Top five most improved NHL prospect pools in 2025-26

Nobody wants to cheer for a bad hockey team.

But it happens. Teams go through rebuilds. Some are swift, some take a decade. But it’s all about trying to push forward to make a long-term Stanley Cup contender. That’s why fans of bottom-feeders tend to love prospect pool rankings – they want something, anything to get them pumped for the future.

At the very least, you want to see improvement – either with the NHL team, or with the team’s future. And in the case of these five teams, they boast the most improved pipelines over the past year, using Daily Faceoff’s recent prospect pool rankings as the basis:

5. Pittsburgh Penguins (2025: 18th, 2024: 24th)

Improvement: +6

The Penguins have added some serious size over the past two years. Rutger McGroarty is a strong forward who can knock guys down and use his frame to generate scoring chances. Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff love to bring their energy to every shift, and I can see them becoming valuable bottom-six options. Peyton Kettles, meanwhile, is 6-foot-5 and makes it hard to get around him. I can see them all becoming NHLers, and that alone should make them a bit scarier to play against.

It’s still not a super deep pipeline beyond that. But it’s a good start, and they have another six picks in the first three rounds in 2026. They’ve got some work to do to make the team truly competitive in the post-Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Kris Letang era. But through some decent drafting last year, I’m starting to like where things are headed.

4. Philadelphia Flyers (2025: 9th, 2024: 16th)

Improvement: +7

I loved what the Flyers did at the draft – it might be one that changes the team’s trajectory for the better. Porter Martone is one of my favorite prospects in hockey. Jack Nesbitt? I get the fit, even if I felt he was taken too early. Jack Murtagh, Shane Vansaghi and Carter Amico in the second could all prove to be good values. Did they focus a bit too much on size? Maybe, but I thought they drafted very well.

Philadelphia is set for another ugly season in 2025-26, but a handful of young prospects should see some NHL time. Don’t be surprised if Jett Luchanko, Oliver Bonk, Alex Bump and Nikita Grebenkin all start the year battling for NHL roster spots, with potentially all of them heading back down to either junior or Lehigh Valley before too long. The team has enough size to and tenacity to appease the Broad Street Bully faithful, and, maybe, it’ll speed the timeline up a little and maximize the Matvei Michkov era.

3. Boston Bruins (2025: 21st, 2024: 31st)

Improvement: +10

It’s easy to improve when you were already near the bottom already. Boston’s pipeline is far from deep, especially for a team that’s going to need to retool sooner rather than later. But drafting James Hagens seventh overall and trading for Fraser Minten and Will Zellers gave this team a huge jolt. The Bruins have a ton of depth down the middle, but adding Hagens to the fray makes them even more dynamic. They’ve got a bit of everything, from skill to speed to size.

Fabian Lysell is the one most Bruins fans will be keeping a close eye on. The 22-year-old has been around the block for nearly half a decade, so it’s time to see some legitimate improvement. Dans Locmelis, meanwhile, shot up the pipeline after a huge year in the NCAA, followed by a great season-ending performance with Latvia at the World Championship. The real wild card is Dean Letourneau, the 6-foot-7 power forward who had next to nothing to show for offensively last year. If he can find his game at Boston College, he’s going to look like an excellent pick at No. 25 in 2024.

2. Washington Capitals (2025: 8th, 2024: 19th)

Improvement: +11

At one point, the post-Alex Ovechkin era was looking bleak. However, not only did Ovi set back the clock and have a remarkable season, but the Capitals also had some massive seasons from some of their underrated prospects. Ryan Leonard and Andrew Cristall give the Capitals one high-end talent on both sides – with Leonard ready to make an impact as early as October. They also have one of the most exciting defensive prospects in Cole Hutson.

Add in massive improvements from Ilya Protas, some years from Ryan Chesley and Vincent Iorio, and the recent draft selections of Lynden Lakovic and Milton Gästrin, and there’s so much to love. They have size, skill, speed, and defensive acumen. The only thing they’re truly lacking is an impact goaltender, but they’ve already addressed that with the big club.

1. New York Islanders (2025: 6th, 2024: 25th)

Improvement: +19

The Islanders went from having one of the worst pipelines in the NHL to one of the most exciting in just a few months. It all started when the club traded veteran forward and top trade chip Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche in a deal that sent Calum Ritchie to the Island. Ritchie was a good start – but given their pipeline had very few other legitimate options, it wasn’t enough.

That all changed when they won the NHL Draft lottery, allowing them to take coveted defenseman Matthew Schaefer first overall. Earlier on draft day, the Islanders shipped out Noah Dobson to Montreal in a deal involving two first-round picks. They used them on Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson, giving them three prospects from Daily Faceoff’s top 120 draft list. That day alone changed everything, but they also had an excellent Day 2, to boot. The Islanders’ pipeline isn’t as deep as a few others above them in the 32-team ranking, but, suddenly, the future doesn’t look so bleak anymore.

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