The NHL has 32 member teams scouring the hockey world for available talent. The best players are drafted as teenagers and arrive in the NHL over the following 28 months.
Even the prospects who slip through the cracks but have NHL talent are usually firmly ensconced in big-league roles by age 22.
There are five players, either under contract to or under the control of NHL teams, who are the most ready talents in the collective league umbrella.
None have played in an NHL game.
This list isn’t about franchise-altering players like Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, who is a strong favourite to win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. This list isn’t about players who have been drafted and developed in junior (like Wyatt Johnson of the Dallas Stars) and stepped immediately into the NHL.
This is about pro players who have made their reputations in hockey leagues across the world and are at the very edge of making an NHL dream come true.
Some are teenagers drafted out of European leagues. These kids come to North America and thrive in the AHL, but so far have not received a call-up to the show.
Others developed by sundial and spiked later, with a real chance of stepping in as plug-and-play options this fall. There are precious few men who arrive late and have the look of becoming a feature player on an NHL team. There is one who made this year’s list.
If your team has a prospect mentioned below, thank the team’s scouts, lady luck and the random nature of the universe for these fine players.
These are the five best prospects under control, outside the NHL, from across the hockey world.
LD Hardy Häman Aktell, Växjö Lakers HC (SHL)
Signed by the Washington Capitals and likely to see NHL action soon, Aktell was drafted by the Nashville Predators in 2016. He didn’t progress in typical fashion during his post-draft seasons and drifted until the light went on in 2022-23.
For a player to bloom this late (he is 25) is unusual, but it does happen and there’s lots to like with this player. He is 6-foot-4, 198 pounds and plays in all situations. The SHL is an excellent league, and he plays a physical game and will get every chance to impress on a Capitals team looking for long-term solutions.
The key indicator for Aktell is his even-strength outscoring in the SHL last season. While he was on the ice for Växjö, his team had a 71 percent goal share (42-17). When Aktell was at rest, the club scored 54 percent of the even-strength goals.
Washington is in a period of transition and has some impressive candidates ready to step in. Aktell is under the radar, but is a name fans will be hearing soon, and perhaps for a long time.
LW Jiri Kulich, Rochester Americans (AHL)
Jiri Kulich is a first-round selection from 2022 (Buffalo Sabres) and is an example of why placing drafted players immediately into the AHL can benefit player and team.
If Kulich had been developed in Canadian junior, he would be hammering lesser competition. However, since he was drafted out of Czechia, he can play in the AHL.
He flourished in his draft-plus-one season and is poised to have an immediate impact when recalled by the Sabres. His 15 even-strength goals give an idea of what kind of scorer he’ll become in the future.
Scott Wheeler at The Athletic gave a rave review in his prospect pool rankings: “I like his positioning off the puck. I like the strength, balance and control of his skating stride. I like how quickly and hard shots come off of his stick.”
Jiri Kulich. (Frank Jansky / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RD Simon Nemec, Utica Comets (AHL)
Simon Nemec is an anomaly on this list due to his youth. However, he is playing pro hockey outside the NHL and showing no mercy on his more experienced opponents. Nemec, drafted by the New Jersey Devils with the No. 2 pick in 2022, has some ridiculous math to go along with being so noticeable in the AHL at such a young age (he is 19).
His numbers are high quality when considering it’s his rookie season and he was a teenager. Offensively, he posted 12-22-34 in 65 games. That was good enough to rank him No. 5 among rookie defencemen in the AHL last season.
His even-strength outscoring was outstanding. Nemec contributed to a 55 percent goal share in the discipline a year ago. When he wasn’t on the ice, the Comets posted just 48 percent of the offence. These would be impressive totals for any minor-league defender, but at his age, Nemec looks like a possible impact player across 200 feet.
He delivered a shocking season as a rookie pro.
LD Alexander Nikishin, St. Petersburg SKA (KHL)
The Carolina Hurricanes are running circles around most NHL teams in their draft targeting. The latest example is big Russian defender Alexander Nikishin. He produced eye-popping offence (11-44-55 in 65 games) in the KHL.
He’s 20, and his even-strength goal share (60 percent) is average on a strong team. That’s a positive.
He plays big minutes (just shy of 23 last season) and his size (6-3, 216 pounds) and aggressive play mean Nikishin is on the winning side of physical battles often. A third-round selection with a complete skill set in the age of forensic scouting by 32 clubs is highly unusual.
The Hurricanes have an exceptional young talent in Nikishin. He’s already playing top-pairing minutes in the world’s second-best league. It’s only a matter of time before he cracks the NHL.
Ilya Safonov — 22 years old, 6-3, 205 pounds — is a physical hockey player with skill who didn’t get picked up by scouting radar for a long time. Scott Powers at The Athletic has been tracking him and wrote about his exceptional season in May.
Safonov’s spike is highly unusual. He wasn’t drafted at 18 or 19, and his numbers in the KHL were pedestrian through age 21. It’s not known whether the Chicago Blackhawks acted on a hunch in taking him No. 171 in the 2021 draft, but his 2022-23 season (19-18-37 in 64 games) has him on an NHL trajectory.
He could be the rarest item of all: An impact player chosen from the depths of the NHL Draft at age 20.
(Top photo of Simon Nemec: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)