Patrick Kane<\/a>, and he has all those same qualities. He\u2019s a difference-maker, he\u2019s creative.<\/p>\n\u201cHe\u2019s got that imagination that can seemingly make something out of what nobody else sees.\u201d<\/p>\n
McKenna was the biggest name in the off-season to take advantage of the rule change that allows CHL players to join U.S. college teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been phenomenal in the CHL and the NCAA is going to provide him an outstanding opportunity to build on his junior career and to get as ready as possible physically for his debut in the National Hockey League next season,\u201d said Button.<\/p>\n
At No. 2 on Button\u2019s list is University of North Dakota defenceman Keaton Verhoeff, who also made the jump to college hockey after skating with the WHL\u2019s Victoria Royals in 2024-25.<\/p>\n
As a 16-year-old rookie last season, Verhoeff, who is 6-foot-4 and 212 pounds, had 21 goals and 45 points in 63 games and added 10 points in 11 playoff games. A U17 and U18 gold medallist, he served as captain at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August, helping Canada earn bronze.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeaton\u2019s got a big presence on the ice,\u201d said Button. \u201cHe\u2019s got a physical presence. He\u2019s a competitor. As a 16-year-old player, Keaton showed that willingness to step to the forefront. He did at the U18s en route to Canada winning the gold medal. He was a significant factor in that gold-medal win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a player that can play every significant situation in the game, hard minutes, hard matchups, those are hard guys to pass on. They become foundations for your team.\u201d<\/p>\n
While scouts will be making the trek to watch McKenna and Verhoeff in college this season, Button said scouts also need to be beating a path to Finland to watch Tappara in SM-Liiga.<\/p>\n
Headlined by defenceman Juho Piiparinen at No. 4, Button has four players in his top 32 who are skating with Tappara this season, including centre Oliver Suvanto (No. 21), right winger Vilho Vanhatalo (No. 23) and centre Simon Katolicky (No. 28).<\/p>\n
Piiparinen stands at 6-foot-2 and 203 pounds and has two assists in five games to start the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Juho just has a real comfort level,\u201d said Button of Piiparinen. \u201cHe\u2019s not trying to do things to catch your eye with flash and dash and show off. He\u2019s just an incredibly efficient player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also in Button\u2019s top 10 are a pair of OHL forwards with a unique blend of size and skill in Niagara\u2019s Ryan Roobroeck at No. 7 and Windsor\u2019s Ethan Belchetz at No. 8.<\/p>\n
Roobroeck, a centre who comes in at 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds, scored 41 goals with 87 points in 64 games last season with the IceDogs, his second with the franchise.<\/p>\n
Belchetz, a left wing who is 6-foot-5 and 227 pounds, had 17 goals and 38 points in 56 games last season as a rookie. He was drafted first overall by Windsor in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are such a great example of big player skill development,\u201d said Button of the pair. \u201cThey are a byproduct of the rule changes that occurred back in 2005. Those big players used to be told just bang around, dump the puck in, go hit, do whatever you want.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese two players have skill and when you\u2019re 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 and you have skill? That\u2019s imposing. They\u2019re fascinating players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another player Button wants to keep an eye on this season is forward Viggo Bj\u00f6rck (No. 13), who is playing in the Swedish Hockey League with Djurgardens.<\/p>\n
Last season with Djurgardens\u2019 junior team, he had 27 goals and 74 points in 42 games. Bj\u00f6rck was also busy on the international stage, helping Sweden win silver at the U18s and bronze at the U17s and Hlinka Gretzky Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a real interesting player,\u201d said Button. \u201cHe\u2019s got a great brain. He\u2019s got really good skills but where does he fit? I don\u2019t know if he is a centre or if he\u2019s a right wing.\u201d<\/p>\n
RKPlayer
\u00a0TeamPosHTWTGPGP1Gavin McKennaPenn State (NCAA)LW5\u20321116256411292Keaton VerhoeffNorth Dakota (NCAA)D6\u20323 \u00bd2076321453Ivar StenbergFrolunda (SHL)LW5\u203210 \u00bc1792726534Juho PiiparinenTappara (SM Liiga Jr)D6\u20321 \u00be200402165Tynan LawrenceMuskegon (USHL)C5\u203211 \u00be1705625546Mathis PrestonSpokane (WHL)C5\u203210 \u00be1675423457Ryan RoobroeckNiagara (OHL)LW6\u20322 \u00bd2106141878Ethan BelchetzWindsor (OHL)LW6\u203252275617389Marcus NordmarkDjurg\u00e5rdens (SWE J20)LW\/RW6\u2032118344316410Oscar HemmingK-Espoo (SM Liiga Jr)LW6\u2032318149377311Ryan LinVancouver (WHL)D5\u2032111706055312Chase ReidSault Ste. Marie (OHL)D6\u20321 \u00be1823974013Viggo BjorckDjurg\u00e5rdens (SWE J20)C\/RW5\u2032917142277414Adam NovotnyPeterborough (OHL)LW6\u20321204411315Carson CarelsPrince George (WHL)D6\u20321 \u00bc1896063516Elton HermanssonModo (SWE J20)RW6\u2032117541173617Caleb MalhotraBrantford (OHL)C6\u203211704482618Malte GustafssonHV71 (SWE J20)D6\u20324190362819Daxon RudolphPrince Albert (WHL)D6\u203221966474420Cooper WilliamsSaskatoon (WHL)C5\u203211 \u00be15568215721Oliver SuvantoTappara (SM Liiga Jr)C6\u2032219042114222Liam RuckMedicine Hat (WHL)RW5\u203211 \u00bd17261254123Vilho VanhataloTappara (SM Liiga Jr)RW6\u2032317641375824Thomas VandenbergOttawa (OHL)C6\u203201805591825Xavier VilleneuveB-Boisbriand (QMJHL)D5\u203210 \u00bc15861126226Olivers MurniecksSaint John (QMJHL)C6\u20321 \u00bc19052153527Jack HextallYoungstown (USHL)C5\u203211 \u00bd1825383428Simon KatolickyTappara (SM Liiga Jr)C6\u2032419430245229Beckham EdwardsSarnia (OHL)C\/LW6\u20320 \u00bd17662254530Colin FitzgeraldPeterborough (OHL)C6\u20321 \u00be19548122831Chase HarringtonSpokane (WHL)LW6\u20320 \u00bc20168195032Casey MutrynUSA NTDP (USHL)C\/RW6\u20322 \u00be198461632<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button believes there is no one close to challenging Penn State left winger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[16159,64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-187639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}