Junior Hockey’s Rising Stars - Apr. 6th - Apr. 19th, 2026

WRITTEN BY JOSHUA BOYD

Each week, check back with The Dan K Show as Joshua Boyd breaks down the past week's top performances from 2007 and younger U.S. junior players (2008 and younger for USPHL Elite and EHL Premier). All statistics are taken from league sites; if there are any statistical errors, please contact the league in question.We are also now monitoring top performances by 2026 NHL Draft prospects, based on NHL Central Scouting rankings.

This week, catch up on the last two week’s of Junior Hockey action, as playoffs, semi-finals, and championships weekends helped to define and elevate the performances of young hockey players across the country

USHL on NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings 

Skater: Kent Sauer, Lincoln Stars, 2GP-1G-0A-1PT (92nd among NA Skaters) 

Goaltender: Tobias Trejbal, Youngstown Phantoms, 1GP-13 saves on 14 shots-OT Loss (3rd among NA goalies) 

USHL (April 12th-19th)

Graham Jones '07 jumped out to a strong start in the Fargo Force vs. Sioux City Musketeers series, posting a goal in the opening 4-1 win on April 18, and following that with two assists in Game 2 on April 19 for a 2-0 Force lead. Jones' 52 points in 61 games. His 26 goals led Fargo in the regular season, and put him in the top 15 overall in the league. Fargo originally drafted him in the 2023 Phase I Draft with their fifth round (67th overall) pick. In 2024, Jones committed to Boston College, more than a year before helping Shattuck-St. Mary's win the 2025 USA Hockey 18U National Championship. He also made his single-game USHL debut with Fargo in 2024-25. 

Fargo's Stepan Cerny '07 posted four assists during the two-game series, including on the Game 1 winner. Playing in his first North American season out of his native Czechia, he was tied for second in playoff assists after those two games. With 29 assists during the regular season, he led the Force blueliners, and he also added three goals for 32 points in 62 games. Hlinka was signed in the same summer of 2025 that he played in the Hlinka Gretzky Tournament with Czechia. 

The top 2007-and-younger performer for Sioux City early on was Shayne Gould '07, who produced three assists in the first two games against Fargo. He is tied for the team lead in scoring with five points through four games, including the Musketeers' first round two-game victory over Tri-City. Gould, a second-year Musketeer, finished the regular season with 12 goals and 39 assists for 51 points to lead all USHL defensemen in goals, assists and points. The UConn recruit and former Bishop Kearney Selects standout has 61 points in 110 career regular season games, plus six points in eight postseason games. 

Elsewhere, the Lincoln Stars' Charles Menard '07 stood tall for 69:35 to help his team pull out the Game 2 4-3 overtime win against Sioux Falls on April 19. He made 41 saves on 44 shots for his first junior playoff win. Over two games, his .921 save percentage ranks third in the USHL playoff stats. In 21 regular season games, Menard went 9-9-2-0 with a .910 save percentage. A Fairbanks, Alaska, native, Menard moved up to the USHL from his hometown Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the AHL. Last year, he went 17-6-3-0 and his 2.13 GAA was top 10 in the NAHL. 

USHL (April 6th-11th)

Madison started out with a big 2-0 sweep for the kickoff of their Clark Cup Playoffs run, and a big key to the win was defenseman Nolen Geerdes '07. The Western Michigan University recruit scored the GWG in Game 1 and the first goal in Game 2, and he also added an assist for a three-point stand. With three points in two games, he was one of the leading defensemen in the postseason early on. In his first full season out of Rogers (Minn.) High School, Geerdes put up 29 points in 61 games during the regular season. He had earlier played four USHL games in 2024-25 after finishing a 100-plus point career at Rogers. He was selected in the 2023 USHL Futures Draft (seventh round, 91st overall). 

Madison forward Tyden Bergeson '07 racked up three assists in the two-game series, including two on the game-winners. Bergeson joined the Capitols again this year after completing his high school career with Moorhead, including winning the Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award. He had played his first two USHL games last season. The Augustana University recruit scored 22 points in 23 games, splitting the season. He played only for Moorhead between December and February. He was originally selected in the 2024 USHL Entry Draft in the fourth round (54th overall). 

Melvin Novotny '07 did his part to push the Muskegon Lumberjacks to a first round sweep, as well. Novotny, a University of Massachusetts recruit, scored two goals in Game 1, including the winner, and added an assist in Game 2. Novotny finished in the Top 20 of the regular season scoring with 57 points in 48 games. Novotny was selected in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres (seventh round, 195th overall), after he finished playing with Leksands IF H20 in his native Sweden. 

Jack Fichthorn '07 was selected for the Game 1 start for the Sioux City Musketeers, and came up with an OT win, stopping 29 of 32 saves. A first-year USHL player from Westminster Prep, Fichthorn earned 13 wins as a rookie junior goalie, certainly a plus for his future team, the Sacred Heart University Pioneers. 

On a side note, three 2007-born goaltenders - Michal Pradel, Tobias Trejbal and Leo Henriquez - were all named as the three finalists for the USHL Goaltender Of The Year award. All have been frequently highlighted in this column over the duration of the season. Congrats and best of luck to all.  

NAHL (April 12th-19th)

Happy to spotlight three NAHL rookies who scored game-winning goals for their teams. 

Sacred Heart University recruit Matt Portz '08 joined the Rochester Jr. Americans in March after originally playing in November. In between, he played with the Woodbridge Wolfpack 18U team. Portz scored the game-winner on April 18, the first goal in a 3-0 win for Rochester over the Northeast Generals. Portz had one assist in 11 regular season games, plus the aforementioned goal in two playoff games. Portz previously represented the Long Island Gulls in the USA Hockey Nationals. Rochester led the Northeast Generals 2-0 in their series. 

Mark Evans '07 scored the third goal for a 3-0 lead in Game 2 for Bismarck against Aberdeen on April 18, and that stood up as the GWG helping to fend off elimination in a 3-2 final and a 2-0 series score. Evans has a 1-1-2 line in two games, after a strong 53 points in 57 games in the regular season. Additionally, Evans made a two-game appearance in the USHL with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, who drafted him in the 2025 Phase II Draft (13th round, 215th overall). Evans is a Robert Morris University recruit, and a three-time USA Hockey Nationals competitor with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite organization.

Nolan Wildfong '08 made his debut in the NAHL in 2024-25 with one game, but returned for the full season for the Lone Star Brahmas this year. A two-time USA Hockey Nationals participant with the Dallas Stars Elite, he scored the Game 1 game-winner for the Brahmas over the Shreveport Mudbugs. During the 2025-26 regular season, Wildfong registered a 1-2-3 line in 23 games. 

The Brahmas' Brady Krey '07 was fantastic in net in both Brahmas wins so far, stopping 46 of 48 shots along the way. This included 27 of 28 shots stopped in Game 1. Krey split this past regular season between the Brahmas and the USHL's Madison Capitols (they drafted him in the Phase II Draft of 2025, fifth round, 69th overall). He played in eight games with Madison, going 3-4-0-0. With Lone Star, he went 9-2-0-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 1.96 GAA. Krey is a former Northstar Christian Academy goaltender, winning 23 games there in 2024-25. 

NAHL (April 6th-11th)

Mack Diggins '08 helped his Fairbanks Ice Dogs finish the regular season on the winning side, finishing with a 2-3-5 line on April 10-11. His 1-3-4 line on April 10 was a season-and career-best, leading him to finish his first regular season with 47 points in 58 games, the second-best points total for a 2008-born NAHL player this season. Diggins was a regular with Team Wisconsin through the meat of his later youth career. He will now move on to the Ontario Hockey League's Owen Sound Attack for 2026-27, having signed with the Attack in March. 

Ice Dogs defenseman Clarke Nehmens '07 also had a fantastic end to the regular season, capping with four assists on his final weekend. He registered a total of seven points in his final four games to finish with 30 points in 59 games, leading all Ice Dogs blueliners in scoring. Nehmens, recently a regular in this column, joined the Ice Dogs after winning the 2024-25 USA Hockey 18U National Championship with Shattuck-St. Mary's. Nehmens was the Ice Dogs' first round pick (15th overall) in the 2024 NAHL Entry Draft. 

William-Alexis Tremblay '07 became one of the Shreveport Mudbugs' most productive players at the end of the season, scoring seven points in his final four regular season contests. He carried that heat into the start of the playoffs, putting up a 1-3-4 line in two wins against the Corpus Christi IceRays, and helping to advance them into the South Division semifinals. Tremblay, a former QMJHL player, put up 22 points in 57 regular season games for the Mudbugs. 

Providence College recruit Ethan Phillips '07 was in net for Shreveport for the full series, stopping 66 of 69 shots for a .957 save percentage. Phillips was one of just four goaltenders league-wide with two wins so far in the early stages of the Robertson Cup playoffs. Phillips' 2.15 GAA was good for Top 10 in the NAHL this past season, and his .929 save percentage was good for the top five. Over two seasons in the NAHL, Phillips has won 14 games and racked up a .940 save percentage between playoffs and the regular season. 

NCDC (April 12th-19th)

Gabriel Iervella '08 was a huge help to the Grand Junction River Hawks in their drive to the 2026 Dineen Cup Championship series (which begins Friday, April 24). Iervella had three assists between the River Hawks' games of April 13-14, both of which were losses to the Utah Outliers. He was unavailable for the River Hawks' clinching win on April 17. Overall, Iervella had four assists through eight playoff games, after registering 23 points in 36 regular season games. He also played two USPHL Premier games this year, scoring two points for the eventual repeat National Champion Vernal Oilers. Iervella made his junior debut in 2024-25 with one game for the AJHL's Calgary Canucks, after earlier playing with the Calgary IHA 18U team. 

On the other side of that matchup, Valters Budenieks '07 led all Utah Outliers defensemen in playoff scoring with five points in eight games. He scored his team's only goal in their season-ending 2-1 loss on April 17, and also had an assist in Utah's Game 3 win. In the regular season, Budenieks scored 13 points in 50 regular season games. He played last year for the Westchester Express 18U team, and also made his junior debut as part of a five-game stand with the EHL's New York Apple Core. 

Artur Ovsepyan '08 finished fourth among 2008-born NCDC players in points per game with a 0.8 average, with 16 points in 20 games. During the playoffs, he's even better with a 0.88 average, with seven points in eight games. He closed the Jr. Islanders' Eastern Conference Finals series with a goal and an assist in the deciding Game 3, which they won 4-1 to earn their spot in Idaho Falls at the Dineen Cup Finals. 

The season didn't end the way John Gazzola '07 would have liked, but he played fantastic through the playoffs for the Jersey Hitmen. He put up a 3-3-0-0 record with a .921 save percentage, following a massive .938 showing in the regular season. That places him in the single season Top 10 for the Hitmen, and he is the youngest in the Top 10 (current Canisius goalie and Washington draft pick Chase Clark was six days older at age 18 at the start of his Hitmen season). His 22 wins are tied for second all-time in the Hitmen's history, and again he's the youngest in that category. Gazzola joined from the Hitmen's own 18U program and he was a longtime Hitmen youth product. 

NCDC (April 6th-11th)

The P.A.L. Jr. Islanders will be one of four teams playing in the Dineen Cup Championship Series April 24-28. They will also be the youngest team there, with an average age of 19 years and 94 days old. Three of their younger players - Nico Bromley '07, Eric He '07 and Artur Ovsepyan '08 - played key roles in getting them to the final round in Idaho Falls. 

Ovsepyan, who played 25 games with the USPHL Premier Jr. Islanders this year, was second in team scoring in the playoffs with seven points (2-5-7) after eight games. He scored a goal and two assists during the three playoff games played in the week in question (and he added a goal and an assist on April 13, in the game that clinched the Jr. Isles' spot in Idaho). With the NCDC team, Ovsepyan scored 16 points in 20 games. 

Ovsepyan set up the game-winning goal by Bromley in Game 2, and Bromley also earned a goal in Game 1. Bromley, a former Mount St. Charles Academy product, scored 21 points in 54 regular season games, and he has four points after eight playoff games. 

Eric He joined the Jr. Islanders in January, after playing games earlier in the season in the OHL and OJHL. He scored the overtime game-winning goal in Game 1 against the Hitmen and also added an assist in that contest. During the regular season, He scored six points in nine games, and he had three points through six playoff games. 

EHL (April 12th-19th)

The Seahawks Hockey Club emerged as the 2025-26 EHL Champion. On board during the Seahawks' playoff run was one 2007-and-younger player in Easton Gates '07. Gates registered an assist on the first goal of the Finals, and he would finish with a 1-1-2 line in nine postseason games. During the regular season, Gates posted nine points in 43 games, joining after completing his prep career with Northfield Mt. Hermon in 2024-25.

EHL (April 6th-11th)

We're not going to change this record, because the two former Prout School teammates just kept getting the job done for HC Rhode Island, right up to the end. Forward Aiden Forcier '07 and goaltender Angelo Evangelista '07 worked hard, but ultimately fell in the Mid-Atlantic Conference championships. Forcier scored a goal and an assist in the deciding Game 2, factoring on both of his team's goals in a 3-2 loss. Evangelista stopped 38 of 41 shots in the final game. Forcier was third in regular season EHL scoring with 77 points, and he also stands at third in postseason scoring with 12 points through six games. At 2-1-0-0, Evangelista was second in GAA in the playoffs with a 1.34. 

EHL Premier (April 6th-11th)

Likewise, Mason Ballard '08 was the only one from his birth year (or younger) on the EHLP Championship team, the New Hampshire Jr. Avalanche. Ballard registered an assist in the clinching game on April 18, and finished the playoffs with a 1-3-4 line in eight games. Ballard split this year between the Avs' EHLP team and their 18U squad, also scoring a playoff goal for that squad in the United Tier 1 Hockey League playoffs. He scored 10 points in 13 games in the regular season. He played in 2024-25 with both the Hanover Wild Midget team and Lebanon-Stevens High School in western New Hampshire. 

The runner-up New Jersey 87's featured the playoffs' second-highest scorer in Tomass Vekselis '08, who finished with 13 points in eight games. This included a 1-3-4 line, including points in each of the three games, and a goal in the deciding match. Vekselis finished the regular season - his first in North America from his native Latvia - with 59 points in 42 games, good for eighth overall. 

High marks also to the 87's defenseman Liam Magovern '08, who put up a 1-2-3 line in the final two games on April 17-18. He scored all five of his playoff points in the last three games, played between April 12-18. His only goal, on April 17, was assisted by Vekselis. Magovern split his season between the 87's EHLP and their 18U team, playing 16 EHLP games and scoring nine points. In his second season with the 18U squad, he scored nine points in 24 Tier 1 Hockey Federation games. 

EHL Premier (April 12th-19th)

Tomass Vekselis '08 has been every bit the leader that the New Jersey 87's were hoping for in helping his team push to the EHL Premier Championship series, which began April 16. Vekselis produced a 3-4-7 line in the team's two wins in the semifinals against the Atlantic City Seals, a comeback series win after falling in Game 1.  At 10 points in six games, Vekselis was second in EHLP playoff scoring. He scored the game-winning goal, among a 2-1-3 performance on April 11 to tie the series, and then posted a 1-3-4 line on April 12 to clinch the 87's spot in the finals. With 59 points in 42 regular season games, he finished eighth in league scoring prior to the playoffs.