Junior Hockey’s Rising Stars - Feb. 9th - Feb. 15th, 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.
Junior Hockey's Rising Stars
Games of Feb. 9-15, 2026
Top 3 USHL NHL Draft-Eligible Performances (NA Skater Rank)
1. Bode Laylin, Tri-City Storm, 2GP-3G-2A-5PTS (103)
2. Evan Jardine, Youngstown Phantoms, 3GP-1G-3A-4PTS (155)
3. Cooper Soller, Sioux Falls Stampede, 3GP-2G-1A-3PTS (163)
USHL
Tri-City Storm defenseman Bode Laylin '07 sent home three goals - including an OT game-winner on Feb. 15 - and added two assists last week, giving him five points over two games for the second time in his career. It was also his second time since Jan. 30-31. Both of his game-winners this year are OT winners, also scoring the big one on Jan. 30. Laylin improved to 32 points in 41 games, ranking third among USHL defensemen in points. In this, his third USHL season, he has 51 points in 109 games. Laylin, a University of St. Thomas recruit, was drafted by the Storm in the 2023 USHL Phase I Draft (sixth round, 79th overall) and joined from Northstar Christian Academy's 16U team.
Another defenseman in Shayne Gould '07 was among the week's USHL leaders, as he put up a 1-3-4 line in two games. The top scorer among USHL defensemen, the Sioux City Musketeers blueliner now has 45 points in 45 games. Posting two points in two straight games gave him his fourth instance of multiple points in back-to-back games. His 45 points are also more than four times the 10 points he posted in 2024-25. The University of Connecticut recruit joined the USHL from Bishop Kearney Selects, with whom he made back-to-back Nationals appearances.
Caden Dabrowski '08 was selected in 2025 by the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL Phase I Draft, and he has paid immediate dividends this year. He has scored five of his eight total goals in his last three games, including three combined on Feb. 14 and 16. With 22 points in 34 games, he is ninth in USHL rookie scoring and he is committed to Merrimack College. He joined the Fighting Saints from the Chicago Mission.
Roberto Leonardo Henriquez '07 is the USHL's No. 1 goaltender in goals against average (2.00) and save percentage (.926). Playing for the Green Bay Gamblers. He put an exclamation point on all of this with back-to-back shutouts of 22 and 21 saves Feb. 13-14. The shutouts were his first two of the season and for his two-year career. The two wins also pushed him over .500 for his career, as his 14 wins this year have helped lift him to 18-16-1-3 in 44 career appearances. Henriquez, a member of Slovakia's World Junior Championship team, has been with Green Bay since a January 2025 call-up from Anchorage of the NAHL. Prior to that season, he was a regular in the storied HC Slovan Bratislava program and he'll be moving on to the University of New Hampshire after his junior career.
NAHL
Briggs Knott '07 is, like the USHL's Henriquez, a great in-season call-up success story. Knott's happened this season, as he was moved up from the NA3HL's Rochester Grizzlies to the NAHL's Minot Minotauros. Knott scored a 1-3-4 line to improve to 24 points in 30 NAHL games this year. He scored four points in two games for the second straight time. Knott played last year for Bemidji (Minn.) High School and also played in the Minnesota Elite high school league for Team Spade.
His Minotauros teammate Philip Wiklund '07 also had a strong weekend, with a 1-2-3 line in his two games. At 28 points in 37 games for the season, Wiklund is second for Minot in scoring, and he recently played in the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament. Wiklund was selected in the 2025 NAHL Draft (fifth round, 75th overall) by Minot, coming out of his native Sweden's Vasteras IK J18 team.
On defense, the Corpus Christi IceRays' Nicholas Evans '07 contributed a goal and two assists to a pair of one-goal wins for the IceRays over Feb. 13-14. Evans leads the IceRays defensemen with 24 points in 40 games in this, his first junior season since joining from Kimball Union Academy.
Mason Gudridge '07 was no sweetheart to his opponents on Valentine's Day, stopping all 40 shots for a shutout victory, one day after an OT win where he made 28 saves on 31 shots, giving him 68 saves on 71 shots in about 48 hours. Gudridge is 4-1-1-0 going back to Jan. 24 with two of his shutouts in that span. The second-year Watertown Shamrocks goalie Gudridge is enjoying his best season, going 14-8-1-1 with a .924 save percentage and 2.57 GAA, and he is 19-5-1-1 overall. Gudridge joined Watertown last year from the Little Caesars 18U program.
NCDC
Brycen Wood '08 remains on a tear, posting a 2-3-5 line in two games, including a season-and career-best 2-2-4 mark on February 14. Wood posted 13 points over seven straight games between Jan. 31 and Feb. 15, and he now has 19 points in 17 games in his young NCDC career for the Connecticut Jr. Rangers.
Anthony Roy '08 stands as the leading scorer in the league, and he pushed his points total to 54, tying with Utica's Josh Galizia with that total. Roy scored a line of 3-5-8 in just three games between Feb. 13-15. Roy is having a huge first junior season after moving over from Quebec AAA hockey with College Notre-Dame Albatros.
Giulio Torriero '07 is new to the Northern Cyclones crease since January, and in his second appearance, he put up a fantastic showing of 40 saves on 41 shots on Feb. 14 at the South Shore Kings Presidents Day Showcase. Torriero is a former West Chester Wolves player who made three USA Hockey Nationals appearances with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite between 2022 and 2024.
EHL
Ernests Muska '07 has enjoyed a great February so far, with two points in three straight games for six points, including a 3-1-4 line Feb. 13-14. Muska is a top 10 scorer in the EHL, with 54 points in 37 games. Among 2007 or younger players, he is second only to his HC Rhode Island teammate Aiden Forcier '07 (60 points in 37 games). He is in his first North American season, having joined from HS Falcons in his home country of Latvia.
On defense, HC Rhode Island's Jack Fraser '07 also enjoyed a four-point weekend, improving to second among EHL blueliners with 33 points in 34 games. He's also the top 2007 or younger defenseman in points. His only goal of the weekend was the Valentine's Day OT game-winner. No other EHL defenseman has four game-winners, Fraser's total. He was with Norwich HC's 18U AAA team prior to his EHL stint.
Speaking of Aiden Forcier '07, he stayed consistent with three assists over the same two games, improving to 60 points and scoring in every 2026 game so far. That is a point streak of 21 points in 12 games.
A former Prout School (of Rhode Island) teammate of Forcier, Angelo Evangelista '07 stopped 49 of 53 shots for a pair of wins to keep HC Rhode Island comfortably in the lead of the Central Division. Evangelista is in the Top 10 for wins with 10 on the season.
USPHL Premier
Mikita Amelka '07 was monstrous for the first-year Chicago T-Rex, doubling his previous best in goals by posting four and adding two more assists. He also had a 1-3-4 line in the prior game for 10 points in two contests Feb. 14-15, improving to 24 points in 18 games.
Demetry Inglis '07 broke out for a 4-1-5 line on Feb. 14, followed a day later by a three-assist game for eight points over three games Feb. 13-15. Inglis is the leading scorer for the first-year Hanna Havoc in the new Alberta Division.
Brady Lane '07 scored his four-goal game on Feb. 10, and he added another assist for a five-point effort for the Tampa Bay Juniors. Lane is second for the Juniors in scoring with 40 points in 37 games. Lane crested above the 100-point mark as a high school player for Cedarburg (Wis.) High School prior to joining TBJ.
Trevor Walmsley '07 registered his third shutout of the season and second since Jan. 31 when he stopped all 21 shots he faced on Feb. 14. Playing for the South Shore Kings, Walmsley improved to 9-2-0-0 in his first USPHL Premier season, after advancing up from last year's USPHL Elite and the Potomac Patriots.
NA3HL
The New Mexico IceWolves' Hunzeker Piersimoni '07 absolutely busted out for a 4-5-9 weekend, between Feb. 12-14, culminating in a season-and career-best five-point effort on Valentine's Day with a pair of goals and a trio of assists. Piersimoni improved to 29 points in 41 games for this first junior season. He came on board from the Soo Indians 18U AAA program.
Usual suspect Emerson LaRoche '07 has been himself, matching Piersimoni with nine points in three games, including his 50th goal of the season. He now has a 50-66-116 line to rank third in the NA3HL. The 50th came as part of a 2-1-3 night on Feb. 14, one of three three-point nights in a row. His current point streak is at seven games producing 21 points. LaRoche came to the Louisiana Drillers this year from Minnetonka (Minn.) High School.
Defenseman Kadyn Garcia '07, a Drillers teammate of LaRoche, scored two goals and five assists for seven points in two games during the same Feb. 12-14 stretch. He improved to 27 points in 22 games. He's also played this year in the VIJHL and NCDC, after coming over from the 2024-25 Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings of the USPHL Premier.
Playing in his first game for the Texas Jr. Brahmas after a trade, Jacob Brumm '07 registered a 27-save shutout on Feb. 13. This was Brumm's second shutout of the season, earlier stopping all 37 shots in a game for the Wilmar Warhawks. Between the two teams, Brumm is 6-5-1-0 with a .911 save percentage. He previously played for the Henderson Force in the USPHL Premier and the Omaha Mastery 18U AAA team.
USPHL Elite
Jackson Milne '09 is leading his Connecticut Jr. Rangers team in scoring and is one of only two 2009-born players in the USPHL Elite's Top 20 of scoring, joining Tampa Bay's Chandler Moore in that respect. On Feb. 14, he scored his second hat trick of the season, which included the OT winner (and added an assist). He put together a one-week line of 5-3-8 in three games. Overall, that saw him improve to 52 points in 40 games, after joining this year from the Island Hockey Club in Canada's Junior Prospects Hockey League.
His Jr. Rangers' teammate Chase Foy '08 scored four goals and added two assists for six points in three games. He also had a hat trick, which came on Feb. 11, including the game-winner. Foy, who has also played for the Jr. Rangers' 18U team this year, has scored 23 points in 24 Elite games.
Rohnan Burke '08 played just one game last week, on Valentine's Day, but he made it count for the Springfield Pics. He scored 2-2-4 to give himself 32 points in 33 games, giving him a share of the team lead in scoring for the Pics. He's also played in USPHL Premier games for the Pics this year, as well as playing for the Norwich Hockey Club AAA program. He has played much of his career - including 16U and 15U hockey - for the Pics.
On Feb. 11, Foster Lavallee '08 registered his first junior shutout with 27 saves. Lavallee plays for the Atlanta Madhatters, and he improved to six wins on the season. He previously played for the North Bay Trappers AAA team.
EHL Premier
Leading scorer Dominic Moushon '08 has been on a four-game streak of scoring two goals in each of those contests. For the Feb. 14-15 weekend, the New Jersey Bears forward went 4-1-5, including a regulation GWG in a 4-3 win on Feb. 15. Moushon now leads the EHL Premier with 30 goals and 74 points in 31 games, and he continues to play for North Hunterdon (N.J.) High School.
Larry Miller III '08 posted three assists and he stands first overall in Philadelphia Little Flyers scoring with 31 points in 28 games, and the only '08 on his team with double digits in points. He still plays for the Berks Beast high school team in Pennsylvania, and is also a product of the Palmyra Black Knights program.