The Vegas Golden Knights may not be overflowing with blue-chip prospects, but NHL Foley’s latest Top 150 list at least gave the organization a little something to point to.
Two Golden Knights farmhands made the cut: winger Trevor Connelly at No. 17 and defenseman Juho Piiparinen at No. 44. Connelly was ranked as the sixth-best left winger in the group, while Piiparinen landed as the 13th-best defenseman.
At the top of the list was Gavin McKenna, the most recent No. 1 pick and a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Foley’s rankings. Foley noted that McKenna was the only prospect in Toronto’s pool, a nod to the “Core Four.”
Connelly is coming off a productive 2025-26 season with the Henderson Silver Knights, where he put up 14 goals and 35 assists in 46 games. He’s expected to go back to Henderson and continue adding offense for the AHL club.
Piiparinen’s rise is tied to a busy summer for Vegas. After the Golden Knights traded Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers, they used their first-round draft pick on the Finnish defenseman, and he’s expected to play for Tappara in Finland’s Liiga this coming season.
Taken together, the rankings reinforce the broader picture around Vegas: the system isn’t loaded the way some of its Pacific Division neighbors are. Anaheim has six prospects on the list, Calgary has eight, and San Jose has nine. Vancouver also has six, while Seattle has five.
That wave of young talent is coming for the division, with names like Macklin Celebrini and Leo Carlsson mentioned as part of the shift. Even so, the Golden Knights don’t seem especially rattled by it.
Braeden Bowman and Carl Lindbom are viewed as players who can help the organization keep pace with that youth movement, and the Golden Knights’ deep goaltending room gives them another layer of security. On top of that, several of the division’s teams haven’t exactly built spotless track records when it comes to developing prospects.
The Golden Knights also aren’t about to abandon the formula that’s defined them. Big-name trade targets remain part of the plan, because that aggressive approach has helped them stay in the hunt for elite talent without relying on premium draft position.
There’s a cost to that style, of course, and it’s one Vegas is still willing to live with as it tries to maximize its current Stanley Cup window. Whether that comes back to bite them later is an open question, but Kelly McCrimmon clearly isn’t spending much time dwelling on it while he chases success.
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Golden Knights Still Have Three Pacific Rivals They Shouldn't Fear
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Seattle has not found much traction against Vegas, while Calgary is still working through a rebuild after moving on from key players. Vancouver has similar questions after a stretch of limited playoff success, leaving the Golden Knights in the same enviable spot they have occupied for a while: looking around the Pacific and seeing several rivals that do not yet feel like serious threats over the long haul. [Read more 🡒]