This week we are on to Part Three of our Core Four with Seattle, St. Louis, Utah, Vancouver, Vegas and Winnipeg.

The Core should be players from each roster who are the foundation for their team’s roster over the next three to five years.

Ideally, players should be between the ages of 22 and 27 and either approaching their peak or already in it.

Here were the articles leading into 2024-25 for Core Fours. Part One, Two and Three

Here are this week’s Core Four:

Seattle Kraken (2024-25 Core: Matthew Beniers, Vince Dunn, Brandon Montour, Chandler Stephenson)

Matthew Beniers (F) (22.8)

Beniers had a disappointing campaign in 2024-25 with 20 goals and 23 assists in 82 games. He has yet to build on his 57 points as a rookie in 2022-23 with 37 and 43 points in his second and third NHL seasons.

The Kraken are hoping he becomes a true NHL first-line center who produces a point per game in the next two or three years.

Brandon Montour (D) (31.4)

Montour signed for seven years at $7.14 million AAV before the 2024-25 season and has six years remaining, which makes him a core piece in Seattle.

The 16 goals and 57 assists in 2022-23 were an aberration, but his 18 goals and 23 assists in 2024-25 are in his wheelhouse for point production of 35-45 points.

Shane Wright (F) (21.7)

Wright was the 4th overall pick in 2022 and played his first full season in 2024-25 with the Kraken. He posted 19 goals and 25 assists in 79 games while averaging 14:04 per game. He could see an increase in ice time and see his shots on goal increase from 1.2 per game.

If he can improve his 44.4% face-off percentage, he could earn some more responsibility and move up the lineup at some point. He has replaced Chandler Stephenson on this list from 2024-25.

Vince Dunn (D) (28.8)

Dunn is signed for two more years at $7.35 million AAV and has averaged between 0.63 and 0.79 points per game over the past three seasons. He has managed just 62 and 59 games the past two years. The Kraken will hope that he plays 70 games or more and produces 45-50 points as the quarterback of the first unit of the power play.

St. Louis Blues (2024-25 Core: Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, Jordan Binnington)

Robert Thomas (F) (26.2)

Thomas has 308 points in his past 297 games and has established himself as an 80-90 point center with the Blues. He is signed for six more years at $8.125 million AAV.

He doesn’t shoot the puck enough to be a huge goal scorer, and his ceiling is 25-30 goals, but he’s hit 60 assists twice in a row.

Jordan Kyrou (F) (27.3)

Kyrou has an identical contract to Thomas and has six years at $8.125 million AAV remaining.

Kyrou has scored 131 goals in his past 317 games and put up between 27 and 37 goals in each of the past four years. He’s capable of hitting 40 goals or more.

He had 63 hits in his first 334 NHL games but put up 50 in 82 games in 2024-25.

Dylan Holloway (F) (24.0)

Holloway has quickly become a core piece for the Blues, one year after signing an offer sheet. He had 26 goals and 37 assists in 77 games in 2024-25, while averaging 16:49 per game and playing 42.0% of the time on the power play.

He also had 165 hits, so he brings some added value to banger leagues.

Pavel Buchnevich (F) (30.4)

Buchnevich is signed for six more years at $8 million AAV. He had 20 goals and 37 assists in 76 games in 2024-25, which was his fourth season in St. Louis. In his first 136 games as a member of the Blues, he posted 143 points. In his past 156 games, he has put up 120 points.

He could be replaced by Jimmy Snuggerud or Dalibor Dvorsky in two or three years.

Utah Mammoth (2024-25 Core: Clayton Keller, Mikhail Sergachev, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther)

Clayton Keller (F) (27.1)

In his first 293 NHL games, Keller produced 68 goals and 193 points. In his past 308 NHL games, he has posted 128 goals and 315 points. He had a career-high 90 points in 80 games in 2024-25 and has set the bar for what he can do in the NHL.

Keller is signed for three more years at $7.15 million AAV, which seems a pretty good bargain.

Logan Cooley (F) (21.3)

Cooley was the 3rd overall pick in the 2022 draft and hasn’t disappointed so far in his career. He had a career-high 25 goals and 40 assists in 75 games in his second NHL season.

His ice time went from 15:49 to 17:52 per game, but he’ll have to continue to improve in the faceoff circle as his winning percentage was 44.7 in 2024-25 (up from 38.0% as a rookie).

He should join Keller as a point-per-game player this year or next.

Dylan Guenther (F) (22.4)

Guenther was the 9th overall pick in 2021 and has established himself as a core piece on this roster after putting up 27 goals and 33 assists in 70 games in 2024-25.

Guenther could score between 35-40 goals in the next year or two and possibly produce 70-80 points.

He averaged 2.9 shots on goal per game in 2024-25. He is signed for eight years at $7.14 million AAV.

J.J. Peterka (F) (23.7)

Peterka is signed for the next five years at $7.7 million AAV and has replaced Mikhail Sergachev on this list from 2024-25.

Peterka was acquired in the off-season from Buffalo for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring.

There are high hopes from Peterka as he had a career-high in points in 2024-25 with Buffalo, with 27 goals and 41 assists in 77 games. He might be able to produce 30 goals and 70 points in Utah.

Vancouver Canucks (2024-25 Core: Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Thatcher Demko)

Quinn Hughes (D) (25.9)

Hughes has just two years remaining at $7.85 million AAV, and only he knows his intentions after that.

He is the MVP of this roster and has had four years in a row with 60 assists or more. He has 312 points in his past 304 games.

He continues to improve and makes those around him on the ice better.

Elias Pettersson (F) (26.8)

Pettersson had just 45 points in 64 games in 2024-25 in his first year of an eight-year deal at $11.6 million AAV.

He had 40 goals in 2022-23 while shooting 3.2 shots per game. His shot per game dropped all the way down to 1.7 per game in 2024-25.

Surprisingly, Pettersson had 74 hits and 77 blocks in 64 games in 2024-25. He has good value in banger leagues.

I think the Canucks are hoping he at least gets back to a point-per-game player.

Thatcher Demko (G) (29.8)

Even though he managed just 23 games in 2024-25 and had a record of 10-8-3 with a save percentage of 88.9, I believe that Demko can bounce back to the goalie who was easily in the top 10 of NHL goaltenders in 2023-24 before he was hurt.

The Canucks extended Demko for three years at $8.5 million AAV, so they obviously feel confident in him as well.

Brock Boeser (F) (28.5)

It looked like Boeser’s time in Vancouver was up in late June as he was set to become an unrestricted free agent, but the Canucks ended up re-signing him for seven years at $7.25 million AAV.

Boeser has scored 40 goals in 2023-24, but has never scored more than 29 in any other season. If he only matches his 25 goals and 25 assists from 2024-25, then he’s not an ideal core piece, but if he can produce 30-35 goals, he should belong here.

Vegas Golden Knights (2024-25 Core: Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin, Mark Stone)

Jack Eichel (F) (28.9)

Eichel is entering the last year of his contract with Vegas in 2025-26 and might not be here this time next year.

He had a career year in 2024-25 with 94 points in 77 games, which was the most games he had played since 2018-19.

It will be interesting to see if Eichel and Mitch Marner develop some chemistry in 2025-26, and will it be enough to keep Eichel in Vegas?

Mitch Marner (F) (28.3)

Marner had 94 points or more three times in his career before 2024-25. He ended up with 27 goals and 102 points in 2024-25, but left Toronto to sign an eight-year deal for $12 million AAV.

He should help improve the power play in Vegas, and if he finds some chemistry with Eichel, it could help convince him to stay.

Shea Theodore (D) (30.1)

Theodore ended up staying in Vegas for seven years at $7.45 million AAV. He hasn’t played more than 67 games in the past three years, but did have 57 points in 67 games in 2024-25.

With Alex Pietrangelo injured, Theodore should continue to man the first unit of the power play.

If he can stay healthy and play 75 games or more, he’s a candidate to get into the 60-70 point range.

Tomas Hertl (F) (31.8)

Hertl is signed for five more seasons at $8.138 million AAV, and for that reason, he is on this list ahead of Mark Stone and others.

If Hertl can produce 30 goals, 30 assists and put up 100 hits in a season, he should be fully deserving of being on this list ahead of Mark Stone, Adin Hill,  Pavel Dorofeyev or Ivan Barbashev. 

Winnipeg Jets (2024-25 Core: Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor)

Connor Hellebuyck (G) (32.3)

This team has had the same core four for the past three or four years, and it is spearheaded by their starting goalie, Hellebuyck.

He had a record of 47-12-3 in the regular season with a save percentage of 92.5. It was the most wins he had put up since 44 in 2017-18. He did falter in the playoffs last year, so it could be a concern moving forward if he lets it be.

Josh Morrissey (D) (30.4)

Morrissey somehow turned a switch after the 2021-22 season and has 207 points in his last 239 games. He had 166 points in his first 423 NHL games.

He is signed for three more years at a bargain $6.25 million AAV. He’s a bona fide top defender in the NHL.

Mark Scheifele (F) (32.5)

In his 12th full season in the NHL, Scheifele posted a career-high 89 points in 82 games.

He should score 75-85 points most years. He is signed for six more years at $8.5 million AAV.

The 7th overall pick from 2011 has spent his whole career in Winnipeg and has now played 879 NHL games.

Kyle Connor (F) (28.7)

I still think that Connor is capable of scoring 50 goals in a season. He shoots the puck enough to warrant it (3.3 to 4.0 shots on goal per game), but has hit 41 and 47 in his career so far.

Connor should be a lock for 35-45 goals and 80-90 points in 2025-26. He is signed for 2025-26 only at $7.14 million AAV. The Jets should do everything that they can do to sign Connor.

Thanks very much for reading. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter @gampbler15.