Junior Hockey’s Rising Stars - Mar. 2nd - Mar. 8th, 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.
Games of March 2-8
USHL On NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings (North American Skater Ranking)
1. Wyatt Cullen, F, U.S. NTDP Under-18, 2GP-1G-3A-4PTS (23rd)
2. Evan Jardine, F, Youngstown Phantoms, 3GP-2G-2A-4PTS (155th)
3. David Bosco, F, Cedar Rapids Roughriders, 2GP-2G-1A-3PTS (182nd)
USHL Goaltender on NHL Central Scouting North American Goaltender Mid-Term Rankings
1. Luke Carrithers, U.S. NTDP Under-18, 1GP-28 saves/29 shots-.966 save %-Win (25th)
USHL
The Washington Capitals project to have a very special prospect in the Chicago Steel's Jackson Crowder '07, who just completed his 100th career regular season USHL game on March 8, part of a three-game weekend. He hit his career high in Game No. 98, with a five-point (1-4-5) performance on March 6. He also turned out three points on March 7 for eight points over three games. For his season, he now has a team-leading 44 points in 40 games, and in 100 games, he has 68 points. A former Dallas Stars Elite AAA player, Crowder was selected in the 2023 USHL Phase I Draft. (seventh round, 96th overall). Now an Ohio State recruit, he was also selected by the Capitals in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft (fifth round, 155th overall).
Crowder's Steel teammate Timothy Kazda '08 has NHL scouts excited for when he becomes eligible in the 2027 Draft. The Boston College recruit recently posted three points in back-to-back games for the first time, setting a career-high with a 2-1-3 line on March 7, and matching that with a 1-2-3 on March 8. A native of Slovakia, Kazda has posted 31 points through 50 games in his first full USHL season. He was drafted by Chicago in the 2024 Phase I Draft (third round, 35th overall) from the Seacoast Performance Academy and committed that same year to BC.
The Steel had a great start to March with three straight wins, and defenseman Marco Senerchia '07 was another big part to that success. He posted four points over three games March 6-8, including a career-best two-point showing on March 8. The Providence College recruit has improved to 20 points in 51 games this year (and 21 points in 57 career games). Senerchia was selected in the 2024 USHL Draft by Chicago with their ninth round selection (127th overall), selected out of St. George's School in his native Rhode Island.
Cash Cruitt '08 stopped all 27 shots he faced for his first USHL shutout on March 5 for the Madison Capitols. This first season out of Andover (Minn.) High School has also seen Cruitt commit to Quinnipiac Universty, back in December. He was selected in the 2024 USHL Draft by Madison with their 10th round pick (146th overall).
NAHL
For the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Mack Diggins '08 has been a hot hand lately - he had goals in three straight games and six points over a still active four-game point streak. For his March 7-8 games, he posted a 1-3-4 line to hop over the 40-point mark with 41 points in 50 games. Diggins was a longtime Team Wisconsin standout before joining the Ice Dogs, playing with that organization at the 2023 USA Hockey 14U Nationals.
Also getting the job done in Alaska is Anchorage Wolverines forward Chase Trompeter '08. Trompeter recently improved to 30 points in 40 games after a run of four points in two games (1-3-4) over March 6-7. Trompeter is a Western Michigan University recruit from the St. Louis AAA Blues, who was also drafted by the USHL Green Bay Gamblers in 2024 (10th round, 147th overall). He's played five games with the Gamblers since the 2024-25 season.
Defenseman Denny Oh '07 picked up three points over two games for the Oklahoma Warriors. A longtime Yale Hockey Academy standout originally born in South Korea, Oh now has 17 points in 32 games in this, his first junior season. He was an All-Star in the CSSHL 18U league last year, and he represented South Korea in the 2025 World Under-18 Championships Division 1 Group B tournament.
In goal, hats off to Andrew McLouth '08, the Kenai River Brown Bears goaltender who registered his first career junior shutout on March 6, making 28 saves for the doughnut. McLouth has six wins for Kenai River this year, and he's also appeared in a game with the U.S. National Under-18 Team. He played in the 2024 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge with the NTDP U-17 squad. Prior to his junior career, he played for Victory Honda AAA's 18U team in 2024-25.
NCDC
Anthony Roy '07 essentially lives here now. The NCDC's leading scorer (by more than a dozen points, mind you) scored 11 points in four games between March 2-6. This includes back-to-back 1-3-4 lines March 5-6. His line for the week was 2-9-11 and pushed him to 75 points in 50 games. A veteran of Quebec's AAA league with College Notre-Dame Albatros, he was drafted by Universel Quebec in 2025 in the NCDC Entry Draft (eighth round, 174th overall). The Moncton Wildcats also drafted him back in 2023 in the QMJHL Draft (eighth round, 133rd overall).
Kinnick Kehoe '07 was the biggest goal-scorer among 2007-and-younger NCDCers this past week, scoring four goals - including one OT winner - for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. He also had two assists on March 6 for six points over three consecutive games between March 2-7. He has 14 goals to rank second on the Knights roster, and 23 points in 45 games. Kehoe was a Knights 2025 NCDC Draft selection (third round, 78th overall) from the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals 18U AAA team, and he was playing there briefly this season before making the permanent jump to the Knights for the season.
Since joining the Mercer Chiefs in February from the NAHL, defenseman Tyler Rothstein '07 has made a great impact on his new team. He scored the game-winner on March 6 and also added an assist that day and on March 7 for three points in three games between March 6-8. He now has seven points in 10 NCDC games. He is a former Jersey Hitmen 18U AAA player.
Goaltender Blake McMenimen '07 has won 17 games, and he picked up his first shutout on March 6. He stopped all 24 shots he faced to improve to 17-4-2-1 on the season for the Islanders Hockey Club. A former Islanders youth goalie, he was selected by the NCDC team in the Futures Draft of 2024 (second round, 35th overall) while at Kimball Union Academy. In August 2025, he made his NCAA commitment to the U.S. Military Academy.
EHL
Brody Murray '07 was one of a few strong Valley Jr. Warriors players helping his team to a couple early wins at the Broad Street Showcase in Pennsylvania. Murray scored a 2-1-3 line on March 7, his second three-point game in three outings, and then he also scored a goal on March 8 for four points in three games. Seven of his 14 total points (through 20 games) have come in his last five games. Murray had also played for the Springfield Pics in the USPHL Premier and NCDC earlier this season and is a product of the Long Island Arrows program.
His teammate Jacob Macmillan-Dallaire '07 picked up four points in his first three showcase games, arising from a pair of two-point performances. A native of Prince Edward Island, Macmillan-Dallaire has improved to 25 points in 45 games for the Warriors. He has been on a point-per-game pace since Jan. 28 with six points in six games, albeit not in a streak. He previously played with Ontario Hockey Academy in the CSSHL and Tier 1 Hockey Federation.
HC Rhode Island forward Ernests Muska '07 pushed his way into the top five with 65 points in 45 games, including four points in his last three games at the showcase. Going back to Feb. 28, the streak at the showcase is part of a larger four-game run of scoring eight points - a streak he'll look to continue in this, his first North American season. He joined from Latvia's HS Falcons organization.
Providence Capitals goalie Conner Nicolson '07 is undefeated for the month of March so far, going 3-0 between March 4-8. He stopped 51 of 54 shots in his first game of the month, helping him to win three or more in a row for the fourth time this season. His 19 wins rank third in the EHL, and are the most by a 2007-or-younger goalie in the league. He's only the second 18-year-old to have that many victories in the league as well (future SUNY-Fredonia goalie Dalton Jerzak had 20 wins as an 18-year-old in 2018-19). He joined this year from Rink HA Kelowna in the CSSHL 18U league.
USPHL Premier
Teigen Leibelt '07 has opened the floodgates of offense recently, and that's saying something for someone with 50 points in 32 games for the Southern Alberta Mustangs. Leibelt has posted four points in a game twice in his last five contests, and - with a March 9 game included - he is on a six-game point streak with 20 points over that stretch. Between March 4-7, he posted a 2-4-6 line over two contests, including his second four-point game on March 7 (1-3-4). Leibelt and his teammates have persisted with fantastic hockey throughout the year, but especially since they lost three teammates in a tragic auto accident in February - J.J. Wright, Cameron Casorso and Caden Fine. We here at The Dan K Show continue to keep these players' families and their teammates in our thoughts.
The Rockets Hockey Club's scoring leader Sean Fagan '07 finished his regular season in great fashion with a season-and career-best four goals, giving him his fourth hat trick of the season. He also added a goal in a playoff series against the Red Bank Generals, which the Generals won. That ends an RHC Premier season that saw Fagan post 31 goals and 55 points in 40 games, in addition to two assists in five NCDC games, all for his hometown Rockets. He split the majority of last season between the Rockets 18U and Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
For the St-Lazare Avalanche, defenseman Noah St-Laurent '07 was a big help in pushing his team past the first round of the playoffs. He scored a goal and added five assists over a pair of wins, spread over two three-point games. This followed a season of 19 points in 46 games. The blueliner was acquired by St-Lazare from Hawkesbury in January. He joined the USPHL from the Academie St-Cecile International School, a prep school in southwest Ontario.
Maxime Houde '07 closed out the Montreal Black Vees' playoff-opening sweep with a 27-save shutout in net, his first in the postseason and second overall in the USPHL. Houde went 8-2-0-1 during the regular season, after joining the Black Vees from another Canadian scholastic hockey team, Ecole Lucille-Teasdale.
NA3HL
Titan Horton '08 finished his season with nearly half of his season total's worth of points in his final regular season games of March 5 and 7. Horton posted two goals and added five assists for seven points, giving him regular season-ending totals of four goals and 15 points in 33 games. His five-point game to close the season on March 8 was a junior season-and career-best. He is a homegrown product for the Texas Brahmas, having played for their 16U team last year while also competing for Birdville (Texas) High School the past two seasons.
After playing most of this season for the Northeast Hockey Academy's AAA team, Tomas Kobela '07 joined the Carolina Rage in February and finished his regular season on a tear. He scored 16 points in six games, including eight points over his final three games (2-6-8) between March 6-8. Kobela played one prior season of junior hockey in 2024-25 with the Bridgewater Bandits in the EHL Premier, making the EHLP First All-Star Team with 27 points in 41 games.
His teammate Garett Kocon '07 scored his first junior hat trick - including the GWG - on March 6. He added goals on each of March 7 and 8, extending a regular season-ending eight-game goal-scoring streak that produced all 13 of his goals for the season. In 14 games since joining in December, he scored those 13 plus four assists for 17 points. Kocon had previously played for Eagan High School in Minnesota.
Kole Roth '07 closed his regular season with Carolina by stopping all 23 shots he faced on March 7, giving him a third straight win. In fact, from the start of February, he went 4-1-0-0 while stopping 190 of 202 shots for a .941 save percentage down the stretch. He previously played for Princeton (Mass.) High School.
USPHL Elite
Alessandro Calandriello '08 closed the regular season as the Elite's second-leading scorer after Montreal Knights teammate Michael Funaro '07, as Calandriello crossed with 78 points to Funaro's 82. Calandriello's 57 assists were the eighth-most in league history as he led the 2025-26 Elite in that category. He kicked off the playoffs with a 2-5-7 line in two games, helping his team to a first round playoff sweep and standing in a three-way tie for the early playoff scoring lead.
Aleksander Saks '08 closed out a first round sweep for his Red Bank Generals by scoring a hat trick and an assist in Game 2 on March 8. This came in addition to an assist in Game 1 for a 3-2-5 line for the two-game series. He is a homegrown player for the Generals, previously playing for their youth teams right up to their 16U squad in 2024-25. He finished the regular season with 49 points in 40 games.
For the first-year Coral Springs Jr. Cats, Chase Shoats '08 closed out his regular season as the leading scorer. With a 1-3-4 performance - his third four-point game - marking his season finale, he closed with 53 points in 41 games. Shoats joined the Jr. Cats this year from the Florida Alliance AAA team and the Westside Mutts co-op high school team, located in Coral Springs.
Although it wasn't a win for the series for the South Shore Kings, their goaltender Zacaria Wallis '08 played his heart out in net as a relief goalie in two straight games. On March 6, with his team down 5-1, he came in early in the second and stopped 38 of 39 shots the rest of the way, giving up just one further goal in a 6-2 loss. The next day, he stopped 15 of 17 shots in one period of relief in an eventual 5-2 defeat. All told, he turned away 53 of 56 shots for a .946 save percentage. Wallis played in 38 regular season games over two years with the Kings, after previously playing for the Northern Cyclones Academy 15U team.
EHL Premier
Shane Shaughnessy '08 put up a fantastic showing for the Walpole Express during their trip to the Broad Street Battle showcase in Pennsylvania, wrapping it up with two goals and five assists for seven points over four games. For the whole season, he has eight points in 15 games. He also scored his first game-winner at the showcase. He previously played for the Boston Jr. Terriers youth teams as well as Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, Mass.
Over the first three days of the showcase, the Connecticut Nor'Easters' second-year forward Cameron Soucy '08 had a 3-2-5 line and he would eventually stretch a goal streak to four games with five in that stretch. He now has a 17-11-28 line in 39 games. For his two-year career, he has 35 points in 65 games. Soucy previously played for Southwick (Mass.) High School.
Mason Ballard '08 also posted goals in four straight games, including in his first three games at the Philadelphia showcase for the New Hampshire Avalanche. Ballard has mostly been part of the Avalanche's 18U team this year, but he's played in 10 EHLP games, producing eight points in six straight games, including the 3-2-5 line in his first three showcase outings. He was previously with the Hanover Wild 16U team and Lebanon-Stevens High School in his native New Hampshire.
For the Philadelphia Little Flyers, Larry Miller III '08 has made his name known here before and he was up to old tricks on his home turf at the showcase, including matching a season-and career-best five points (all assists) on March 8, a feat he also accomplished earlier on Jan. 16. Miller leads the Little Flyers with 41 points in 35 games.