How good is Dallas' prospect pool?

And what can the NHL roster expect from its non-NHL participants?

If you’re someone who doesn’t follow the draft, or prospect hockey, but sometimes you think about getting into it, the World Juniors is no better start. It’s all of hockey’s best (high-level talent, and dramatic moments) and worst (the politics, and player stereotyping) qualities rolled into one, quick, high-stakes tournament.

Because the players are the best of the best—unless you’re the selection committee for Team Canada, of course¹—it’s also a cliffsnotes for who’s who when the 2025 NHL Draft rolls around. You can finally say '“I know that kid” when their name gets called, which is the beginning of any draft junkie’s journey.

Team USA once again won Gold, beating Finland in the finals². I was surprised to see Finland make it so far. Petteri Rimpinen was their best player which is rarely a good sign when you have to goalie wins. The players with the best pedigrees were two-way forwards like Konsta Helenius, and the hero-turned-zero of the 2024 draft, Aron Kiviharju³. Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised; not with names on the other side like James Hagens, Gabe Perreault (NYR), Cole Hutson (WSH), and Zeev Buium (MIN). My general philosophy when it comes to high-stakes puck—whether it’s the Cup Finals, the Olympics, or the World Juniors—is that it's harder for teams with more players of varying qualities of good to beat teams with only a few players with specific qualities of great.

Better yet for the purpose of this Substack, two of Dallas’ top prospects were playing in the finals in Emil Hemming, and Aram Minnetian.

I echo Scott Wheeler’s sentiment about the two: meh. Hemming was downright tepid early in the tournament. This isn’t just me talking. Corey Pronman was openly critical too. While high expectations might be unfair to Hemming, we’re not talking about some fifth round lottery ticket: we’re talking about a first rounder that went before other World Junior peers like Cole Hutson, Carter George, Adam Kleber, and Teddy Stiga⁴. “Wheeler is right,” I thought. But then the final four happened.

Hemming was far too invisible for my liking early on, and not just because he went pointless through the first five games of the tournament. But boy did he turn it up several notches when it got down to the marrow. All of his tournament’s four points came against Sweden, and USA. Beyond just making it count in the boxscore, his improvements along the wall, and playmaking really shined. Again, this early in a player’s development, it’s better to see them develop new facets to their game than watch them inflate their point totals with already-established skills.

The same was true for Minnetian. He didn’t look great early, which is why he ended up getting scratched. But he got better as the tournament went on, and looked downright fantastic, activating intelligently and outwitting forecheckers with his defensive zone movement, in the Gold Medal game. Obviously, you’d like to see more consistency from both players, but while I agree with Wheeler, I was encouraged by their final run when it mattered most. We’ll get into what these means for the Dallas Stars roster, if anything, but first let’s update Dallas’ prospect rankings.

Updated Rankings

1. Lian Bichsel

2. Antonio Stranges

3. Emil Hemming

4. Aram Minnetian

5. Tristan Bertucci

6. Angus MacDonnell

7. Arno Tiefensee

8. Ayrtom Martino

9. Chase Wheatcroft

10. Brad Gardiner

This list has changed quite a bit from the November rankings. The big story is the rise of Stranges. While he might seem like an afterthought with players like Oskar Bäck, Justin Hryckowian, and Arttu Hyry all getting the call before him, it has everything to do with seniority and fit rather than talent. Stranges, after all, continues to lead the team in points. Given Hemming and Minnetian’s youth, I can see the argument for having them at #2 and #3, respectively, but when judged by where Stranges began, I think the boost is legit. Especially if he keeps it up.

German goaltender Tiefensee had a rough start but now he’s up to a .907 save percentage in the DEL. MacDonnell continues his heater with Brampton as their alternate captain. He made his return late December after a two-month hiatus due to injury, and has since tallied seven points in five games. Meanwhile players like Wheatcroft and Gardiner continue to quietly trend down.

Strengths

One thing the Stars have is a broad diversity of strengths in a variety of positions. I know that 2-out-of-10 description doesn’t say much, but it’s not an insult either. They have some defenders with NHL potential, some centers with NHL potential, some wingers with NHL potential, and some goalies with NHL potential.

I feel like I’m sinking further into passive aggressive criticism, especially with the words “NHL potential” being so broad. Let me try again: Dallas has been extremely sharp when it comes to drafting maturity. Except for Stranges, who is simply horsepower on skates⁵, their top prospects play very multidimensional games. Minnetian is not just a defensive defensemen. Hemming is not just a scoring winger. Bertucci is not just a smooth-skating blueliner. Et cetera.

While it makes assessment tough, it’s also to Dallas’ credit, and one of the reasons why I wouldn’t underestimate a lot of these players even if they’re not gamebreaking talents. The same could even be said of Bichsel, who is clearly pro ready.

Weaknesses

If I’m judging Dallas’ strengths against the rest of the league, I’d say that Dallas’ previous rank per EPRinkside at #14 has gone down. In some ways, their strengths are also their weaknesses: a lot of potential contributors, but no possible gamebreakers. While the Stars have done great work recently in identifying maturity in their prospects, they also need players who can play past maturity, and simply steal games.

And while they have all the positions covered, there are also noticeable holes, between the lack of right-handed defenders and lack of left flanks. Yes, Minnetian is a right-handed defender, and Stranges is a left winger. But as far as top-rank prospects at those positions, they’re all Dallas has, and as NHL options — they’re long shots.

Outlook for the NHL roster

According to yesterday’s poll, most fans want to see Mavrik Bourque in the top six again, with a sizeable minority feeling like it’s a good idea to send him down to the AHL to gain some confidence. Does that opinion change when reflecting on Dallas’ prospect pool? It’s a little unfair to judge Dallas’ prospect pool right as they’ve graduated so many players. And we’re at least three to four years removed from seeing this list brush up against NHL opportunities, if at all. Still, the next wave is on its way. Whether that means anything in the long run is part of the excitement. Just because there’s no Stankoven and Harley of the bunch doesn’t mean there might not be the next Bäck and Fistric⁶.

1. Steven Dangle and the guys took no prisoners on Team Canada in their latest episode, and rightfully so.

2. The following paragraph will read like one of those sci-fi space operas that doesn’t hold your hand, and smashes you with random jargon, so skip this paragraph if you don’t care.

3. Was a consensus top five pick before the season began due to previous work, then had a bad season, fell, and was drafted in the fourth.

4. Not counting the snubs like Harrison Brunicke, Henry Mews, and I won’t even mention Canada’s list of misfit toys.

5. If the horse were on illicit drugs.

6. Sorry. I couldn’t think of the last Dallas defender that was drafted to be depth. I think that was it?