The beginning of the 2024-25 season has seen a lot of prospects shine in their respective leagues. From first goals in the NHL and NCAA to dominant performances from a couple of 2025 Draft eligibles, the first Prospects News and Rumors column has a lot of fun things to talk about. Let’s dive in! Seamus
WHL
The 2024-25 Western Hockey League (WHL) season is right around the corner and all eyes will be on the Saskatoon Blades. Last season, they finished first with 50 wins and 105 points thanks to the strength of their veteran core. Unfortunately, many of those veterans are gone, having either aged out or gone to play
The St. Louis Blues are in a weird position heading into the 2024-25 campaign. They have a solid team with decent goaltending and some money available to spend, but they aren’t considered contenders. Some fans around the league have been calling for them to blow the team up and rebuild, but it doesn’t seem like
While many NHL teams are currently gearing up for a hopeful playoff run or desperately vying to get in, the Calgary Flames are doing neither. After going on a five-game winning streak in February and coming close to a wildcard playoff spot, the team has gone a miserable 3-9 in the 12 games since. The
The Edmonton Oil Kings have officially surpassed their win total from last season, which was only 10, having won their 15th game of the season this month. They have had some interesting stories surrounding them as of late after a really interesting trade deadline, and calling up a few players for the remainder of the
While the Toronto Maple Leafs do not have the deepest prospect pool, one player fans should be excited about is Kamloops Blazers center Fraser Minten. The 2022 second-round pick just finished his third season in the Western Hockey League (WHL), finishing with a career-high 31 goals and 67 points in 57 games. He also played
At the moment, the Kamloops Blazers are in the midst of defending home ice at the 2023 Memorial Cup as the host city and one of two WHL teams vying for the big win. For Toronto Maple Leafs’ fans and those involved with the organization, there is one player in particular they may be keeping
It has been quite the busy week for Vancouver Giants captain Zack Ostapchuk, as he won the gold medal with Canada at the World Junior Championship (WJC), and has now been traded to the Winnipeg Ice, who sit in second place in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Ostapchuk currently has 10 goals, 29 points, in
The Vancouver Canucks may be missing from the Stanley Cup Final festivities, but the province of British Columbia and the city of Vancouver definitely are not. In fact, the 2021 Final has seven players that either played for Canucks, were born in BC, or played for a BC-based team at some point in their career.
The Los Angeles Kings’ top pick in 2020 is finding his groove in the American Hockey League (AHL) and continued his goal-scoring streak. A full slate in the Western Hockey League (WHL) gave us great performances from a defensive prospect of the Minnesota Wild and a Calgary Flames hopeful between the pipe. We even got
Every time Dave Lowry took the reins as head coach in the Western Hockey League, he has made his team better. Now in his first season as an assistant with the Winnipeg Jets, Lowry enjoyed his longest tenure as a WHL bench boss in Victoria (2012-17), where he helped a struggling franchise mature into a team
The Western Hockey League (WHL) announced that it has delayed its season beyond the previous proposed start date of Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. Florida Panthers prospect and third-round pick Ty Smilanic registered his first NCAA goal for Quinnipiac University and Dallas Stars fifth-round pick Daniel Ljungman scored his first career Swedish Hockey League (SHL) goal.
There isn’t much news today pertaining to events on the ice, which has become the norm for 2020. Team Sweden announced their roster for their World Junior Championship selection camp and it is loaded with talent. Also, a top NCAA program is suspending operations after a positive COVID-19 test. Finally, there is plenty of news
Americans have a tendency to forget that there is more than just the NHL, AHL, and the NCAA in the United States. We hear rumors of other leagues existing — the KHL, the SHL, and the SM-Liiga, for instance, but all of these are overseas and out of sight and, therefore, out of mind. However,
Inspired by the Saskatoon Blades’ recent hiring of former Hockey Canada video coach Ryan Dietrich to head coach Mitch Love’s staff for the 2020-21 season, we are going to look back at five former Blades’ players who later coached in the NHL. The focus of this story is the five well-known current or one-time NHL
Two Western Hockey League superstars have been loaned to the Alberta Junior Hockey League, a Los Angeles Kings prospect was named the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Player of the Week, and the Ontario Hockey League exodus begins as players seek opportunities to play in Europe. Neighbours & Weisblatt Loaned to AJHL Following in the
A top prospect for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft gets on the board in the Finnish Liiga, a budding Western Hockey League (WHL) superstar dominates on loan in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), and an Anaheim Ducks goaltending prospect continues to excel playing in Finland. Räty On the Board in Liiga The battle for
The Washington Capitals sign their first-round pick from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, a Los Angeles Kings prospect returns from loan in Germany due to an injury, NHL Central Scouting released their watch list for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, and two top prospects from the WHL are loaned out prior to the start of