If there\u2019s one storyline that\u2019s defined the 2026 NHL off-season, it\u2019s no doubt the chaos that circled Leo Carlsson.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the young Anaheim Ducks<\/a> pivot signed a five-year, $90-million offer sheet tendered by the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a> \u2014\u00a0a deal that makes the 21-year-old the highest-paid player in the NHL next season. The Ducks countered by matching Philly\u2019s high-stakes gamble,\u00a0keeping their star centreman in California. And now we await the ripple effects, with Anaheim forced to navigate the rest of its summer business with its cap situation upended.<\/p>\n At first glance, it might\u2019ve seemed a hefty swing for a player who\u2019s yet to crack 70 points in the big-leagues. But the attempt to pry Carlsson out of Anaheim wasn\u2019t about what he\u2019s done in the league as much as what he\u2019s capable of doing over the next decade. The 2023 second-overall pick seems on track to become one of the game\u2019s premier centres, and has already led the Ducks back to the post-season, back to relevancy, in his first few NHL campaigns.<\/p>\n For Philly, the goal was clear: add one final piece to the young core it has been slowly, steadily building over the past half-decade. For Anaheim, the focus was holding on to the one it has built, at all costs.\u00a0So, with Carlsson sticking around in the West, how do the two compare? And zooming out further, how do they stack up against the other young, promising cores throughout the rest of the league?<\/p>\n We took a step back and took stock of the big-league landscape to get a sense of who leads the way on that front. To keep things simple, we focused on the most promising groups of players 25 or younger \u2014 not the best cores overall, not the best prospects in the system, but the best young stars contributing right now.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how it all shook out:<\/p>\n D: Lane Hutson (22), Kaiden Guhle (24)<\/p>\n G: Jakub Dobes (25), Jacob Fowler (21)<\/p>\n A quick refresher on the 2026 post-season should make clear why Montreal holds the throne here. A run to the conference final, which saw the Canadiens take down the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres before losing to the eventual Cup champs, made clear the potential of this still-young Habs team.<\/p>\n Putting aside the fact that Selke winner and Olympian Nick Suzuki is only 26 years old himself, and essentially part of this group, the rest of the Canadiens\u2019 youth movement is in full flight, with promising talent dotted throughout the lineup. Up front, there’s Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov \u2014 three elite, dynamic wingers, each bringing a different offensive approach to the Habs\u2019 attack. Behind them, there\u2019s rearguard Lane Hutson, already among the most prolific blue-line talents in the league and a lock to win a Norris at some point down the line, as well as Kaiden Guhle, the Habs\u2019 16th-overall pick back in 2020, who\u2019s still building toward his best. And backstopping that group, the club houses\u00a0not one but two quality young netminders \u2014\u00a0Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler \u2014\u00a0to hold things down in the cage.<\/p>\n Throw in the up-and-coming talents that aren\u2019t even on the squad yet \u2014 20-year-old forward Michael Hage, who\u2019s showing promise in the NCAA, and 21-year-old defenceman David Reinbacher, who continues to develop in the AHL \u2014\u00a0and the future is only getting brighter in Montreal.<\/p>\n F: Macklin Celebrini (20), Will Smith (21), Michael Misa (19), Ivar Stenberg (18)<\/p>\n The last three years have seen the Sharks advance in leaps and bounds as they\u2019ve built out one of the most promising young squads in the game. And their exceptional 2026 draft only added more fuel to that fire.<\/p>\n Leading the group is Macklin Celebrini, who took the league by storm in his second NHL season, amassing 45 goals and 115 points and earning Hart Trophy votes along the way. But as dominant as Celebrini figures to be moving forward, it\u2019s as much the talented group around him that makes the Sharks such an interesting organization to watch over the next decade.<\/p>\n Up front, the club\u2019s attack is filled out by\u00a0Celebrini\u2019s uber-skilled linemate Will Smith, along with 2025 second-overall pick Michael Misa, who made headlines when he joined the select group granted exceptional status to play in the OHL as a 15-year-old. Now, Ivar Stenberg, tabbed with the No. 2 pick in this past draft, figures to add even more firepower to the Sharks\u2019 offence. Throw in 23-year-old Collin Graf, too, who broke through with the Sharks this past season and should remain a key secondary contributor.<\/p>\n Like Montreal, the Sharks\u2019 young talent isn\u2019t concentrated in the forward corps alone. San Jose’s 2024 No. 11 pick, Sam Dickinson, has become a key piece on the back end, as has netminder Yaroslav Askarov. And the Sharks beefed up their future defence even further at the draft last month, tabbing promising blue-liners Keaton Verhoeff (18) and Ryan Lin (18) in the first round.\u00a0<\/p>\n F: Leo Carlsson (21), Cutter Gauthier (22), Beckett Sennecke (20)<\/p>\n D: Jackson LaCombe (25), Pavel Mintyukov (22)<\/p>\n All the ink spilled over Carlsson\u2019s situation should serve as a sign of how bright the future looks for him and the Ducks. The club still seems a step behind Montreal (which already appears on the cusp of contending) and San Jose (led by the next face of the league), but Anaheim’s young stars proved this past season they\u2019re ready to make some playoff noise, too.<\/p>\n Beyond Carlsson, Anaheim’s offence also boasts 40-goal sniper Cutter Gauthier and creative winger Beckett Sennecke. Behind them, Jackson LaCombe has emerged as one of the league\u2019s most promising blue-line stars, while Pavel Mintyukov has shown plenty of growth through three seasons in California.<\/p>\n