9 NHL Prospects Competing for Jobs During 2025 Training Camp
We know that Ivan Demidov is expected to be an NHL player this season. Matthew Schaefer is presumably at least starting the season on Long Island. Alexander Nikishin should be an impact player in Carolina right away.
Most prospects currently at NHL training camps aren't penciled in to an NHL roster spot. In fact, some may not even have the inside track. They will have to force the coaching staff's hands.
Every September brings a few surprises. Think about Matt Poitras making the Bruins' roster as a 19-year-old in 2023. Or Zach Benson winning a spot with the Sabres as an 18-year-old drafted 13th overall the same year.
Much ink will be spilled about the top Calder Trophy contenders for the 2025-26 season, but as the NHL preseason begins on Saturday, why not dig a little deeper? Let's take a look at nine prospects who are either under the radar or who could surprise these next few weeks and prove ready for the NHL sooner than anticipated.
Sam Dickinson, San Jose Sharks
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The San Jose Sharks have the worst group of right defensemen in the NHL. All of Timothy Liljegren, John Klingberg, and Jack Thompson would be fighting for an NHL spot on most other NHL depth charts.
It is possible for a top prospect to inject some life. Sam Dickinson, drafted 11th overall in 2024, is one of the top offensive defensemen outside the NHL. Dickinson scored 29 goals and added 52 assists in 68 regular-season games for the London Knights last season. In the last 25 seasons, only Zayne Parekh has totaled more points as an 18-year-old defenseman in the OHL.
The right-handed shooter has blazing north-south speed and he'd immediately be the best defenseman in San Jose's lineup when it comes to skating the puck up the ice or joining for rush offense.
Clearly, he's conquered junior hockey, and without AHL eligibility, the only alternative for the 19-year-old is the NHL. However, Dickinson's decision-making remains questionable and the Sharks will fear exacerbating those problems at the quicker NHL speeds.
The Sharks may also hesitate to inject yet another young player into the lineup; the coaching staff already has its hands full with an inexperienced group that will likely include 18-year-old Michael Misa in the mix.
Michael DiPietro, Boston Bruins
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The Bruins believe they have a franchise goaltender in Jeremy Swayman. They probably feel a lot less attached to backup Jonas Korpisalo, thrown in as a cap dump as part of the deal that sent Linus Ullmark to Ottawa in 2024. To Korpisalo's credit, he played respectable hockey last season, but over the course of his career, the 31-year-old has been a below-average goaltender.
Michael DiPietro, 26, is an undersized yet athletic goaltender who has posted back-to-back sensational seasons with the AHL's Providence Bruins. Last season, the former Canucks draft pick posted a .927 save percentage and held strong in the postseason.
In the unlikely event that another team claimed Korpisalo on waivers, the Bruins would be happy to decouple themselves from his $3 million cap hit through 2028, anyway.
Less likely to slip through the cracks? DiPietro. There are a handful of NHL teams with thin goaltending depth charts who might wish to take a chance on the best goaltender in the AHL last season. Utah, Buffalo, and Calgary, among them.
The Bruins' win-or-bust era went out the door alongside Brad Marchand. Now is exactly the time to experiment. DiPietro has proven himself both in junior hockey and the AHL. If he has a strong camp, then why not go with a younger goaltender with something to prove?
Tom Willander, Vancouver Canucks
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Five spots on the Vancouver Canucks' blueline are locked in; Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers, Marcus Pettersson, and Derek Forbort will, barring injury, make the starting lineup on opening night.
Who will be Number Six? The two favorites are Vince Mancini and Elias Nils Pettersson. Both played a number of games in the NHL last season. Mancini is a superb skater. Pettersson is a cerebral defender with reach.
We should leave room for the possibility that Tom Willander blows those two away in training camp. Drafted 11th overall in 2023, Willander plays a mature game despite being just 20 years old. His gap control is high-end and he's able to play an aggressive, physical style without the frequent blunders typical for a prospect. He was a top defenseman in the NCAA for Boston University last season and has even shown some offensive upside.
All else being equal, the Canucks may prefer to start Willander in the AHL. They may feel obligated to see what they have in Pettersson or Mancini, who are older, and Willander would be just fine playing 24-26 minutes in the AHL. If he is clearly the best player in training camp, however, then he may be the choice for the right side of that third defensive pairing.
Alex Bump, Philadelphia Flyers
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Alex Bump's high school and USHL production suggested he might have been a steal for the Philadelphia Flyers in round five of the 2022 NHL draft. Three years later, Bump enters pro hockey coming off a season in which he was the leading scorer on NCAA Championship-winning Western Michigan.
The 6'0" winger consistently could score goals, but he was underripe in other ways. Since then, he has improved his skating and become stronger on the puck. Now he'll be thrown into a training camp where there are forward spots for the taking, but a large group of candidates will be vying for them. First-round pick Jett Luchanko, 19, is the most prestigious, with 20-year-old Denver Barkey vying for a spot as well. Nikita Grebenkin and Karsen Dowart are older and have NHL experience.
Bump is used to being the underdog and he plays like someone eager to prove doubters wrong. The 21-year-old will see NHL games at some point this season, and he could possibly make his way into the Flyers' top nine right away.
Jani Nyman, Seattle Kraken
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The Seattle Kraken have, if nothing else, wing depth. Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz, and Mason Marchment on left wing and Kaapo Kakko, Jordan Eberle, and Eeli Tolvanen standing opposite. All of those players belong in an NHL top-nine. In a vacuum, that is a tough group to disrupt, even for 2024 eighth-overall pick Berkly Catton.
Seattle must be realistic about its team, which has a high floor but low ceiling, and appears destined for somewhere between 78-84 points and no playoff spot. That is NHL No Man's Land. Seattle has an opportunity to give some youth a chance without throwing them to the wolves of a full rebuild. For that reason, Catton will get a look in training camp.
I also wonder about Jani Nyman. The Finnish winger is coming off a 28-goal AHL season and collected six points in his 12-game NHL cameo. The 21-year-old is heavy and makes himself open around the net. He's too young and has too much upside to waste him in a fourth-line role, so it's likely top-nine or AHL for him this season.
Would new head coach Lane Lambert have the audacity to drop a veteran to make room?
Noah Laba, New York Rangers
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The Rangers intend to start the season with Mika Zibanejad on JT Miller's wing. There are valid reasons for coupling those two together, but the consequence for the Rangers' center depth chart is, to put it mildly, brutal.
Juuso Parssinen has shown flashes of potential, but the 24-year-old may be the worst presumptive third-line center in the NHL. He has yet to prove he is an NHLer at all and he was mostly irrelevant in his 11 games with the Rangers last season.
I wonder if Noah Laba could take advantage of this void in training camp. Laba has been the most underrated prospect in the Rangers' pool ever since they took him in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft. The 6'2" center was a point-per-game player as a sophomore at Colorado College in 2023-24. Last season, he was hampered by injuries but showed well in his AHL audition, totaling 5 points in 11 contests.
Laba plays the style the Rangers are seeking, and I compare his upside to that of Carolina's Jordan Martinook, a hard-working forward who excels defensively and contributes secondary scoring. Laba is fairly unproven and his skating still needs work, but at 22 years old, he's physically capable of surviving in the NHL. He's low-key the best center in the Rangers' prospect pool and maybe he can steal the job.
Avery Hayes, Pittsburgh Penguins
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Penguins GM Kyle Dubas loves turning minor league straw into gold. In Toronto, he transformed the AHL and ECHL programs into a haven for undrafted players; Mason Marchment, Justin Brazeau, and Bobby McMann have all gone on to become NHLers.
Might he have his first successful project in Pittsburgh? Avery Hayes was on an AHL contract last season but played his way into an NHL deal with 23 goals and 19 assists in 60 AHL games. He's a skilled winger who showed creativity and offensive instincts last season. He's 5'10" and isn't the most physical player, though he shows some energy, so he's not exactly the prototype for a bottom-six winger. Of course, Dubas knows that finding hidden gems means looking for unconventional players.
The Penguins are in pure rebuild, Crosby notwithstanding, and the roster is primed for a young wild card player like Hayes to win a job. Hayes will get a legitimate look in the preseason.
Stephen Halliday, Ottawa Senators
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Stephen Halliday has one of the more interesting development paths among NHL prospects. He was undrafted in both 2020 and 2021. He dominated the USHL as a 19-year-old and, age notwithstanding, teams notice that a 6'4" center produces.
Ottawa took a flyer on him in round five in 2022. He became a 20-year-old freshman at Ohio State, where he continued to thrive. Last season, Halliday produced 51 points in 71 AHL games.
Halliday is a big forward who can play center or wing and has pass-first instincts. This may be his first real crack at an NHL roster, but he is 23 years old. The Senators have room for a fourth-liner if someone earns the job. Halliday fits the mold.
Jack Devine, Florida Panthers
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I called Jack Devine a "steal" for the Panthers in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Draft and he has only validated that take since. He led college hockey in total points (163) over the previous three seasons and earned an NHL contract. Now, many scouts are scratching their heads, wondering why he didn't go three or four rounds sooner.
Devine is an agile 5'11" winger with decent playmaking instincts. He plays with urgency and dedication and that makeup will earn him some credit with coaches. Devine, 22, would be buried in many NHL depth charts but is lucky to be in Florida, whose prospect pool is thinned out.
Matthew Tkachuk will be out for multiple months and the resulting roster shuffling leaves an open spot on the fourth line to start the season. Devine is unlikely to make it, but, to be fair, it's unlikely for a seventh-round pick to even be in the conversation three years later.
