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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) 

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