As the off-season continues to roll in August, gearing up for training camp and Opening Night, it’s time to look at some underrated prospects to watch out for next season starting with some worthy candidates from the Central Division.

Everyone knows about Chicago’s Anton Frondell, or Utah’s Tij Iginla, but what about a few of the lesser known prospects across the Central Division who hope to continue their rise to the NHL?

Aiden Fink – Forward – Nashville Predators

A feel-good moment to close out the 2023 draft in Nashville has grown into something more with Aiden Fink. Chosen 218th overall, retiring general manager David Poile made an innocuous trade with then-Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, his own former player in Nashville, selecting Fink as his last of a 40+ year career, in front of applause from surrounding draft tables in his home barn.

“I’m certainly going to be cheering for you” Poile said of the then-NHL longshot. Three years later, the former Brooks Bandit turned in a strong career at Penn State, 125 points in 104 games, not looking back after a team-leading freshman breakout. The 21-year-old passed the test in a short professional audition last spring too, notching 10 points in his first six AHL games with the Milwaukee Admirals. He was on track to make an NHL debut, until Visa issues got in the way.

At 5’10” Fink must continue to overcome his smaller stature with high end puck skills and quickness on an unconventional stride. A key winger for the Admirals next season, the Predators hope Fink could realistically follow a Bobby Brink type of path to a respectable middle-sixer with PP2 upside. Even if Fink maxes out as a tweener with elite AHL production, it’s a great story, and a heck of a seventh round pick.

Nathan Behm – Forward – Chicago Blackhawks

A 19-year-old just now embarking on his college career at Arizona State, Nathan Behm still has a long way to go before ever taking to the ice at the United Center. Still, he’s done enough at the junior level for recognition.

Taken 66th overall in 2025 with a pick the Hawks got back from Carolina for Taylor Hall, as part of the three-team Mikko Rantanen trade, Behm’s torrid start with 29 points in his first 18 games in 2024-25 cooled off a bit, causing a slide to the Blackhawks in the third round. This past season, he lit it up for the Kamloops Blazers with 86 points in 67 games, good for the 10th highest WHL scorer, doing damage alongside Detroit first rounder J.P. Hurlbert.

Behm is a lesser talked about name in a stacked Chicago farm system. At 6’2” he posesses a lethal shot and enough of a physical edge to impact that area. A name to watch on how he’ll handle higher competition in the NCAA, Behm is a safe bottom six bet with second line upside. He’ll join a Sun Devils roster full of NHL-drafted talent, including Ottawa’s Filip Nordberg, a second-round selection, as they’ll look to bounce back from a season below .500. Depending on how things go in his first year, Behm holds some parallels to a player like Philadelphia’s Tyson Foerster, and those are the exact types Chicago needs to hit on to polish up their rebuild.

Cameron Schmidt – Dallas Stars – Forward

While Behm did his thing in Kamloops, 10th best scorer in the league, another possible future Central foe made his mark as well. Cameron Schmidt, drafted in 2025, 28 picks later, scored 51 goals as part of his 100 total points across 72 games for the Vancouver Giants and Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL. He finished third in league scoring, above the aforementioned Hurlbert, and just behind the Ruck twins, Markus and Liam.

Stars general manager Jim Nill‘s track record finding talent is already tremendous, and it’s looking like he may have done it again with Schmidt. Dallas has made just one first round pick in the past four drafts (Emil Hemming) but that hasn’t stopped Nill from supplementing his team as Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin age. A classic case of falling in the draft due to his size (5’8″), Schmidt already has four high scoring campaigns to his name with more to come. Set to join his third club this fall after a recent trade, moving on to the Victoria Royals, Schmidt is in store for another potential triple-digit scoring pace in 2026-27 before moving to the pro rank. Still just 19, he will have a shot at a higher stage if he can crack Canada’s World Juniors roster next winter. Boasting electric speed, there’s absolutely top-six upside.

The winger naturally gets Cole Caufield/Alex DeBrincat comparisons thrown out, but still with a long road to ever making that a possibility, it’s hard to tell until he graduates from the WHL. He’s not quite like former Star Logan Stankoven, needing to iron out his two-way game, but even if never exploding into a 40-goal threat, the Stars have another exciting young forward on their hands. Unlike the names above, not so highly listed despite their skills, he’s right at the top of the Dallas top prospects, #2 on The Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis’ ranking last month.

Aron Kiviharju – Minnesota Wild – Defenseman

Capping off the group with a look on the back-end, many draft day-falling names eventually fade into obscurity, eventually proving any doubters right. Aron Kiviharju will look to reverse that trend, and so far he’s off to a nice start, growing into a nicely rounded player. A hyped up 2024 prospect who fell due to a major knee injury and smaller size at 5’10”, 180 lbs, the Wild were happy to take a shot on a once-top 10 ranged prospect in the fourth round at 122nd overall. As he works his way back from injury, in no way has Kiviharju exploded in the Finnish Liiga, but he’s held his own on HIFK Helsinki and looks like a nice prospect.

This past season, the 20-year-old recorded 17 points in 48 games, second on the club among defensemen, skating alongside former NHLer Jori Lehtera. When instead not playing with or against men practically twice his age, Kiviharju captained Finland at the World Junior Championships for the second straight year, eating major minutes and coming away with five helpers in six games. It was business as usual for the lefty, who the year prior had been referred to as “like one of the coaches” for the Finns with his vocal and steady presence.

Set to return to HIFK for another year, it will prove to be a huge indicator as to his NHL outlook. As things are trending, a transition to North America with the Wild organization is on the horizon. Kiviharju’s all-around game is more than that of typical skilled puck movers who are liabilities in other areas. Still unsigned by the Wild, he could benefit from bulking up some on the way to becoming, realistically, a skilled #4/5 who can make an impact on the man-advantage. Once compared to Adam Fox as a lottery-pick and future superstar, even assuming that won’t be the case, there’s no reason to forget Kiviharju’s name just yet.

Image Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect (Kiviharju)