The NHL’s youth wave already has a headliner in Macklin Celebrini, but he’s not the only young name poised to grab more attention in 2026-27. A fresh crop of talent is lining up for bigger roles, and four players stand out as breakout candidates: Matvei Gridin, Gabe Perreault, Michael Misa, and Cole Hutson.
Matvei Gridin is the kind of young scorer who can sneak up on people fast. In his rookie season with the Calgary Flames, he played 37 games and put up 20 points, a pace that points to 44 points over a full 82-game schedule.
With Calgary leaning into a youthful roster, Gridin looks positioned to become one of the team’s key offensive pieces. If the Flames keep giving him room to grow, he has a real chance to lead the club in scoring this year.
In New York, Gabe Perreault looks like the sort of player who can force his way into a bigger spotlight with more ice time. The Rangers clearly found value in him, and his production hinted at what could be coming: 27 points in his first 49 games, then 19 points over his final 23.
He and Alexis Lafrenière were strong together after Artemi Panarin departed, and that chemistry gives Perreault a path to a bigger season. If Mike Sullivan keeps leaning on him, Perreault could become one of the more important pieces on the roster.
Michael Misa is another young player with a chance to make noise, and the San Jose Sharks are ready to hand him a meaningful role. While Macklin Celebrini has become the biggest talking point in San Jose after a 100-plus-point season from the youngster, Misa shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle.
He was drafted right after Matthew Schaefer, the New York Islanders defenseman, and he’s already set for top-six minutes. As the second center, Misa should see plenty of ice time, and the Sharks believe he can be part of a playoff-caliber team.
Cole Hutson rounds out the group, and the Washington Capitals may have found a real bargain. Hutson posted 10 points in 14 games last season, and he doesn’t need to carry huge minutes right away to make an impact.
That setup could actually help him develop while still contributing to a team that added pieces this offseason and can be a playoff-caliber group. Hutson has also learned from playing with his brother Lane Hutson, though the two bring different styles - Lane is the shifty one, while Cole offers more physicality.
For Washington, that mix could pay off quickly this season.
In Other News...
Capitals Core Is Fueling A Bigger Debate Than Fans Expected
The Capitals entered the 2026 offseason with a rare kind of flexibility, sitting on roughly $31 million in salary cap space under the $104 million ceiling. For a team still built around Alex Ovechkin and trying to keep its window open, that kind of room gives general manager Chris Patrick options, but it also invites a harder question about how much of it should be used to keep the core intact and how aggressively the front office should chase help around it.
Dylan Strome and Logan Thompson are part of what makes the conversation more complicated, because both have outperformed the kind of contracts theyre carrying and given Washington real value in spots that usually cost a lot more on the open market. When a contender can point to deals like that and still have major cap space left over, it sharpens the debate over whether the Capitals should lean into continuity, spread the money around, or save even more for the next move that could change the shape of the roster. [Read more 🡒]