First-round pedigree usually buys a player time, but it doesn’t guarantee a seat in the NHL forever. That’s the pressure hanging over five Western Conference draft picks from 2022, all of whom are trying to prove they can do more than bounce between the league and the minors.
The common thread is simple: by this stage, the league expects movement. Four seasons after draft day, first-rounders are supposed to be pushing toward permanent jobs.
Some arrive late, sure. Tage Thompson, Valeri Nichushkin, and Nazem Kadri are the examples that keep hope alive.
But plenty of others stall out before they ever become everyday NHLers. These five are at that crossroads now.
Kevin Korchinski is the name with the loudest stakes in Chicago. The Blackhawks took him seventh overall in 2022, and he was one of the first major draft picks of Kyle Davidson’s tenure.
Chicago has been searching for defensive answers, and Korchinski has yet to become one. He got a long look in 2023-24, playing 76 games and putting up five goals and 10 points, but the other side of the puck was a problem.
His minus-39 plus/minus told the story. Since then, he has appeared in only 29 NHL games.
The offense is still there, though, with five goals and 48 assists in 109 AHL games over the last two seasons for the Rockford Ice Hogs. Davidson has given him another opening, and with Bowen Byram and Artyom Levshunov in the mix, Korchinski may have a better path if he can beat out Wyatt Kaiser or Ian Cole for a spot.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki is still trying to turn promise into a real NHL run in Vancouver. Taken 15th overall, the smaller skater has needed more time, and the Canucks have given it to him.
He has played 37 NHL games so far, and last season offered a reminder of what he can do when healthy: 13 goals and seven assists in 21 AHL games for Abbotsford, plus two goals and an assist in 13 NHL games before a shoulder injury cut things short. Injuries have slowed him, but the production has been there at lower levels.
With the Canucks leaning into young players and Manny Malhotra - his former AHL coach - now behind the bench, this looks like a real chance for Lekkerimaki to grab a roster spot. If he misses again, the questions get a lot tougher.
Joakim Kemell is in a different kind of squeeze in Nashville. Drafted 17th overall, he came in as a sniper, the sort of prospect whose shot can carry him to the top six or leave him exposed if the rest of the game doesn’t catch up.
His first full AHL season was respectable: 16 goals and 25 assists in 67 games for Milwaukee in 2023-24. But he hasn’t gone beyond that.
He stayed healthy, he kept playing, and the ceiling still hasn’t shown up in a way that changes the conversation. Last season did bring a small step forward at the NHL level, with a goal and two assists in 16 games, and 14 of those came from March onward.
That gives him some momentum, especially after Nashville traded Luke Evangelista on Sept. 1.
Even so, the Predators added more forwards this offseason, and Kemell still needs more ice time to matter long term.
Filip Bystedt has taken a steadier route in San Jose, but that doesn’t mean the roster math works in his favor. The 27th overall pick made his AHL debut with the Barracuda in the middle of the 2023-24 season, then kept climbing.
He posted 31 points in 50 games in 2024-25 and followed that with 60 points in 65 games last season. The tools are obvious: size, speed, and enough defensive game to hold up.
The issue is opportunity. Macklin Celebrini and Michael Misa are likely the Sharks’ top two centers, and Will Smith can slide to center too.
San Jose also extended Alexander Wennberg for three seasons in January. That leaves Bystedt fighting Zach Ostapchuk for a bottom-six center role, and he needs to win it now.
Last season suggested he may have already squeezed all he can out of the AHL.
Maveric Lamoureux faces the steepest uphill climb of the group in Utah. Drafted 29th overall, he is a classic stay-at-home defenseman: 6-foot-6, long reach, shutdown instincts, and a game built more for denying chances than creating them.
He has just 15 NHL games under his belt, in part because he is still a light 196 pounds. In the AHL, he has logged 107 games and 33 points, and last season’s plus-7 rating showed he can handle his own end.
But Utah has loaded up on defense. The team paid premium assets for Mikhail Sergachev and Mackenzie Weegar, then added Nate Schmidt and Andrew Peeke, while Dmitry Simashev also looks set for a blue-line job.
That leaves Lamoureux with very little room to break through.
For all five players, the message is the same: this is the season to prove they belong. The draft status is still on the resume, but it won’t carry them much longer.
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Johnson framed the situation as a matter of patience and support, stressing that the organization wants Demkos recovery handled properly and noting his determination to get back as part of Vancouvers future. The important part for the Canucks is that this is not a setback in effort or intent, but it does leave one of their biggest questions hanging over the week as the rest of the roster settles into full camp work. [Read more 🡒]