Having already looked at some under-the-radar names in the Central Division, the spotlight now shifts to the Atlantic - and there’s no shortage of prospects worth filing away for later. These aren’t the obvious headliners. They’re the kinds of players who can sneak up on you fast.
Max Plante is one of them.
Max Plante - Forward - Detroit Red Wings
Detroit’s summer hasn’t exactly been smooth, but Max Plante may end up looking like a real win for the organization under the next regime. Taken 47th overall in 2024, the Minnesota-Duluth winger didn’t enter last season as one of the most talked-about prospects in the system. That changed in a hurry.
Plante won the Hobey Baker award as the top player in NCAA men’s hockey after putting up 52 points in 40 games as a 20-year-old. That total left him tied for third in the nation, level with Michael Hage and just ahead of Gavin McKenna and Porter Martone. He then led the Bulldogs into the NCAA tournament, where they knocked out McKenna’s Penn State team before falling to top-seeded Michigan and Hage in a respectable loss.
The Plante name already carries weight on campus. Max played alongside his brother Zam, a Penguins prospect, and their younger brother Victor is set to join this fall after being selected by the Wings in June.
That gives the family a rare chance to line up together next season, with all three brothers now legitimate NHL prospects. It’s the kind of ending that feels almost scripted for the Minnesota-born sons of retired NHLer Derek Plante before Max moves on to the pro game.
He hasn’t signed with Detroit yet, but he’s already had the chance to skate with some serious NHL talent. Plante represented Team USA at the World Juniors, where he played through injury, and later at the IIHF World Championships this spring, scoring once on a roster that included Matthew Tkachuk and possible future teammate Justin Faulk. That kind of experience is unusual for a Hobey Baker winner still headed back to school, especially after sharing the ice with players of that caliber.
At 5-foot-11, Plante is going to spend another season sharpening the details of his game, especially his already high-end hockey sense and playmaking. He also showed last year that he can be a real scoring threat. If he can back that up again, he starts looking more and more like a winger with genuine top-six upside.
Benjamin Rautiainen - Forward - Tampa Bay Lightning
Benjamin Rautiainen is a name plenty of serious NHL followers know by now, but he still doesn’t get nearly enough league-wide attention. That’s a problem, because the 21-year-old Finn just put together one of the most impressive seasons in Europe.
Drafted in the fourth round of 2025, Rautiainen led Liiga with 77 points in 59 games, won the league’s MVP award, and finished by helping Tappara win the championship. For a player chosen after 107 others last year, it was a massive statement season.
Tampa Bay’s prospect cupboard is not exactly overflowing, especially with just one first-round pick since 2020 in Isaac Howard. Rautiainen is signed to an ELC, but he’s not expected to make the club out of camp. If he doesn’t, he’ll go back to Tappara for next season and could still get a shot in North America once that Liiga season ends.
He’s the kind of puck-heavy forward who probably needs power-play time to really shine, and there are real questions about how his game will translate to smaller ice and a more physical AHL setting. There isn’t a clean player comparison here, but the upside is obvious enough: raw top-six potential.
Tampa has never been shy about giving opportunities to players who earn them, and head coach Jon Cooper has a track record of putting call-ups in position to succeed. If the Lightning need help again, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Rautiainen get into at least a few NHL games next season in a sheltered role.
L.J. Mooney - Forward - Montreal Canadiens
Montreal’s future already looks brighter after reaching the Eastern Conference Final ahead of schedule, and the Canadiens may have even more help on the way. L.J. Mooney is one of the more intriguing names in that pipeline.
At 5-foot-8, the Pennsylvania native had a big test this past season jumping to the NCAA with Minnesota, and he handled it well. Mooney finished with 30 points in 34 games, which ranked third on the Golden Gophers. He also made Team USA’s World Juniors roster in the winter and recorded three assists in five games while looking comfortable for an 18-year-old.
Montreal drafted him 113th overall in 2025, and he’s one of those players who stands out because he does so much despite not having the size of some of the prospects ranked ahead of him. His skating is elite, and he plays above his build. Now 19, he’ll return to Minnesota and try to build on a strong freshman year while helping the Gophers improve on a 15-win season that ended with a Regional Semifinal loss to Massachusetts.
He’s still a couple of years away from the pro ranks, but that’s not a bad place to be. He’ll keep developing alongside other NHL prospects, including Buffalo’s Brodie Ziemer and Wyatt Cullen of the Predators. Mooney is also cousins with Utah star Logan Cooley.
Canadiens fans already got a glimpse of the buzz around him at rookie development camp, and there’s a real boom-or-bust feel to his profile. He’s more of a playmaker than Brendan Gallagher and less of a sniper than Cole Caufield, with a conservative comparison to Nicholas Robertson.
The bigger question is how much more he can add over time. The 2026-27 season will be a big one, both for his development and for his role with USA at the 2027 World Juniors.
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