NHL Prospects Rumors & News

The Athletic "John Paddock is in his 40th year of managing and coaching hockey, and the 68-year-old has worked with some of the NHL’s previous “generational” talents — Teemu Selanne, Zdeno Chara and Claude Giroux, to name a few. This is not a man who throws around..." February 06

Bleacher Report "A well-timed trading deadline addition can be the difference between an early playoff exit and a Stanley Cup banner. Every contender is looking to add, so you better participate in the arm's race. This trading deadline is particularly important. The Connor Bedard sweepstakes have..." February 03

Bleacher Report "As the second half of the NHL season ramps up and teams begin jockeying for playoff spots, there's another battle going on at the bottom of the standings. The allure of drafting NHL Central Scouting's No. 1 skater in their midterm rankings, Connor Bedard, is strong...." January 30

The Athletic "Officially, every NHL team is already past the halfway point of their season. By the time you read this, most teams will have played 50 or more games. But the All-Star Game is this weekend and that marks a sort of unofficial midseason point for the year. So we’re using..." January 30

The Score "After reasserting his dominance as the projected 2023 first overall pick at the world juniors, Connor Bedard is well aware that the hype surrounding him is real. But that doesn't mean he's completely on board with the lofty comparisons he's garnered throughout..." January 28

The Athletic "How do you tank? Simple question really, but one that rarely gets asked. Or doesn’t get asked enough. Gary Bettman says “nobody tanks” in the NHL. Anyone watching this season knows better. So while, yes, players and coaches do their best to win,..." January 25

The Score "Gary Bettman is adamant teams across the NHL don't throw their seasons in hopes for some lottery luck. "Nobody tanks because we have a weighted lottery," the commissioner said Tuesday, per The Athletic's Arpon Basu. "You're not going to lose games to..." January 25

Daily Faceoff "There’s something about the intense look Will Smith gives on a penalty shot. Head tilted down. Eyes fixated on the goaltender. Never breaking focus. Even in a lopsided exhibition game, he knows his role. He knows what’s expected of him. He’s not going to be..." January 18

ESPN "We're five months away from the 2023 NHL draft in Nashville, Tennessee -- one of the most anticipated drafts for NHL teams in recent history. "We've been told about how exciting the 2005s (their birth year) are for a while now," one NHL general manager told ESPN...." January 17

The Athletic "Welcome to the midseason update of the under-23 NHL player rankings for the 2022-23 season. This is an age-based ranking of the best young players overall on teams’ reserve lists, meaning within an NHL organization, in or outside the league. This is a ranking meant to..." January 17

Daily Faceoff "By now, even if you’re just a casual hockey fan, you know everything about Connor Bedard. The 17-year-old phenom is fresh off of one of the best performances ever seen at the World Junior Championship. He then wasted no time finding the scoresheet in his return to the WHL,..." January 12

Clutch Points "Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks are in the midst of a full-scale rebuild, and with Kane in the final season of his contract, there’s viable speculation he could be moved before the NHL’s Trade Deadline. Kane signed an eight-year, $84 million contract with..." January 12

The Athletic "It’s January. Do you know where your team’s tank is? You should, because we’re about to hit the halfway point of the season, and it’s time to get serious about losing with our second Tank Index of the season. This is normally a gimmick that I break out once a..." January 11

Bleacher Report "The World Junior Championship is a great opportunity for scouting the world's top teenage hockey players. At the same time, it's ultimately a five-to-seven-game tournament in which players have minimal time to learn the team's tactics and develop chemistry with linemates...." January 10

TSN "There were moments during this year’s World Juniors where Team Canada, the prohibitive favourites, were pushed to the brink. The continued development of international players over the past few decades has laid the foundation for parity..." January 09

The Athletic "The Connor Bedard showcase, also known as the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, wrapped up Thursday night with Bedard and Team Canada taking the gold medal in a 3-2 overtime win over Czechia. Bedard, the youngest player in the tournament, completely tore through the rest of the..." January 06

The Athletic "The 2023 World Junior Championship concluded with Canada defeating Czechia 3-2 in overtime and Connor Bedard having a historic tournament. Between live and video viewings, I watched every game, and after doing so I’m offering my take on who I thought excelled and disappointed in..." January 06

Pro Hockey Rumors "Team Canada has won the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, defeating Czechia to win the gold medal. The game-winning goal came off the stick of Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther in overtime, ending Czechia’s bid for their first gold since 2001. It’s..." January 06

Daily Faceoff "Everyone knows about Connor Bedard. You can’t escape him. He’s like Thanos – he’s inevitable. But the quality of NHL Draft talent beyond the consensus No. 1 prospect runs deep. It’s more of a quality over quantity thing, but we’ve been blessed to..." January 05

The Athletic "Connor Bedard’s lighting up the World Junior Championship for Team Canada with 21 points in five games. There’s only so much one can draw from five games and one tournament, but in Bedard’s case, his play is just confirming what the last few years of his career have shown: He..." January 04

TSN "Connor Bedard created an incredible World Junior moment with his dazzling display in overtime in Monday night's quarterfinal against Slovakia. Everything about the sequence impressed teammates, including the celebration. "That was amazing," said Michigan..." January 04

The Athletic "There seems to be little question that this is the kind of prospect an NHL franchise should go all-out tank-a-palooza for. There is always risk in overreacting to a player’s world juniors performance, to the good and the bad, but what we’ve seen so far from..." January 03

The Athletic "The excitement of the NHL season is starting to build for some fan bases. As we get closer to the halfway point, it’s becoming clearer which teams could be real Stanley Cup contenders. If you’re a fan of the Bruins, Hurricanes or Devils,..." December 22

ESPN "There's NHL draft hype, and then there's what heralds the arrival of Connor Bedard. He's been called "magical" and "otherworldly," a player that can "change the fortunes of a franchise" by himself. While NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has..." December 21

The Athletic "London police investigators say they have reasonable grounds to believe that five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel room in the early morning of June 19, 2018, according to a recent filing to the Ontario Court of Justice in London,..." December 20

Daily Faceoff "The London Knights and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) are mourning the unexpected death of 18-year-old forward Abakar Kazbekov.  Kazbekov played in Friday night’s 5-2 victory over the Owen Sound Attack and no further details have been provided. He was selected first..." December 19

Bleacher Report "The 2023 NHL draft will be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on June 28-29. At a date to be determined in April, the league will hold its annual draft lottery consisting of two draws to determine the order for the 16 teams that failed to qualify for the 2023 Stanley Cup..." December 09

Daily Faceoff "According to the Brandon Sun’s Perry Bergson in a story published Friday, four Brandon Wheat Kings players were able to help a man who was contemplating suicide earlier this week. Calder Anderson, Nolan Ritchie, Ben Thornton and Edmonton Oilers prospect Jake Chiasson..." December 02

Daily Faceoff "The teams that really excel in the prospect development front are the ones that can find value at any round. The Tampa Bay Lightning are a perfect example. They selected Ondrej Palat with the fourth-last pick of the 2011 draft, and he went on to record three 50-plus point seasons and..." November 21

Daily Faceoff "What’s that expression Ken Holland always uses? That the NHL standings by American Thanksgiving usually tell us who the playoff teams will be? Maybe that’s why we’re seeing so much talk about tanking amid the struggling franchises. Tanking for Connor Bedard, of..." November 20

The Athletic "It’s what every NHL organization wants to see in its prospect pipeline: the player who takes the next step — or two or three — and shows that he’s ready for more responsibility and/or a look at a higher level. And with a month-plus gone in the 2022-23 hockey..." November 20

ESPN "When it comes to NHL debates, "small sample size" is the most reliable counterargument. If there's a team off to a blazing start, showing signs of being an unexpected Stanley Cup contender? "Small sample size." If there's a team that isn't delivering on..." November 09

Pro Hockey Rumors "The 2023 draft is still months away, but fans of struggling teams are already salivating over the idea of adding talents like Connor Bedard, Matvei Michkov, or Adam Fantilli to their organization. Those three are among the 28 names that were included as “A”..." October 26

The Athletic "NHL training camps officially opened this past weekend, with rookie tournaments taking place across the NHL landscape. Today we discuss who stood out at three of the main events: the tournament in Buffalo featuring Boston, Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa and Pittsburgh; the..." September 20

Daily Faceoff "Jesper Wallstedt, Minnesota Wild Wallstedt made history in 2021 as the first Swedish goaltender to be selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. And for good reason. The 19-year old from Vasteras had an outstanding junior career, then followed it up with a..." September 13

The Athletic "It’s that time of the year again. With another hockey season around the corner (they really have a way of creeping up on us, don’t they?), my annual look at the incoming rookie class returns for a fifth straight year at The Athletic. However, we’re unsure for a..." September 08

The Hockey News "For the first time in series history, the EA Sports NHL video game will have a split cover, with Trevor Zegras and Sarah Nurse donning the front of NHL 23. The official covers for all versions of the game will be released later this week.  " August 24

Pro Hockey Rumors "Joakim Kemell was one of the brightest stars for Team Finland in their silver medal effort at the 2022 World Junior Championship. After the Nashville Predators drafted him 17th overall in 2022 and signed him to his entry-level contract earlier this summer, though, he’ll be headed..." August 22

Sportsnet "Team Canada defeated Team Finland 3-2 in overtime Saturday to win the rescheduled World Junior Hockey Championship. The atmosphere inside Rogers Place in Edmonton finally reached a level organizers had wished for as more than 13,000 (mostly Canadian) fans witnessed an exciting..." August 21

Sportsnet "You can’t practise pressure.  Those were the words head coach Dave Cameron used on the eve of the 2022 World Junior Championship’s gold-medal game, as he envisioned the situation awaiting his team. Well, Saturday night, out on the ice at Rogers Place with the lights..." August 21

The Hockey Writers "Even with training camp almost here, Tyler Ennis remains a free agent and is looking for a new home. Although his days of being a top-six forward are gone, he is still a decent depth option who can occasionally chip in offensively. As a result of this, there’s certainly a good..." August 19

The Athletic "It’s rerun season in the TV world. Or at least it would be, if people still watched network broadcasts instead of streaming everything. Ask your parents about it, kids. Man, I need to work on my timely references. It’s supposed to be rerun season in the hockey world too,..." August 17

The Hockey Writers "Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland joined Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now to talk about various things going on in the organization. The focus here though will be on two prospects, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, and where they will be playing in 2022-23. I will break down..." August 10