Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Some of the AHL’s young talents from last season are showcasing themselves this weekend at NHL prospects tournaments.
Let’s break down some of the NHL organizations who will have familiar AHL names on the ice as they ready themselves for this upcoming season.
BUFFALO SABRES (ROCHESTER AMERICANS)
Buffalo’s annual September prospects tournament has become one of the most popular of its kind in the AHL, and Sabres fans will have plenty of familiar Rochester names on hand.
Rochester forward Isak Rosén will skate for the Sabres after a 28-goal effort with the Amerks last season. He then added five goals in eight playoff games as the Amerks went to the North Division Finals. Buffalo took him 14th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, and he already has three AHL campaigns behind him. Along with Rosén, there are top forwards Konsta Helenius and Anton Wahlberg, who each broke into the North American pro ranks last season with Rochester. Helenius, like Rosén, is a first-round pick, and he provided 14 goals in 65 regular-season games as an 18-year-old in 2024-25. Wahlberg, just 19 last season, chipped in 11 goals in 63 games for Rochester.
Along with the Sabres, the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins are all participating in the tournament.
CAROLINA HURRICANES (CHICAGO WOLVES)
Fresh off a 32-goal season with the Wolves, forward Bradly Nadeau headlines the Carolina roster facing counterparts from the Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning in Wesley Chapel, Fla.
Nadeau, selected 30th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Hurricanes, took quickly to the pro game last season with Chicago. His 32 goals in 64 games topped all AHL rookies, and he took spots on the AHL All-Rookie Team as well as the AHL Top Prospects Team.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (ROCKFORD ICEHOGS)
After going second overall to the Hawks in the 2024 NHL Draft, defenseman Artyom Levshunov spent most of his 19-year-old season in the AHL with Rockford. Playing 52 games for the IceHogs, he had 22 points (five goals, 17 assists). He also got 18 games with Chicago at the NHL level.
The Hawks are in St. Paul, Minn., for the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase along with the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.
DETROIT RED WINGS (GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS)
A heavy Grand Rapids presence will be on the Detroit roster for a pair of games against the Dallas Stars in Frisco, Tex.
Three first-round picks with Griffins ties will be on hand, starting with defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka. He spent last season in the Swedish Hockey League with Skellefteå before getting into a pair of late-season games with the Griffins. Detroit took him as the 17th pick of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Joining him there are forwards Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Nate Danielson. Brandsegg-Nygård spent last season alongside Sandin-Pellikka with Skellefteå before also having a brief look with the Griffins; the Red Wings made him the 15th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Danielson, selected ninth overall in 2023, had a 39-point rookie season with the Griffins in 2024-25.
Detroit also will have 2021 second-rounder Shai Buium, who showed well as a rookie on the Grand Rapids blue line last season.
EDMONTON OILERS (BAKERSFIELD CONDORS)
A two-game provincial battle with the Calgary Flames will afford top prospect Matthew Savoie another chance for the spotlight.
The speedy Savoie excelled last season with the Condors, recording 54 points (19 goals, 35 assists) in 66 games and also going to the AHL All-Star Classic. He came to the Edmonton organization in a July 2024 deal with Buffalo after the Sabres chose him ninth in the 2022 NHL Draft.
FLORIDA PANTHERS (CHARLOTTE CHECKERS)
Not even three months after the Checkers went six games in the Calder Cup Finals against the Abbotsford Canucks, the Panthers have their prospects back in action.
Led by Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear, defensemen Marek Alscher and Mikulas Hovorka offer pro experience while forwards Ben Steeves and Brett Chorske along with defenseman Eamon Powell all stepped into the Charlotte lineup late last season in time for the team’s playoff run. Also on hand will be forward Sandis Vilmanis after a solid first season with Charlotte.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS (MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS)
A solid Milwaukee presence will be on hand in Florida for a Nashville roster that will feature forward Joakim Kemell and defenseman Ryan Ufko.
Kemell was chosen 17th in the 2022 NHL Draft by Nashville and already has played 39 Calder Cup Playoff games across three seasons with Milwaukee. Last season he finished with 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) in 65 games for the Admirals. Ufko made a quick adjustment to the pro game and led all Milwaukee blueliners with 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists) while playing all 72 games for the Admirals.
NEW YORK RANGERS (HARTFORD WOLF PACK)
The Rangers make their annual September trip to Pennsylvania to face the Philadelphia Flyers at PPL Center, the home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Two prospects headline the New York roster. One is forward Brennan Othmann, who is trying to break through and earn a full-time NHL job after two pro seasons. Othmann split last season between New York and the Hartford Wolf Pack; he turned in 12 goals in 27 AHL games while also dressing for 22 NHL games.
Second-year defenseman Scott Morrow is getting his first look in a Rangers jersey after they acquired him from Carolina in the K’Andre Miller deal this summer. Morrow, a dangerous offensive presence, had 39 points with the Wolves last season and joined Nadeau on the AHL Top Prospects Team.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS)
Several familiar names from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster are in Buffalo this weekend.
Defenseman Owen Pickering, who represented Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the AHL All-Star Classic last February is on hand after splitting this past season between the NHL and AHL. So is forward Ville Koivunen, whose 56 points (21 goals, 35 assists) in 63 games led Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in scoring. Forward Tristan Broz tied for third on the team with 19 goals as a rookie and is on the Pittsburgh roster.
In net is Sergei Murashov, who showed considerable promise in limited time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while also developing at the ECHL level with the Wheeling Nailers.
SAN JOSE SHARKS (SAN JOSE BARRACUDA)
The Sharks will continue to lean heavily on the Barracuda to help them through their ongoing rebuilding process, and that talent will be on display at the Golden State Rookie Face-off in Irvine, Calif. The Anaheim Ducks are hosting the Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.
Undrafted forward Collin Graf finished with 35 points (eight goals, 27 assists) in 40 games for the Barracuda and went on to get a 33-game look with the Sharks. He’ll be in Irvine along with Barracuda regulars Filip Bystedt and Luca Cagnoni. Bystedt, a 2022 first-round pick, is a forward who had a 31-point season with the Barracuda in 2024-25. Cagnoni tied for the AHL rookie lead in points by a defenseman with 52 (16 goals, 36 assists) in 64 games to earn a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team.
ST. LOUIS BLUES (SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS)
Another member of the 2024-25 AHL Top Prospects Team is back on the ice in competition this weekend.
Forward Dalibor Dvorsky will lead the Blues after posting 45 points, including 21 goals, in 64 games for the Thunderbirds as a rookie. He also went to the AHL All-Star Classic. His busy season included representing Slovakia at both the IIHF World Junior Championship as well as the IIHF World Championship, plus two games with the Blues. St. Louis made him the 10th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and he just turned 20 this past June.
UTAH MAMMOTH (TUCSON ROADRUNNERS)
Defenseman Maveric Lamoureux, selected 29th in the 2022 NHL Draft, had a strong start to his pro career last season with Tucson.
He played 42 games for the Roadrunners and also earned 15 games with Utah. The Mammoth are in a tournament hosted by the Colorado Avalanche that also features the Vegas Golden Knights.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS (ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS)
Calder Cup champions Kirill Kudryavtsev and Jonathan Lekkerimaki will be back on the ice as Vancouver faces the Seattle Kraken in a pair of games in Washington State this weekend.
Each player took key roles as Abbotsford earned the Vancouver organization its first-ever Calder Cup championship this past June. After a strong rookie season on the Abbotsford blue line, Kudryavtsev played 21 of 24 playoff games. Lekkerimaki had 19 goals in just 36 regular-season games for Abbotsford. The forward went 15th to Vancouver in the 2022 NHL Draft.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.