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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

CHICAGO

(NEW)

Djurgarden (SHL)

ANTON FRONDELL

2

SAN JOSE

(NEW)

San Jose (NHL)

MICHAEL MISA

3

BOSTON

(NEW)

Boston College (HE)

JAMES HAGENS

4

PHILADELPHIA

(NEW)

Michigan State (Big Ten)

PORTER MARTONE

5

CALGARY

(6)

Calgary (NHL)

ZAYNE PAREKH

6

UTAH

(20)

Tucson (AHL)

DMITRI SIMASHEV

7

NASHVILLE

(NEW)

Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

BRADY MARTIN

8

UTAH

(10)

Kelowna (WHL)

TIJ IGINLA

9

MONTREAL

(42)

Michigan (Big Ten)

MICHAEL HAGE

10

ANAHEIM

(NEW)

Providence (HE)

ROGER MCQUEEN

11

UTAH

(NEW)

Moncton (QMJHL)

CALEB DESNOYERS

12

BUFFALO

(15)

Rochester (AHL)

KONSTA HELENIUS

13

DETROIT

(31)

Grand Rapids (AHL)

NATE DANIELSON

14

ST. LOUIS

(39)

Brantford (OHL)

ADAM JIRICEK

15

BUFFALO

(NEW)

Seattle (WHL)

RADIM MRTKA

16

WASHINGTON

(NR)

Hershey (AHL)

ILYA PROTAS

17

WASHINGTON

(62)

Boston University (HE)

COLE HUTSON

18

SAN JOSE

(72)

San Jose (AHL)

IGOR CHERNYSHOV

19

OTTAWA

(11)

Belleville (AHL)

CARTER YAKEMCHUK

20

CALGARY

(NEW)

North Dakota (NCHC)

COLE RESCHNY

21

MONTREAL

(17)

Laval (AHL)

DAVID REINBACHER

22

SEATTLE

(NEW)

Brantford (OHL)

JAKE O’BRIEN

23

MONTREAL

(NEW)

Ufa (KHL)

ALEXANDER ZHAROVSKY

24

COLUMBUS

(30)

Michigan State (Big Ten)

CAYDEN LINDSTROM

25

ANAHEIM

(84)

San Diego (AHL)

STIAN SOLBERG

26

PITTSBURGH

(71)

Kamloops (WHL)

HARRISON BRUNICKE

27

CHICAGO

(52)

Rockford (AHL)

SAM RINZEL

28

NY RANGERS

(19)

Hartford (AHL)

GABE PERREAULT

29

ST. LOUIS

(NEW)

Blainville-Bois. (QMJHL)

JUSTIN CARBONNEAU

30

CAROLINA

(40)

Chicago (AHL)

BRADLY NADEAU

31

SAN JOSE

(NEW)

Prince George (WHL)

JOSHUA RAVENSBERGEN

32

VANCOUVER

(NEW)

Prince Albert (WHL)

BRAEDEN COOTES

33

DETROIT

(48)

Grand Rapids (AHL)

MICHAEL BRANDSEGG-NYGARD

34

NY ISLANDERS

(NEW)

Barrie (OHL)

KASHAWN AITCHESON

35

COLUMBUS

(NEW)

Penn State (Big Ten)

JACKSON SMITH

36

NY ISLANDERS

(NEW)

Djurgarden (SHL)

VICTOR EKLUND

37

DETROIT

(46)

Michigan State (Big Ten)

TREY AUGUSTINE

38

PHILADELPHIA

(34)

Lehigh Valley (AHL)

OLIVER BONK

39

VANCOUVER

(22)

Abbotsford (AHL)

JONATHAN LEKKERIMAKI

40

NY RANGERS

(47)

Windsor (OHL)

LIAM GREENTREE

41

DETROIT

(NEW)

Everett (WHL)

CARTER BEAR

42

MINNESOTA

(NR)

Michigan State (Big Ten)

CHARLIE STRAMEL

43

NEW JERSEY

(24)

Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)

ANTON SILAYEV

44

TAMPA BAY

(NHL)

Syracuse (AHL)

CONOR GEEKIE

45

(75)

Boston College (HE)

DEAN LETOURNEAU

46

NASHVILLE

(NR)

Yaroslavl (KHL)

EGOR SURIN

47

UTAH

(56)

Tucson (AHL)

MAVERIC LAMOUREUX

48

PHILADELPHIA

(NEW)

Windsor (OHL)

JACK NESBITT

49

PHILADELPHIA

(16)

Brantford (OHL)

JETT LUCHANKO

50

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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