On the cusp
Trevor Connelly, F: The 20-year-old had 49 points (14 goals, 35 assists) in 46 games of his first full season with Henderson. Connelly was named the Upper Deck AHL Rookie of the Month for March, broke the Silver Knights single-season record for assists by a rookie, and joined Daniil Miromanov (40 in 2021-22) and Ben Hemmerling (50 in 2025-26) as the only first-year players with at least 40 points in one season. The first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2024 NHL Draft signed a three-year, entry-level contract April 1, 2025, after helping the United States win gold at the 2025 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship. … Mathieu Cataford, F: The 21-year-old completed his first full season for Henderson of the AHL with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 59 games. Cataford was selected in the third round (No. 77) of the 2023 NHL Draft, a pick they acquired with forward Jack Eichel in the trade that sent forwards Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch to the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 4, 2021. … Matyas Sapovaliv, F: The 22-year-old native of Kladno, Czechia, had 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 72 AHL games last season. Sapovaliv was a second-round pick (No. 48) in the 2022 NHL Draft and skated in the IIHF World Junior Championship for Team Czechia in 2022, 2023 and 2024. … Juho Piiparinen, D: The 17-year-old signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Golden Knights on July 15 and will likely return to Tappara in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. Piiparinen was selected in the first round (No. 29) of the 2026 NHL Draft. He had three assists in 29 games last season, and one assist with a plus-6 rating in four games for Team Finland at the 2026 World Juniors.