to be a good decision. He has only played a handful of games in the NHL, but the potential and the talent level is obvious, and there is a lot to be said for a Stanley Cup contender to have a young talent playing on a league-minimum salary. That really helps the salary-cap situation if you can get an impactful contribution at that price point, and Knies could start offering that as soon as this season. He is going to play a big role in Toronto in the future, especially if the Leafs end up losing William Nylander after this season.
Metropolitan Division
2 of 4
Carolina Hurricanes, Seth Jarvis
The Hurricanes just keep pumping out talent through their system, and they have another potential star ready for a breakout in the 21-year-old Jarvis. His production took a small step backward in the second year of his career, mainly due to a big drop in his shooting percentage (all the way down to just 7.5 percent), but the talent is there for him to be a star in the Carolina lineup. He is off to a great start this season with four goals and seven total points in his first seven games.
Columbus Blue Jackets, Adam Fantilli
The Blue Jackets probably were not expecting Fantilli to be available with the No. 3 overall pick in 2023, but he fell right into their laps. At this point, everything with him is based on potential and projection, but he is the most anticipated and hyped prospect to enter the Blue Jackets lineup since Rick Nash was picked No. 1 overall all the way back in 2002, and Fantilli will probably even exceed that level of hype and anticipation. He is a potential franchise player.
New Jersey Devils, Jack Hughes
There is no need to overthink this pick. Hughes is the Devils' best player. He is one of the best players in the NHL. He is still only 22 years old. His best days are still right in front of him. He has helped turn the Devils not only into a Stanley Cup contender, but also one of the most exciting teams in the league. The latter is something nobody has ever said about the New Jersey Devils. That alone makes him a special talent.
New York Islanders, Simon Holmstrom
The Islanders are an older team and do not have a particularly strong farm system, but Holmstrom is an intriguing player, even if flawed. He hasn't really played a big role in the NHL yet, but he has NHL skill and can be very creative in the offensive zone. Oliver Wahlstrom could also be the pick here, but something just has not yet clicked there for him and the Islanders.
New York Rangers, Kaapo Kakko
The Rangers have two recent top-two picks on their roster in Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere, and while neither has really blossomed into a star or an impact player yet (which is very concerning), they still have some upside and have shown the potential to be stars. While Lafreniere has the bonus of being a No. 1 overall pick, Kakko might have the higher upside at this point. He is better at driving possession, he is better at generating shots on his own, and he doesn't need to rely strictly on a high shooting percentage to generate offense. If one of those two ends up becoming a star, Kakko might be the better bet.
Philadelphia Flyers, Joel Farabee
The Flyers' prized building block is 2023 first-round pick Matvei Michkov. But he is still at least a year away from making his NHL debut, let alone an actual on-ice impact. In the meantime there are still a few young players on the roster who might have a chance to still be around in Philadelphia the next time the Flyers are good. That includes Farabee, who is still trying to find some consistency and his place in the NHL. Through his first three years, he has scored at a 20-goal, 40-point pace over 82 games, which is solid scoring for a top-nine forward. But it still feels like he has another level he can reach.
Pittsburgh Penguins, no qualified players
The Penguins are the oldest team in the NHL and have one of the thinnest farm systems, resulting in what might be one of the bleakest long-term futures when looking at the next five years. They still have a core that should be competitive in the short-term, but there are no young players on the roster who figure to be key contributors. Samuel Poulin is probably the most intriguing prospect in the farm system, but he is far from a sure thing at the NHL level. Brayden Yager, the team's 2023 first-round pick, probably has the most potential of any player in the prospect pool. Defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph is the youngest regular on the NHL roster, but has not yet established any consistency.
Washington Capitals, Rasmus Sandin
There is not much to like about the Capitals roster in the short-term or the long-term. It is an aging team that has rapidly slowed and doesn't have the best crop of young talent coming through. But the Caps did make a nice pickup at last year's trade deadline to get Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a first-round pick. He might not be a star, but he should at least be a good top-four defender who can bring some offense from the back end.
Central Division
3 of 4
Arizona Coyotes, Logan Cooley
The Coyotes are desperate for a franchise-changing superstar, and draft lottery luck has never been on their side. But they may have found their guy when they selected Cooley with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 draft. After some concerns about when—or if—he would sign with Arizona, he decided to leave Minnesota this year and sign his first pro contract. Early on, he already looks like he passes the vibe check for a star. It has been a long, slow rebuild in Arizona, but if Cooley reaches his ceiling, that will rapidly accelerate the process.
Chicago Blackhawks, Connor Bedard
The easiest pick in the whole article. Bedard is the most hyped prospect to enter the NHL since Connor McDavid, and even though his career is fewer than 10 games old, he has already looked like he has all of the skills and talent to play the part of a franchise player. The Blackhawks' rebuild needed a franchise player. They have it.
Colorado Avalanche, Bowen Byram
A classic example of the rich getting richer. The Avalanche already had an elite defense led by Cale Makar, Sam Girard and Devon Toews, and then they lucked out and landed a top-four pick (thanks to the Matt Duchene trade) and selected Byram. The only thing that has held him back early in his career has been injuries. But when healthy, he has all of the tools to be a top-pairing player and a star. Colorado's defense is obscenely good at the top end, and Byram simply adds to that.
Dallas Stars, Wyatt Johnston
Johnston had a convincing case for the Calder Trophy a year ago but ended up finishing in fifth in the voting. But that is simply going to be a footnote on his career as he continues to develop because he looks like he'll be a (no pun intended) Star in Dallas. The Stars lineup is one of the deepest in the league at forward, and any time a contender can get a top-line talent and producer on a rookie deal, that is a massive advantage. He scored 24 goals as a 19-year-old rookie and could be starting a true breakout performance this season.
Minnesota Wild, Matt Boldy
This was actually one of the tougher picks because you can make a strong case for Boldy and Marco Rossi. Boldy is clearly the better player right now, but the question is not necessarily "who is the best young player right now." The question is "which young player has the higher upside." And Rossi certainly has an extremely high ceiling and plays a more premium position at center. But Boldy has already shown that he has top-line talent offensively and is really starting to round out as an all-around player.
Nashville Predators, Juuso Parssinen
The Predators seem to be trying to do the impossible and retool on the fly while also trying to remain competitive. New general manager Barry Trotz has said all of the right things about focusing on skill and creativity, but there still seems to be a lot of work to be done in building a contender in his vision. There are, however, some intriguing young players here, including the 22-year-old Parssinen. He had a promising rookie season that saw him score 25 total points in 45 games, and he is off to a strong start this season. While he might not project as a top-line player, there is definitely a chance for him to be a top-six producer.
St. Louis Blues, Jake Neighbours
Neighbours is the youngest player on the Blues roster this season and has a good chance to build a long NHL career as a middle-of-the-lineup forward. He has some offensive upside, but might be perfectly equipped to be a second- or third-line forward who can chip in 15-20 goals while also playing a tough, physical two-way game and killing some penalties. In other words: the type of good glue player who can hold the middle of the lineup together.
Winnipeg Jets, Cole Perfetti
Given their lack of spending in free agency and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff's outright refusal to be proactive in the trade market, the Jets rely almost entirely on their farm system to improve their roster. Fortunately for them they have produced some real gems, including Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Nikolaj Ehlers and Joshua Morrissey. Perfetti should be added to that list in the future. When he has been healthy, he has looked like a potential top-six producer with strong offensive instincts and vision. Maybe not an All-Star level player at his peak, but certainly a very good and productive player.
Pacific Division
4 of 4
Anaheim Ducks, Leo Carlsson
The Ducks have a great young core of talent led by Trevor Zegras and Mason McTavish at forward. But the forward with the highest upside is their most recent top draft pick. The Ducks raised some eyebrows when they took Carlsson No. 2 overall in 2023 ahead of Adam Fantilli, but that does not mean it was a bad pick. Carlsson still has franchise-player potential and has already looked impressive in his limited work through the preseason and regular season. The Ducks are bringing him along slowly this season, but the upside is enormous. Anaheim fans should be very excited about him.
Calgary Flames, Matt Coronato
The Flames farm system is middle-of-the-pack, but there are some intriguing talents there with Coronato being high on that list. He is getting his first full-time look in the NHL this season and figures to take on a pretty big role as the Flames try to bounce back from the disappointment that was the 2022-23 season. Whether he sticks at center or wing remains to be seen, but he has a chance to be a very productive top-six player.
Edmonton Oilers, Philip Broberg
Broberg is so intriguing because he has tremendous size (listed at 6'3", 200 lbs) and can also skate at an extremely high level. That combination of size and speed will always get him a look in the NHL. Even though he is a former first-round pick, he does not have quite the upside of somebody like an Evan Bouchard in Edmonton, but he still has a chance to be a capable second-pairing defenseman.
Los Angeles Kings, Quinton Byfield
Byfield and the Kings are in a nearly identical situation to what the Rangers are dealing with in regards to Kakko and Lafreniere. A top-two pick with incredible talent who has not yet blossomed into the star they had hoped. Byfield has been getting a big look on one of the Kings' top lines next to Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, and while that line as a whole has excelled, it has not yet translated into big numbers for Byfield. It's important to remember he is still only 21 years old and not all top picks develop at the same pace. The talent and potential is still very much there.
San Jose Sharks, William Eklund
The Sharks are just beginning what should be a massive rebuild, and while the team is short on talent and might have one of the worst rosters in the league this season, there are still some potential building block pieces in place. Eklund is one of those potential pieces. He has only played a handful of games in the NHL at this point, but his talent and potential are very exciting and should make him one of the players worth paying attention to in an otherwise bleak short-term situation.
Seattle Kraken, Matthew Beniers
Beniers was the NHL's Rookie of the Year during the 2022-23 season and is going to be Seattle's first big-time star. Do not let this year's slow start be too much of a concern. He is still generating shots and chances, and eventually the goals are going to be there for him. Between him and 2022 top pick Shane Wright, the Kraken have a potentially dynamic one-two punch to build around for the long-term.
Vancouver Canucks, Nils Hoglander
The Canucks, as always, are in a weird situation where they are not quite a contending team but are also not really rebuilding. There is not a ton of young talent on this roster, and even though Hoglander's long-term future in Vancouver is in question, he is still a pretty intriguing player off to a nice start this season. He will not be a star in the NHL, but he has a chance to be a productive contributor whether it be in Vancouver or another city.
Vegas Golden Knights, Kaedan Korczak
Vegas has been all-in on being a Stanley Cup contender from its very first season in the league and has put a premium on veteran talent to try to win right now. As such, the Knights have exhausted a lot of their draft pick capital and depleted their farm system in an effort to build the best veteran team possible. That does not leave a lot of room for prospects or a top-tier farm system. The 22-year-old Korczak is the closest thing the current Vegas roster has to a young player, and while he might not project to be more than a depth player or complementary piece, he is off to a strong start this season with four points in his first four games.
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