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Future Watch 2024
Our annual Future Watch edition is now 116 pages packed with info examining the prospect pipeline for each NHL club and counting down the top 100 prospects in the game. In our NHL Team Reports, you'll find scouting reports for the top 10 prospects for each organization. In addition, we take an in-depth look at two teams with the best systems: the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings. And we also have features on several of the game's best youngsters, including Matvei Michkov, Will Smith, Liam Ohgren and Adam Gajan.
Q&A Tom Stillman
W. GRAEME ROUSTAN: You’re a hockey guy, born in the State of Hockey? TOM STILLMAN: Born in Minnesota in Minneapolis. The North Stars came when I was already in high school, so it wasn’t part of growing up, but we all became North Stars fans pretty quickly, with the Gump (Worsley) and all. WGR: Then you moved to Vermont to go to college at Middlebury? It was like a heat wave when you went to Vermont? TS: Oh, it was much milder. It was very different from Minnesota. Although all the New York kids thought this was really miserable. We, the Minnesotans, thought it was really pleasant. WGR: What was the overall experience for you going to school and being able to play the game you love? TS: It was, I shouldn’t say this, but…
MINNESOTA WILD
BROCK FABER WAS STILL in college last year, while Marco Rossi skated in the AHL. Now, the two are key players for the Wild. Faber is a top all-situations blueliner, and Rossi is a playmaking center. Their transitions from prized prospects to NHLers are reminders of what can happen when talent meets opportunity. With the Wild dealing with a salary-cap pinch, the need for youth on team-friendly contracts isn’t going away any time soon. Fortunately for the Wild, they’ve cultivated a pool of possibilities at each position that offers a range of abilities. B | RANK: 11TH 1. JESPER WALLSTEDT OVERALL 16 G, 21, 6-3, 213 Iowa (AHL) 14-13-0, 2.89, .904 2021 draft, 20th overall Wallstedt didn’t sleep after making his NHL debut. He was too busy re-watching the game. Surrendering seven goals to Dallas as an emergency…
JR. B ALL YOU CAN BE
THE OHL’S LONDON KNIGHTS have become one of the hockey world’s most proficient producers of top prospects since brothers Dale and Mark Hunter took over the franchise two decades ago. Their pro-style operation has attracted the best talent in the league’s territory, and high-end European imports have steadily signed on over the years to hone their skills with the Knights. Once the Hunters arrived, a previously moribund franchise – the 1995-96 Knights, who posted a 3-60-3 record, were one of the worst teams in major-junior history – began to transform, and elite players noticed. Americans such as Patrick Kane, Matthew Tkachuk (who had previously committed to NCAA Notre Dame) and John Carlson came on board, and the Knights became a power. Last year, London lost in the OHL final. This season, the…
COLORADO AVALANCHE
THE PATH TO TOP-LINE minutes in Colorado isn’t just obstructed, it’s snowed over entirely. Thus, the Avalanche need to create alternate pathways for some of their most promising prospects. It is what Colorado’s director of player development Brian Willsie calls “role acceptance,” whether that’s getting a former center to adapt to the wing or an offensive defenseman to buy into own-zone excellence. “How are you going to get your ice time?” Willsie said. “Maybe you didn’t penalty kill in junior, but we push players to learn how to do it, so at the pro level, you can grab ice time that way.” C– | RANK: 28TH 1. CALUM RITCHIE OVERALL 53 C, 19, 6-2, 179 Oshawa (OHL) 36–18–40–58–14 2023 draft, 27th overall Given Ritchie’s eye-popping stats, it’s hard to believe he started the season on the shelf following…
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