If you know me and/or have been familiar with my take on hockey prospect rankings over the past few years, you’ll know my affinity for a tier or “pyramid” system over ranking players Nos. 1-10, 20, 50, etc.
There are just too many debates over these kinds of lists that really get you into the weeds of where a player is in their development and where they may or may not stand within the organization. I’m not one to split hairs between a prospect ranked fourth and ninth when another person wouldn’t have either in their top 10.
What is the prospect pyramid, you may ask? It’s a simple solution to these lists.
Instead of listing players, the pyramid system allows you to group players into different sections, with the very top of the rankings being the smallest but usually where you find most of the rare talents.
Eligibility
I have two disqualifiers: Players with over 90 NHL games played and players older than 23 on September 29, 2026 — the start of the 2026-27 season.
Here are the 36 players we are looking at in the Chicago Blackhawks’ prospect system.
Forwards (22): Nathan Behm, Sacha Boisvert, Jiří Felcman, Anton Frondell, Ryan Greene, Gavin Hayes, Parker Holmes, Roman Kantserov, Nick Lardis, Paul Ludwinski, Martin Mišiak, Oliver Moore, John Mustard, Václav Nestrašil, Ryan Roobroeck, Samuel Savoie, William Sörbrand, AJ Spellacy, Julius Sumpf, Joel Svensson, Marek Vanacker, Mason West
Defensemen (11): Samu Alalauri, Ashton Cumby, Ethan Del Mastro, Jake Furlong, Ty Henry, Alexander Ivanov, Artyom Levshunov, Ryan Mast, Janne Peltonen, Sam Rinzel, Xavier Villeneuve
Goalies (3): Stanislav Berezhnoy, Adam Gajan, Ilya Kanarsky
Aged out: Landon Slaggert, Taige Harding, Drew Commesso
Over 90 NHL Games: Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar
Breakdown
Here’s how the Blackhawks’ prospect pyramid is broken down heading into the 2025-26 season and what each tier of the pyramid means.
Level One: Special Prospect/Franchise Player
This is a player that you look at and have zero doubts about their ability to be that top-line/top-pairing superstar player—someone who you build an entire franchise around.
Examples: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Connor Bedard
Level Two: Quality Prospect/Long-time NHL Player
This is a player who may not be that “future Hall of Fame” type player, but someone who is going to be around for a long time and will have a big impact on your team. These are players that no successful franchise is without.
Examples: Patrick Sharp, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Tony Amonte, Brian Campbell
Level Three: Good Prospect/Complementary Player
These players don’t jump off the page as someone who will drive your team, but they make those small, timely impacts that can make good teams great.
Examples: Andrew Shaw, Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Johnny Oduya
Level Four: Average Prospect/Depth Player
This prospect level is good for players with decent expectations, but we don’t know much about them. For example, whether they’ve played in Europe or have had injury issues. Players whose NHL aspirations are on the fence.
Level Five: Everyone Else
As the title says, this is where everyone else lands. Usually, these are prospects and players with unlikely futures in the NHL or who have not yet shown enough in their Junior careers to warrant excitement. These are just “guys.”
Now that we all understand each other, let’s get into the 2025-26 Chicago Blackhawks prospect pyramid!
Level One: Special Prospect/Franchise Player
None
This is where you put guys that the moment they hit the NHL ice, things are different for your team. Connor Bedard was that for the Blackhawks in his first two seasons while he was still eligible for this project.
This is something the Blackhawks seem to be potentially “missing” as they look to become playoff contenders and eventually Stanley Cup contenders again. That top-tier talent that can be go-to players when your team needs them the most. Having a robust Level Two and Level Three of the pyramid is great for depth and complementary pieces, but the pieces that put you over the top are found here.
“Found” is easier said than done.
I had a thought to put Anton Frondell into Level One after his SHL season and his introduction to the NHL. I feel like he is going to be a really special player in the NHL. But ultimately I didn’t feel the certainty to put him here alongside where Bedard was as a rookie and a second-year player. Maybe by season’s end I’ll feel differently, but right now Frondell feels like a Level 1.5 player.
Everybody in the next category has the chance and ability to play a role in the next generation of great Blackhawks hockey.
Level Two: Quality Prospect/Long-time NHL Player
Anton Frondell, Roman Kantserov (+), Nick Lardis, Artyom Levshunov, Oliver Moore, Václav Nestrašil (+), Sam Rinzel
This is a level where the Blackhawks have found solid players. In years past, players like Frank Nazar and Alex Vlasic have populated this tier. Now they’re core members of the next generation of hockey in Chicago. The names here all have that potential — and then some — to be looked at as part of the next contending core of players.
Of note, Roman Kantserov’s 2025-26 KHL season moved him up from Level Three last season, and his expectations moving forward as he begins his NHL career are high. He looks to be a player who will find a long-term home as a top-six winger, potentially running alongside Connor Bedard.
The same goes for 2025 No. 3 pick Anton Frondell, who figures to become either the No. 2 center behind Bedard or another candidate to be a long-term winger beside him. Again, as mentioned before, I could very well see Frondell becoming a Level One player in his prime in Chicago. A Toews to Bedard’s Kane, if you will.
I also see Oliver Moore as a core piece in the future. Is he going to ever be the team’s leader in production? No. But he has the make-up of a player winning teams need to have in their lineup. His ability to play any role and any situation gives him that Swiss Army Knife utility for coach Jeff Blashill. He has offensive skill, he’s a workhorse away from the puck, he can kill penalties and he does it all willingly.
Nick Lardis scored 28 goals in his first professional season of hockey across the NHL (10) and AHL (18). It’s his most important skill that will need to translate, not far removed from a 71-goal season in his final year in the OHL in 2024-25. But it’s not all Lardis brings to the table. The progress he made in his game away from the puck in his rookie year was impressive and necessary to finding a home in the NHL.
Moving up from Level Three as well is 2025 first-round pick Václav Nestrašil after a standout freshman season at UMass and an impressive showing for Czechia at the World Junior Championships. Big, skilled and highly competitive, Nestrašil could find a home in Chicago’s top-six when he hits his stride in the NHL.
On the defensive end of things, I still firmly believe in both Arytom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel’s ability to turn into top-four options, with a possibility for one to become a top-pair defenseman on the right side of the blue line. If I were betting on it, I still put my money on Levshunov living up to his No. 2 overall pick status and being the 20-plus minutes-per-game defenseman who does it all for the Blackhawks.
Level Three: Good Prospect/Complementary Player
Samu Alalauri, Sacha Boisvert (-), Ethan Del Mastro, Adam Gajan, Ryan Greene, John Mustard (+), Ryan Roobroeck, AJ Spellacy, Marek Vanacker, Xavier Villeneuve, Mason West
This is where good teams can become great from within. The Blackhawks have a robust group of players here with boom-or-bust potential and solid complementary games that, if they were to hit, would make for complete depth across the NHL lineup in a very short amount of time.
There’s also the chance that none of these players ever become real factors in the NHL.
Sacha Boisvert moved down, not necessarily because he did anything so poorly but I believe the standard is rising for the prospect system, and he’s a stride behind Level Two players. Still, you can easily see him playing an important bottom-six, physical forward role for the team in coming years.
Ryan Greene stays in Level Three after playing his first full professional season entirely in the NHL despite it looking like he was headed for Rockford to begin the year. If Landon Slaggert doesn’t get sick at the start of last season, Greene’s year could’ve looked completely different.
He spent a big portion of his time as a rookie with Connor Bedard and proved that he could be a serviceable linemate thanks to his impressive hockey IQ. Greene finished his rookie season with 12 goals and 29 points in 81 games. Even if he’s not the most purely skilled player, Greene feels like another valuable utility player that can go anywhere in the Blackhawks lineup and play the role asked of him effectively.
Football players turned hockey players Mason West and AJ Spellacy offer a ton of size and athletic potential. But what can West become as a full-time hockey player for the first time ever? And does Spellacy’s game translate to more than a big, physical grinder?
Newest additions from the 2026 NHL Draft class land here with boom-or-bust forward Ryan Roobroeck, small but offensively gifted defenseman Xavier Villeneuve, and defense-first defenseman Samu Alalauri. If I’m picking one of these three who could make a move up in next year’s pyramid, it’s Villeneuve after his first NCAA season at Boston University.
John Mustard also moves up into Level Three this year after building upon a solid freshman season at Providence College with a 17-goal, 29-point sophomore season. He seems to be carving his way more and more into the Blackhawks’ future plans and continuing to improve in his Junior season this year likely lands him an entry-level contract at the end of this NCAA season.
The only goalie in the top four levels of the pyramid lands here, with Adam Gajan set to have his first professional season begin in either Rockford or Indianapolis. His sophomore campaign at Minnesota-Duluth was a big improvement from his freshman season, improving from a sub-.900 save percentage to a .908 in Year 2. His goals-against average also dropped to 2.25 GAA, down from his freshman season of 3.33. He was part of the Slovakian Olympic team and made two appearances for his home country in the World Championships this past year as well.
Also preparing for his first full professional season this year is 2024 first-round pick Marek Vanacker. Coming off a 47-goal, 82-point OHL season with Brantford, Vanacker should be stepping into a situation with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL where he will be put into a top-six forward role and get significant time playing on special teams on both the power-play and penalty-kill.
Vanacker’s mind for the game and penchant to play with an edge — on top of a decent offensive touch — project him to be a player who could eventually land in the middle-six of the Blackhawks lineup once he hits his stride professionally.
Level Four: Average Prospect/Depth Player
Nathan Behm, Jiří Felcman, Gavin Hayes, Paul Ludwinski, Ryan Mast, Martin Mišiak, Samuel Savoie (-)
There’s a rising floor when it comes to the Blackhawks’ prospect system. The standards are higher and the talent pool is getting deeper and better.
That also means that good players are left behind, but that is indicative of a competitive NHL club. Players like Samuel Savoie, Paul Ludwinski, Martin Mišiak, and Gavin Hayes have had high hopes of turning their junior league skills into professional tools, but with varying success in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs and the growth of the farm system, these players are being passed over by their peers.
Nathan Behm is taking his WHL talents to Arizona State in the NCAA this season, so it will be interesting to see how his draft-year and draft-year-plus-one seasons in Kamloops (152 points in 126 games over the last two seasons) will translate to the college game before he looks towards pro hockey.
Jiří Felcman continues to feel like a roll-of-the-dice project for a player who could work his way into the NHL as a bottom-six power-forward center and arrives in the AHL with the IceHogs after spending the last two seasons professionally in Switzerland with the SCL Lions.
