NHL Power Rankings: Youngsters who are lighting it up

This Matthew Schaefer thing is getting a little silly.

Schaefer, who was limited to just 17 major junior games last season, has not only made the jump to the NHL, but is doing so in record-setting fashion.

The New York Islanders rookie defenceman has recorded a point in each of his first six NHL games, including a two-point effort during Tuesday’s 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Schaefer actually made history in that outing, becoming the youngest defenceman (18 years, 46 days) to score a game-winning goal for his NHL club. 

Four months after he was taken first overall for his projection as a franchise defenceman, Schaefer is somehow already playing like one.

Schaefer is by no means the only standout freshman early on this season, and so we felt it prudent to devote this edition of our weekly power rankings to taking a peek at the first-year players.

Whether you’re looking at Schaefer’s fellow rookie blueliners, a forward crew that includes the pre-season Calder Trophy favourite or even some of the showings by wet-behind-the-mask goalies, there’s a lot to like.

With that in mind, let’s holler at the hot-lap kids on all 32 NHL squads.

1. Colorado Avalanche (5-0-2) Gavin Brindley, who came over from Columbus in the summer in the swap that sent Charlie Coyle to the Blue Jackets, got his first NHL goal versus the Stars on Oct. 11. The tiny, talented winger (five-foot-eight, 173 pounds) hasn’t played much, but did see at least 10 minutes of ice in three of his outings. 

2. Winnipeg Jets (5-1-0) Can winger Brad Lambert make an impression in Winnipeg this season? The 30th-overall pick in 2022 drew into the lineup for the first time during the Jets’ 2-1 victory in Calgary on Monday. He had a strong 21-goal AHL showing two years ago in his first full campaign with the Manitoba Moose, but netted just seven goals with the Moose last season. 

3. Vegas Golden Knights (5-0-2) Cole Reinhardt, a sixth-round selection by Ottawa in 2020, scored his first NHL goal with the Sens last season and the winger has already kicked in one with Vegas this year, after the Knights inked him as a free agent in the summer. 

4. New Jersey Devils (6-1-0) Arseny Gritsyuk got his first NHL tally — a snipe from the slot on the power play — in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. The 24-year-old Russian winger, who had 44 points in 49 KHL games with St. Petersburg last season, has five points in seven games with the Devils this season. 

5. Carolina Hurricanes (5-1-0) All kinds of hype preceded Alexander Nikishin’s arrival in North America from the KHL, and rightfully so. The six-foot-three defenceman who just turned 24 is viewed in many circles as a potential do-it-all stud and he’s got four points in six outings with the Hurricanes. He’s also seen an uptick in his minutes the past two games, when he’s gone from skating around 16 or 17 minutes of ice time to over 20. 

6. Washington Capitals (5-2-0) Two guys on the Caps’ third line are rookies and the heralded one is finding his form. Ryan Leonard, the 2023 eighth-overall pick, has goals in each of his past two games to give him three on the season. The hard-nosed winger left Boston College last spring to join the Caps and could be a serious contributor on this squad as early as this season. Meanwhile, right-shot centre Justin Sourdif — picked up in the summer from the Panthers for second- and sixth-round selections — is playing nearly 12 minutes per night for the Caps. 

7. Dallas Stars (3-3-0) Undrafted forward Justin Hryckowian signed with the Stars in 2024 after his third year at Northeastern. He played five games with Dallas last season and already has that many under his belt this year. Hryckowian had a really strong showing in the 2025 AHL playoffs, netting nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 14 outings with the Texas Stars. 

8. Edmonton Oilers (3-3-1) Isaac Howard arrived with some fanfare in Edmonton after the Oilers acquired the 2025 Hobey Baker Award winner in July from Tampa Bay, which was unable to ink the winger after drafting him in 31^st overall in 2022. Howard has been a healthy scratch this year, but did one-time home his first NHL goal during Tuesday’s win over Ottawa. Matthew Savoie, another high-pedigree prospect who was acquired from Buffalo in the summer of 2024, also happened to pick up his first point of the season (an assist) against the Sens. Savoie has seen his average ice time increase at least a hair from 12:24 in his first four games to 14:25 in his past three. 

9. Montreal Canadiens (6-2-0) Ivan Demidov entered the season as the favourite for rookie of the year and, although Matthew Schaefer has been unreal, nobody should be regretting any bet made on Demidov. The dynamic Russian winger has points in his past three games, including an assist that teed up Mike Matheson for an overtime winner Wednesday night in Calgary. As it happens, two other rookies are also making a huge impression in Montreal. Swedish centre Oliver Kapanen leads all freshmen with four goals and Jakub Dobes might be getting on the radar of the Czech Olympic team brass at this point with his .950 save percentage, which — among goalies who’ve played four games this season — trails only the .957 mark of Igor Shesterkin. What a rookie crop in Quebec. 

10. Detroit Red Wings (5-2-0) Axel Sandin-Pellikka looks like a keeper, as many expected he would be when Detroit got the shifty, right-shot defenceman at 17^th overall in 2023. And how about the start by Emmitt Finnie, a 2023 seventh-rounder who has three goals in his past two contests and a 3-3-6 line in seven games? 

11. Florida Panthers (4-4-0) The Panthers don’t have a rookie on their roster, but sophomore winger Mackie Samoskevich — on a team with key injuries up front — is playing a tick over 14 minutes a night and has four points through eight games. (Mind you, three of those points came in Florida’s first three games.) 

12. Utah Mammoth (5-2-0) Dmitri Simashev is a rangy, long defenceman the Mammoth have high hopes for. He’s not going to put up big points — at least for a while — so no need to fret over his 0-0-0 stat line through seven outings. 

13. Vancouver Canucks (4-3-0) It was certainly a bummer to see winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki — now on injured reserve — get hurt in Washington on the weekend. The 15^th-overall pick from 2022 just barely meets the criteria for being a rookie after he played 24 games last season. (Any more than 25 games, and your rookie status is gone.) Lekkerimaki scored in Vancouver’s first game this season and the Canucks surely hope the skilled winger has it in him to be an offensive contributor over the long haul out west. 

14. Toronto Maple Leafs (3-3-1) So far, winger Easton Cowan has either been on the top line or in the press box. It’ll be interesting to see where Cowan settles in, be that as a regular on one of the Leafs’ lines or playing monster minutes with the AHL’s Marlies. 

15. Los Angeles Kings (2-3-2) The closest thing L.A. has to a rookie in the lineup is Samuel Helenius, a monster six-foot-six sophomore centre who’s seen action in only two games this season. 

16. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-3-2) Six-foot-three, right-shot defenceman Max Crozier had three assists through four games before landing on injured reserve, a tough blow for the promising rookie and his team.

17. Columbus Blue Jackets (3-3-0) Denton Mateychuk played his first 45 NHL games last year and the offence-minded defenceman actually collected a couple Calder votes. The 12^th-overall pick from 2022 could provide a good secondary push from the back end behind all-world Zach Werenski. 

18. St. Louis Blues (3-2-1) Jimmy Snuggerud, a first-rounder in 2022, looked good when he joined the Blues out of college for seven games last season and he’s got three goals in six outings already this season. 

19. Pittsburgh Penguins (5-2-0) Four rookies — centre Benjamin Kindel, winger Filip Hallander, defenceman Harrison Brunicke and goalie Arturs Silovs — have seen meaningful action for the Pens this season. While all three skaters have kicked in a goal, the long-term excitement lies with Kindel — the 11^th pick just four months ago who made the team out of camp — and Brunicke, who has great puck-moving potential on the back end. The 24-year-old Silovs has also been more than steady in the crease, posting an impressive .919 SP in four outings. 

20. Anaheim Ducks (3-2-1) Beckett Sennecke was a real riser when Anaheim nabbed him third overall in 2024 and, 16 months later, the six-foot-three winger is putting his abundant skill to use in the NHL with five points in six games playing on the Ducks’ second line. 

21. New York Rangers (3-4-1) Big Noah Laba has been playing 10 minutes per night as a bottom-six centre, while 24-year-old defenceman Matthew Robertson came into the lineup in the Rangers’ third game, has two points in his past two outings and played over 20 minutes in his most recent game versus Minnesota on Monday. 

22. Seattle Kraken (3-2-2) Jani Nyman, a 2022 second-rounder, has been a pleasant surprise, with three goals from the wing this season. Berkly Catton, who has the highest offensive ceiling of anybody in the organization, has now played two games for Seattle and picked up an assist in his NHL debut versus Philly on Monday. One night later, in Washington, Catton played 18:13, more than all but three Kraken forwards. 

23. Minnesota Wild (3-4-1) Zeev Buium may be minus-8 through eight games, but it’s easy to see why Minny was over the moon to get this kid 12^th overall in 2024. The 19-year-old defenceman has recorded six points while playing over 20 minutes per night. Up front, 2022 first-rounder Danila Yurov is seeing limited action as the 21-year-old acclimates to the North American game. And, with Marc-Andre Fleury out of the picture, Jesper Wallstedt is forming an all-Swedish battery in the crease with Filip Gustavsson. Wallstedt has a .909 SP in two starts with a shootout win and OT loss on his record. 

24. Philadelphia Flyers (3-2-1) For the second straight fall, 2024 first-rounder Jett Luchanko made the Flyers out of training camp. Will the centre be returned to major junior again, though? Luchanko, 19, has played only four games and saw 10 minutes of ice in just one. 

25. Chicago Blackhawks (3-2-2) Any freshman talk in Chicago must start with Sam Rinzel, the rangy, six-foot-four D-man who’s got three points in seven games while averaging 21:04 of ice time, more than every Hawks defenceman save Alex Vlasic. Meanwhile, 2024 second-overall pick Artyum Levshunov is experiencing the predictable ups and downs a young blueliner — even really good ones — go through. Up front, third-liners Colton Dach and Ryan Greene are also seeing regular action. 

26. New York Islanders (3-3-0) Schaefer takes up all the oxygen, and rightfully so, but Max Shabanov has shown pretty well as a winger who came over from the KHL. The guy who turned 25 at the start of the season has three points in six games, though he is listed as day-to-day with an ailment. 

27. Ottawa Senators (2-4-1) The Sens called up Leevi Merilainen from the AHL on Thursday and with Linus Ullmark struggling out of the gate, Ottawa needs Merilainen to be a steady option. While his one start this season was a gruesome 8-4 loss in Buffalo, the 23-year-old Finn had a fantastic .925 SP in 12 outings last year. 

28. Nashville Predators (2-3-2) Adam Wilsby, a fourth-rounder in 2020, played 24 games in Nashville last season and the 25-year-old is averaging 18:17 on the blue line this year while dressing for every Preds game. 

29. Buffalo Sabres (3-4-0) Tyson Kozak, a 2021 seventh-rounder, is a nice story with two goals in October. And, on Wednesday night, Colten Ellis made his NHL debut by stopping 27 shots in a 4-2 win over Detroit. 

30. Boston Bruins (3-5-0) Fraser Minten had the OT winner in Boston’s second game this season, but he played just 7:07 in the Bruins’ most recent outing. 

31. Calgary Flames (1-6-1) Zayne Parekh has many years to show what he can do in the NHL, but with zero points in six games and Calgary seemingly in for a long season, you wonder what’s best for the young man in the short term: stay in Calgary and risk losing confidence on a bad team or return to major junior where — aside from playing for Canada at the world juniors — he doesn’t have much to prove. 

32. San Jose Sharks (0-4-2) See above. The Sharks have two players in a similar spot to Parekh in that they may not be ready for the NHL, especially if it means loss after loss on a cellar-dwelling club. Michael Misa, Parekh’s OHL teammate in Saginaw, has dressed for just three games after being the second-overall pick in June, while Sam Dickinson — a defenceman who won the Memorial Cup with London in May — has suited up for five. That said, Dickinson has averaged nearly 17 minutes on the back end in his past three outings. While Yaroslav Askarov has seen NHL action in four straight seasons, he’s still technically a rookie and is getting pelted pretty hard on a Sharks team that allows more shots per game (34.3) than any squad in the NHL.