NHL Young Prospects: A Look at the Future of Hockey
The NHLPA’s annual rookie event offers a clear perspective on the youth of prospects, especially when considering the history of hockey. This year, the new promises demonstrate a mix of admiration for legends and ambition to make their own mark.
Schaefer recalls visiting the offices of Upper Deck, the collectibles company that co-organized the event, and seeing images of his new coach’s past as a generational goalkeeper. Roy is entering his third season as Islanders coach and his sixth season overall as an NHL coach. Schaefer said he has enjoyed their offseason conversations, but he is ready to see the training camp side of his new coach. Schaefer, who was selected by the Islanders after playing 73 games with the Erie Otters of the OHL in the last two seasons, where he proved to be an elite passer and puck carrier, signed his NHL entry-level contract in August. The Islanders haven’t hesitated to market Schaefer, including a ticket sales deal that incorporated his number 48. But he takes nothing for granted, whether it’s making the roster or playing in the lineup in his rookie season.“Yes, I heard he loves to win. I heard he was very good in his day. Everyone loves to talk about him,” Schaefer said about Roy, who won four Stanley Cups, three playoff MVP awards, and 551 games, which is third all-time.
Matthew Schaefer
If he makes the team, Schaefer would easily be the youngest player on an Islanders roster that features more than a dozen players over the age of 30. But Schaefer is comfortable with that age disparity. He has an older brother who is nine years older than him, which, according to him, helps with communication. But he also won’t hesitate to seek guidance from his older teammates. He also knows that there are some expectations for a player of his age from his older teammates.“You don’t get things for free, do you? You have to earn it. You have to earn your place. I still have to earn my place on the team and that’s what I’m going to do in training camp,” he said.
Matthew Schaefer
“Maybe I have to take care of [his kids] or something,” he said with a smile. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind”
Matthew Schaefer
New NCAA Eligibility Rules
Karsen Dorwart, a prospect for the Philadelphia Flyers, admits to feeling some envy. Dorwart was signed as an NCAA free agent after playing three years at Michigan State. He grew up in Oregon and was a big fan of the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. For decades, that opportunity wasn’t available to young players like Dorwart. The NCAA considered anyone who played in the Canadian Hockey League ineligible for college hockey, because those junior leagues have players who have signed professional contracts with NHL teams, and because CHL players earned a monthly stipend. That all changed last November when the NCAA Division I council voted to make CHL players eligible for NCAA Division I hockey starting this season. The council ruled that players can compete in the CHL, which comprises the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, without jeopardizing their eligibility for NCAA Division I hockey, as long as they are not “paid more than actual and necessary expenses as part of that participation”. Players like Dorwart no longer had the binary option of Canadian junior hockey or NCAA hockey. That has already led to a landscape-altering moment in college hockey, as Gavin McKenna, the consensus pick for the first overall selection in the 2026 NHL draft, left the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers after three seasons to sign with Penn State University with a NIL deal “in the range of” $700,000.
Ben Danford, a defensive prospect for the Toronto Maple Leafs, said the NCAA’s eligibility ruling “changed the game for sure” for both college hockey and the CHL, where he played for the Oshawa Generals. “We’ll have to see what happens. I feel like maybe the OHL will get a little younger,” he said. In general, NHL prospects were more intrigued by the migration of players from Canadian junior leagues to the NCAA.“A guy like Gavin McKenna making that jump to play in college is a big step,” said Minnesota Wild defenseman Zeev Buium, who played at the University of Denver. “I think everyone gets better. You’re getting guys from everywhere and now you can get anyone you want. I think that makes all of college hockey better.”
Zeev Buium
Dorwart believes the eligibility rule change is excellent for NCAA hockey, even if for him it could have meant more time as a Winterhawk in Portland than as a Spartan at Michigan State.“I think the NCAA is a tough league. It’s a physical league. So I’m really excited to see how those guys can adapt to it,” said St. Louis Blues forward Jimmy Snuggerud, who attended the University of Minnesota.
Jimmy Snuggerud
“Now you have all the best players in college. I have to meet some of the new CHL guys at Michigan State, and they are super excited and it will be great for everyone’s development,” he said. “But it’s something I envy. I think it would have been fun to play in my hometown growing up.”
Karsen Dorwart
Rule for 19-Year-Old Players in the AHL
Another significant change in player development is on the horizon, if the NHL and the CHL can reach an agreement. In the new NHL and NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, there is a provision for teams to loan a 19-year-old player to their AHL farm team without the requirement to first offer that player to his Canadian junior team. The current rules state that a player drafted from the CHL must be at least 20 years old or have played at least four full seasons in the CHL to be eligible for the AHL. The new CBA will come into effect next September. While other rule changes were fast-tracked for this season, the earliest the “19-year-old” rule would be implemented is the 2026-27 season, according to an NHL source. Once again, that is pending the NHL and CHL agreeing to modify the “mandatory return rule” for players.Zayne Parekh of the Calgary Flames is happy that the AHL rule hasn’t been fast-tracked for this season. Parekh, 19, is considered the Flames’ top prospect and one of the best offensive defensemen on the rise in the NHL. He made his NHL debut at the end of last season, scoring a goal in his only game. According to his point of view, having the “mandatory return rule” puts pressure on Calgary to add him to the roster this season.“Honestly, I’ve been very curious about that rule,” said Berkly Catton, a 19-year-old center prospect for the Seattle Kraken who played for the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. “Honestly, from now on, all I can do is go to camp, have a good camp, and force their hand. But that AHL rule would be great.”
Berkly Catton
Parekh is exactly the type of prospect the NHL is considering when looking to change the “mandatory return rule.” He had 107 points in 61 games with the Saginaw Spirit last season, recording back-to-back 33-goal campaigns. Even if the Flames believe he isn’t ready for a regular role in the NHL, dominating another season in the junior leagues wouldn’t benefit him as much as playing against professional talent in the AHL.“I think it’s good not having it because I’m really going to get a good opportunity to make the NHL team,” he said. “Maybe it benefits me, maybe it doesn’t, but it all depends on my camp. The opportunity is there. It’s about taking advantage of it.”
Zayne Parekh
Seattle’s prospect was reminded of the significant jump in competition when he attended the Kraken’s training camp last season, which was one of the reasons he focused on strength training in the offseason.“Sometimes you’ve done what you’re supposed to do in the junior leagues. That kind of in-between ground could be nice if you need to develop a little more,” Catton said.
Berkly Catton
“These guys are men. It’s not a 16-year-old kid going into a battle for the puck. It’s a guy with kids and stuff, but somehow you have to come out with the puck,” Catton said.
Berkly Catton
NHL Uniform Trends
Each year, the NHLPA rookie event offers a first look at the NHL uniform redesigns for the upcoming season. Snuggerud wore the new St. Louis Blues uniform, which brings back the original color scheme from their 1967 sweaters.(Well, it’s the Blues). Meanwhile, Tij Iginla donned the new home uniform of the Utah Mammoth, which features the team’s official colors: Rock Black, Mountain Blue, and Salt White. Iginla said he likes the new logo of the former Utah Hockey Club, which combines a local mountain range, a mammoth head, and U-shaped tusks.“They are very blue”, said Snuggerud.
Jimmy Snuggerud
Iginla followed the drama of his team’s brand last year, even when everyone in the NHL believed the team would be called the Utah Yeti.“I really like it. I think it’s a super fierce logo. One of the coolest in the league,” said Iginla, who was drafted sixth overall in 2024. “So it’s super, super cool to wear it for the first time.”
Tij Iginla
“I thought Yeti would have been great, but I like both. I don’t think they could have gone wrong,” he said. “I’m happy with the Mammoth.”
Tij Iginla
The Design and Fame
Beckett Sennecke, 19, was drafted third overall by the Anaheim Ducks in 2024. The winger played last season for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL, accumulating 86 points in 56 games. He’s on his way to becoming an NHL player. Perhaps then it will be him who is recognized at the airport instead of his mother. Sennecke is Candice Olson’s son. In 1994, after playing for the Canadian national volleyball team, Olson started her own interior design firm in Toronto. Seven years later, she joined the burgeoning home improvement television movement with her show “Divine Design,” which aired on W Network in Canada and HGTV in the U.S. She would then host other shows and serve as a judge on HGTV’s reality competition show “Design Star” until 2011.Her fame as an HGTV star predated Sennecke’s formative years. Therefore, her friends weren’t really aware that she had a famous mother.“She had a TV show in the past called ‘Candice Tells All’ or something like that. She went in and redid the interiors of houses and then made a TV show about it. I guess it was pretty popular in its day,” Sennecke said.
Beckett Sennecke
Sennecke said he couldn’t help but have an aesthetically pleasing home while growing up: his father is an architect.“No, it was an older program. It was more like people at the airport approaching her and saying, ‘¡Oh, it’s Candice!’ She gets that probably once or twice a year now,” he said.
Beckett Sennecke
So, along with the pressure of making it to the NHL someday, there’s the added pressure of eventually buying his first house as the son of an architect and a former “Design Star” judge.“It’s like a double whammy. If I don’t have a nice house… I don’t know,” he said. “But yes, they certainly did a good job.”
Beckett Sennecke
“I’m sure my mom will be all over the interior and stuff,” he said. “Especially the lighting. That’s her biggest thing. Whenever there’s bad lighting, she’s always disgusted with it.”
Beckett Sennecke
