Welcome back.

It’s time for Daily Faceoff’s third annual NHL Prospect Pool Breakdown, looking at the best all 32 teams have to offer. We’re highlighting the top 10 prospects for every franchise, their biggest strengths and weaknesses and so much more.

Here is the criteria for being labeled a prospect: players generally have to have played in 50 or fewer NHL games or spent more time outside of the NHL than in it last year. Players over 23 years old are not included, and some prospects with fewer than 50 games, but who played a full-time role for a long enough stretch, are left off. That’s more of a judgment call, though. Goaltenders are a bit more subjective, but they must be 25 or under, have played fewer than 15 games in the past season, or have not spent significant time in the NHL overall over a three-year period.

Today, we’re breaking down the Vegas Golden Knights.

Yeah, it’s bad.

The Golden Knights, predictably, have one of the worst pipelines in the NHL. That happens when you trade away just about every first-round pick you’ve ever had in a pursuit of glory.

Brendan Brisson was the latest first-rounder shipped out, with the team then not having a pick on Day 1 in Los Angeles back in June. This is all by design as the Golden Knights look to stay relevant in the Stanley Cup hunt. They’ve got at least a few more competitive years to go, but don’t expect many from the team’s farm system to play pivotal roles.

Trevor Connelly is by far the top prospect in the system, but he’s coming off a difficult college season. Could he find his offensive flair again in the AHL? The Golden Knights hope so. I think Carl Lindbom can be a decent goalie, while Mathieu Cataford has middle-six potential. Beyond that, most others look like depth players at best (which isn’t a bad thing when you’re a cash-strapped team like the Golden Knights).

Biggest Strength

Few teams have multiple goaltenders in their top 10, but the Golden Knights have three. Lindbom is the only one with a real path forward to the NHL, but Pavel Moysevich and Cameron Whitehead have shown promise at various levels. Lindbom and Whitehead should spend the year in the AHL, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Lindbom get into some NHL action at some point soon. Moysevich, meanwhile, is still more of a project prospect, but one with a huge frame and some intriguing numbers.

Biggest Weakness

If Connelly doesn’t pan out for any reason, I don’t think a single forward in the system will play any meaningful minutes in the top six. The Golden Knights have a solid forward crop so it’s not like they desperately need someone to fly up the depth chart to provide help, but it feels like they’re ride-or-dying with Connelly. I expect Cataford to top out as a second-line support player, but he isn’t a huge producer. Jakob Ihs-Wozniak is talented, but inconsistent.

Fast Facts:
NHL GM: Kelly McCrimmon
Dir. of Amateur Scouting: Scott Luce
Dir. of Player Development: Wil Nichol
AHL Affiliate: Henderson Silver Knights
ECHL Affiliate: Tahoe Knight Monsters

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

*Trevor Connelly (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network)*

1. Trevor Connelly, LW, 19 (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 19th overall, first round in 2024

Connelly is Vegas’ best prospect and someone who would have gone higher in the 2024 NHL Draft if it wasn’t for previous off-ice concerns. He has outstanding hands, and the results have been impressive in just about every showcase event we’ve seen him in. Connelly had 13 points in 23 games for Providence, which isn’t a ton – but given the team’s top scorer had 24 points in 37 games, it wasn’t a highly productive season for Providence as a whole. Connelly usually is one of the best all-around offensive threats on the ice at any given time. I can see him being a dominant power-play presence and a consistent top-six scoring threat, but he’ll need to thrive in Henderson.

2. Carl Lindbom, G, 22 (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 222nd overall, seventh round in 2021

Lindbom has been a workhorse the past few years (by young goalie standards), and he was one of the AHL’s best goalies this past season. The positionally sound goaltender is actually the smallest in the system (size isn’t everything) but he makes up for it with pure athleticism and speed. It’s one thing to impress against your own age group, but Lindbom has been a standout at just about every level so far. I fully expect him to become an NHLer.

3. Mathieu Cataford, RW, 20 (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 77th overall, third round in 2023

*Mathieu Cataford (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network)*

Cataford had a solid 64-point season in Rimisouki, missing a bit of time with injury. He was everywhere for Rimouski during the playoffs and was one of the top QMJHLers at the Memorial Cup, as well. He’ll never be an overly productive forward, but he plays with an edge, can shoot on the power play and even has PK capabilities. Cataford is set for his first year in the AHL, and I have little doubt he’ll be an impact middle-six forward there. I feel like that’s his NHL future, as well.

4. Matyas Sapovaliv, C, 21 (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 48th overall, second round in 2022

Sapovaliv had a quiet first year of pro hockey in Henderson offensively, but his game is way more than what he does with the puck. He’s a huge 6-foot-4 center who can be an immovable object near the net. I love his two-way game, and how he acts as a facilitator under pressure around the net. I expect him to be a bottom-six NHLer who can overpower opponents and drive the puck toward the net. I’d like to see him get closer to the 30-point mark as an AHL sophomore, though.

5. Lukas Cormier, LHD, 23 (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 68th overall, third round in 2020

In a year that could have helped send Cormier to the NHL full-time, injuries instead limited the Quebec native to 19 games in Henderson. He played well for the most part, and even proved to be a shot-generation machine down the stretch (even though he didn’t score). Cormier is skilled, smart, and a solid skater. But at 5-foot-10, there are obvious question marks there. Not everyone can be Lane Hutson, and Cormier definitely won’t be. At worst, I can see him being a perennial call-up candidate – and, realistically, that’s what I think he’ll end up becoming.

6. Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, RW, 18 (Lulea, SHL)

Acquired: Drafted 55th overall, second round in 2025

Ihs-Wozniak can be a bit streaky, despite boasting some immense talent. He ended the 2024-25 season as one of Sweden’s top young players after starting with a terrible Hlinka Gretzky Cup. While he can struggle to maintain consistency, the goal-scoring instincts are definitely there. Enough so that some NHL teams considered him a potential first-round pick. He just needs to figure out how to be more consistent if he’s going to excel at the next level. But in terms of raw talent, Ihs-Wozniak has loads of it and I love his shot. He’ll have plenty of time to prove himself in the SHL before eventually heading to Henderson. I think he’ll be an NHLer, but he needs to improve his work ethic to make it happen.

7. Pavel Moysevich, G, 20 (SKA-VMF St. Petersburg, VHL)

Acquired: Drafted 83rd overall, third round in 2024

Many scouts were excited about the (now) 6-foot-7 goaltender heading into last season, especially after putting up some excellent numbers in the KHL. But he struggled with SKA St. Petersburg last year, registering much worse numbers compared to his primary counterparts in Artemi Pleshkov and Yegor Zavragin. Moysevich was good in the VHL, where he’s expected to return, but then struggled in the Russian junior playoffs. That being said, it’s difficult for a then-19-year-old goaltender to play against pro players, and there are still plenty of reasons to be excited about him. He takes up a ton of space, and he’s great at cutting down on angles. If he can add a bit more speed to his footwork, he’ll be fine.

8. Mateo Nobert, C, 18 (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL)

Acquired: Drafted 85th overall, third round in 2025

Nobert reads plays exceptionally well, and he has a nice mix of physicality and defensive awareness. The one thing holding him back right now is a lack of pure explosiveness, both in his speed and with the puck. But there’s some potential thanks to his tremendous hockey IQ. I’d like to see him have an explosive year in the Q before potentially heading to the QMJHL to help work on his strength. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in the running to make Canada’s 2027 World Junior team.

9. Tuomas Uronen, RW, 20 (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 192nd overall, sixth round in 2023

*Tuomas Uronen (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network)*

A late-round pick by Vegas back in 2023, Uronen has quickly evolved into a prospect of note. He had a huge season with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs, finishing with 90 points. He was a bit quieter at the World Juniors – at least offensively – but I thought he was enough of a disruptor in scoring lanes (and the rest of his Finnish U-20 national team season was impressive). Now set for AHL duty, Uronen needs to work on his skating and physicality if he’s going to thrive at the next level. He’s exceptionally smart and will beat you with great play-reads, but you have to do more than that to succeed at the next level.

10. Cameron Whitehead, G, 22 (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 128th overall, fourth round in 2022

After a second solid season at Northeastern University, Whitehead turned pro and made a pair of starts to close out the season. He looked decent in both, but ultimately came away without a win. He’ll challenge for the starting spot alongside Lindbom and Jesper Vikman, with Vikman looking to re-secure the backup job after holding it for most of the 2023-24 season. I like Whitehead’s potential – he has good size at 6-foot-3, tracks pucks well and does a solid job of taking the top of the crease away. He still has a long way to go to earn NHL duty, but I think he’ll be a solid AHL backup this year.

The rest: Jackson Hallum, LW (22), Jakub Demek, C (22), Trent Swick, LW (21), Kai Uchacz, C (22), Braeden Bowman, RW (22), Jordan Gustafson, C (21), Jakub Brabenec, C (21), Ben Hemmerling, RW (21), Alex Weiemair, C (20), Lucas Van Vilet, C (19), Arttu Karki, LJD (20), Noah Ellis, RHD (23), Gustav Sjoqvist, LHD (19), Christoffer Sedoff, LHD (23), Joe Fleming, RHD (22), Viliam Kmec, RHD (21), Jesper Vikman, G (23)

SPONSORED BY bet365