EP Rinkside

Connor Bedard There’s nothing wrong with Connor Bedard this season, except for the doubts surrounding him. No one is even coming close to his talent among recent draft classes — not Matvei Michkov, who’s currently outscoring him, not Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli, and not even Macklin Celebrini, who’s receiving plenty of praise for his complete game. Bedard regularly makes plays that most NHLers can’t even imagine.

Fantasy Hockey Last week, this column covered the season of Tampa Bay Lightning rookie Conor Geekie, and a few weeks ago we covered Anaheim Ducks rookie Cutter Gauthier. Then the idea came to do a league-wide rookie check-in, so that’s the idea today: What is the good, and the bad, from some of the top first-year forwards, all from a fantasy perspective?

Fantasy Hockey Marco Kasper was selected eighth overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2022 NHL draft. Being drafted that high brings a fair amount of expectation for production by both the fans and the team. With Kasper playing in his first meaningful NHL action this season, questions are piling up. What is his points upside? Can he be a top-six forward? Is he a center long-term? We’ll tackle those questions and more.

2025 NHL Draft As the halfway point of the season nears, the Elite Prospects scouting staff have assembled our second draft ranking of the season: A top 50 plus 12 honourable mentions. Despite being months into the season, the race for No. 1 overall has become even tighter. Our staff sees five potential No. 1 talents, but two have pulled ahead: James Hagens and Matthew Schaefer. Hagens, the long-time favourite, is the most dynamic forward in the draft – and a high probability top-line centre.

NHL It's been a tumultuous few months for veteran defenceman Jacob Trouba. In late May, his Rangers held a 2-1 lead in the Conference Final against the Florida Panthers He had already been awarded the Mark Messier Leadership Award, in recognition not only of his poise and presence on the ice but his service off the ice with local charities like the Garden of Dreams Foundation and his own Trouba Creative Expressions Art Program.

Fantasy Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning rookie forward Conor Geekie has just six points but is already showing signs of what made him the key piece to the Mikhail Sergachev trade and the 11th overall pick in 2022. Let’s dig through Geekie’s prospect path, what he’s done as an NHL rookie, and what it tells us about his future. The 2022 Elite Prospect Draft Guide had Geekie ranked 17th overall.

NCAA CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — It’s hardly scientific, but the pre-season ECAC coaches’ poll listed the Dartmouth Big Green as the No. 3 team in the conference. Most years, that would make them a fringe NCAA playoff team, probably on the outside looking in. And that alone would have been a big improvement, given they finished at No. 29 in the national Pairwise rankings last season. Now, they’re on pace to obliterate that heightened expectation.

NHL It's supposed to be kinda easy to coach a tanking team. You play the most important guys to the future of the organization almost too much, let them rack up points on the power play, and lose a bunch of 4-2 games. But supposed-to-be doesn't always work out, for a litany of reasons.

Michael Misa Michael Misa has a lot of tools. He’s a strong skater with a high motor and excellent puck skills across the board, but the details in his game are what currently have him contending for the first-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. As the first exceptional status OHLer since Shane Wright, Misa’s trajectory last year seemed to indicate he would profile similarly to the Seattle Kraken’s fourth-overall pick in 2022: a safe, smart, calculated centre.

World Juniors 2025 It’s almost time for the World Juniors, the biggest event in the hockey prospect world. As we wait, many camp rosters and a final roster have been named. The other day, Canada’s camp roster dropped with more questions than answers after several high-profile omissions. Meanwhile, Team USA’s nearly-completed roster was released – and they look like the early favourites.