Junior Hockey’s Rising Stars - Dec. 29, 2025-Jan. 4, 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.
Games of Dec. 29, 2025-Jan. 4, 2026
USHL
Bridging 2025 and 2026, we had some of our "usual suspects" performing best among the 2007 and younger standouts in the nation's top junior league.
On defense, Shayne Gould '07 remains No. 1 in points by all USHL defensemen, scoring 32 points through 33 games. This includes five assists in the two games of Jan. 2-3. The five points over back-to-back games is a two-game career best for Gould, who has been with the Sioux City Musketeers since 2024-25. He's on an active six-game scoring streak, with 11 points scored in that stretch back to Dec. 12. His 32 points are more than triple the 10 points he scored in 50 points last season. Gould is committed to the University of Connecticut, and he made three straight USA Hockey Nationals appearances at the 14U, 15U and 16U levels between 2022 and 2024 for the Rhode Island Saints (14U) and Bishop Kearney Selects (15-16U).
Also showing 32 points for this season is forward Brent Solomon '07, a Sioux Falls Stampede forward and 2025 Detroit Red Wings draft pick. His 31 points in 27 games have him in the top 20 for scoring in the USHL, and his recent output includes a 3-2-5 line in three games played between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. Solomon hit three points on New Year's Eve for the third time this season. A 2024 USHL Draft pick by Sioux Falls, Solomon is committed to the University of Wisconsin.
Third-year USHL veteran Cooper Simpson '07, a Boston Bruins Draft Pick, was up to new tricks for the Youngstown Phantoms. He scored multiple goals in back-to-back games for the first time with two goals on each of Jan. 2 and 3. He pushed his goals total to 17, which puts him in the top 10, while his 43 points are good for second in the USHL. The University of North Dakota recruit more than doubled the point totals of his first two seasons combined (21 points in 40 games).
Quinn Beumer '09 made his USHL debut on Dec. 31, coming in on relief for the Tri-City Storm and making 11 saves on 12 shots. A 2025 USHL Phase I Draft pick of the Storm, Beumer made his first start on Jan. 3 and earned his first win with 33 saves on 34 shots, giving him 44 saves on 46 shots for his first two appearances. Beumer is in his third season with Mount St. Charles Academy, playing with their 16U team this year, and he made Nationals appearances with "The Mount" at the 14U (2024) and 15U (2025) levels, winning both.
NAHL
Jeremiah Roberts '07 is on a tear, putting together a four-game point streak dating back to Dec. 26 through Jan. 3. For the first two games of 2026 on Jan. 2-3, he registered a line of 2-4-6, and the scoring streak line is at 2-7-9. Roberts joined the Shreveport Mudbugs in November, and now has 16 points in 16 games. Prior to his time in the NAHL, he spent two seasons in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels and Wenatchee Wild.
On Jan. 3, Chase Nehring '07 put up a season-and career-best with a 1-3-4 line. He also added an assist on Jan. 2 for five points in the first two games of the new year. He currently has 21 points in 32 games, and his 12 goals lead the Corpus Christi Ice Rays. Nehring has a pair of USA Hockey Golds already, winning the Prep Nationals in 2024, and the Tier 1 Under-18 Championships last year, both with Shattuck-St. Mary's.
A pair of Bismarck Bobcats had identical 2-3-5 lines in their last three games. Cooper Williams '07 has been frequently mentioned in this space, not surprising as the Lake Superior State recruit is a top 10 scorer and ranks second in goals with 24. He now has 43 points in 31 games. Williams played in the BCHL in 2024-25.
Williams' teammate Camden Alemond '08 extended his scoring streak to 10 games going back to Nov. 26, with 17 of his 34 points produced in that stretch. He joined the Bobcats this year after multiple seasons with the St. Louis AAA Blues.
NCDC
Artur Ovsepyan '08 has been making it quite obvious the call-up from the USPHL Premier to the NCDC's P.A.L. Jr. Islanders was the right move. In just his second and third games in the NCDC, Ovsepyan scored four goals and added one assist, giving him five points through three NCDC games, along with 34 points in 25 USPHL Premier games for P.A.L. Ovsepyan is in his second USPHL season, playing last year for the WBS Knights' USPHL Elite and Premier teams. He has also played this year for the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes 18U team before joining P.A.L. in October.
His NCDC teammate Nico Bromley '07 was feeling very generous over the weekend, notching four assists in two games. This included a three-assist game to give him his second game of three points or better this season and 12 points through 28 games. Bromley was previously with Mount St. Charles Academy, and appeared with Mount St. Charles at the 15U Nationals in 2022-23.
A former NCDC Futures Draft pick of the Jersey Hitmen, the projections on David Ambuhl '07 turned out to be right - and then some. Ambuhl is leading the Hitmen in 2025-26 in assists with 21 and he's tied for second in points with 30 through 22 games. He played the past two years with the Millbrook School and also competed in the 2025 USA Hockey 18U Nationals with the Northern Connecticut Nor'Easters.
Hayden DeMaso '08 was again the right answer in net for the Pueblo Bulls in this, his first junior season. Originally selected first overall in the NCDC Phase I Entry Draft last spring by the Grand Junction River Hawks, DeMaso has put up a .935 save percentage in 13 games, ranking in the top 10 league-wide for that category among goalies with at least 10 appearances. On Jan. 3, he gave up just one goal on 35 shots in an eventual 1-0 loss to the defending Dineen Cup Champion Idaho Falls Spud Kings. He has given up two goals or fewer in eight of his 13 appearances this year. DeMaso joined the Bulls from Fox Motors AAA.
EHL
The EHL returned from break on Jan. 3 with two games, but no 2007 or younger players had any more than one point in one game. We'll roll those games into next week's review for a larger sample size. The same applies to the EHL Premier for this week.
USPHL Premier
With one game in the new year, William Sjobeck '07 doubled his previous single game best for the season (three points) when he put up a 2-4-6 line on Jan. 4. Playing for the WBS Knights in his first North American season out of Sweden, Sjobeck ranked fourth in team scoring with 25 points in 26 games. Including a three-point game before the holiday break, he has nine points in his last two games. Sjobeck joined the Knights from Sweden's Nybro Vikings and Denmark's Odense programs.
In the same Jan. 4 game for WBS, Arnaud Roberge '07 put up four assists, notching his third game of four or more points since Dec. 7. Roberge, who joined WBS from Ulysse Academie Prep in his native Quebec, led the Knights with 40 points in 29 games this season.
James Mirigliano '08 is another player on a recent hot streak, putting up four assists in a single game on Jan. 4 for the Mercer Chiefs, part of a four-game point streak that has seen him score nine points since Dec. 16. Mirigliano was fourth in Chiefs scoring with 27 points in 16 games, and his 1.44 points per game average ranked third for Mercer. Mirigliano started the season with the Pennsylvania Huntsmen of the EHL, and is currently splitting his time between the Chiefs and the Berks Beast high school team in his native Pennsylvania. He was with the Huntsmen's 18U and EHL Premier teams last year, in addition to the Berks Beast.
Christophe Martin '08 registered his best non-shutout performance of the season with a 39-save performance on 40 shots on Jan. 3 for the Mercer Chiefs. He had earlier in the season recorded a 12-save shutout on Nov. 22. Martin joined from Somang Hockey, where he saw time at both the 18U level and in USPHL Elite games, as well. He has played in 16 Premier games this year, and gotten into an NCDC contest for Mercer briefly on Dec. 6 to share a shutout.
NA3HL
Christian Plaga '07 enjoyed his second two-goal and second three-point game on Jan. 3, helping him to a current three-game, six-point scoring streak, after he also had a 1-1-2 line on Jan. 2. For the Mason City Toros, Plaga had 36 points in 29 games, putting him at second in team scoring. Plaga is a newcomer to the NA3HL this year from Shattuck-St. Mary's, where he played going back to 2022-23, when he was a teammate of Chase Nehring for that season and at the 15U Nationals.
On Jan. 3, two-year Minnesota Moose forward Charlie Marchand '07 scored his first career hat trick. In doing so, he pushed his points per game above the 1.00 mark with 31 points in 30 games thus far this season. He had 41 points in 49 career regular season and playoff games in the NA3HL. He played for the Moose in 2024-25 on either side of his high school hockey season with Hermantown (Minn.)
Badlands Sabres goalie Parker Kelly '07 earned his fourth win in five appearances (going back to Nov. 21) when he stopped 27 of 28 shots on Nov. 3. Even in the one loss over that stretch, he was strong with 32 saves on 35 shots. He has improved to a 5-2-0-0 record with a .918 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA. Kelly is in his first season out of Crookston (Minn.) High School.
USPHL Elite
Kristopher Funk '08 has been on fire recently for the Chicago Crush Elite squad, scoring his first five-point game of the season on Jan. 3. He also supplied his team with a 1-1-2 line one day earlier for seven points in his first two 2026 games. He now has 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points in 42 USPHL Elite games. Funk previously played for the Northwest Chargers in the Central States Developmental League (CSDHL).
His Crush teammate Alex Yakimenka '08 was also having a good two-game run with a 2-4-6 line over Jan. 2-3. Yakimenka improved to 26 points in 36 Elite games this year. He also earned a two-game call-up to the Premier Crush in December. Originally from Minsk, Belarus, he previously played in the Chicago area for the West Dundee Leafs in the CSDHL.
Playing three games in two days did nothing to slow down Alessandro Calandriello '08, as he posted two goals and six assists for eight points in that Jan. 3-4 stretch. This forms the back three of an active six-game scoring streak that started on Dec. 12 and produced 14 of his 38 points for the first-year Montreal Knights. He joined the Knights from the Laval/Montreal Rousseau U17 team in Quebec's Midget AAA league.
A newcomer to the Florida Jr. Blades this year, Brady Lunger '08 had his best performance in net this season with 22 saves on 23 shots on Jan. 4 at the USPHL Tampa Showcase. Over his last four games, Lunger has a .908 save percentage, improving on his overall season stats.