Junior Hockey’s Rising Stars - Oct 8th, 2025
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).
September 29th to October 5th, 2025
USHL
It took Dubuque Fighting Saints newcomer Caden Dabrowski '08 just two games to put a four-point effort, posting a 1-3-4 in his second game for the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2025 USHL Draft (65th overall). Dabrowski committed in August to Merrimack College, fresh off a springtime appearance at the USA Hockey 16U Nationals with the Chicago Mission. Last year, with the Mission, he scored 86 points and added eight points in four Nationals games.
The Sioux Falls Stampede's Cooper Soller '08 registered three goals and an assist in two games, including a 2-1-3 line against Tri-City on Oct. 4. Soller was also at the 2025 16U Nationals and he helped the Shattuck-St. Mary's team come away with the Gold as champions. The Los Angeles native also represented Shattuck-St. Mary's at the 14U and 15U Nationals. Committed to the defending NCAA Champion Western Michigan Broncos, he is averaging a point per game with five points in five games. He was the Stampede's third pick in the 2024 USHL Futures Draft (36th overall).
Goaltender Jack Fichthorn '07 earned his first junior victory in dramatic fashion on Oct. 4 when he and his Sioux City Musketeers beat the Fargo Force 2-1. He stopped 30 of 31 shots in 65 minutes and 3 of 5 shootout attempts. Fichthorn came to the Musketeers from Westminster Prep and the Mid-Fairfield Rangers. Fichthorn is uncommitted.
NAHL
Chance Burlison '07 posted a hat trick and added an assist in his first NAHL game on Oct. 3 for the Oklahoma Warriors. He added another assist on Oct. 4 for five points in two games. Burlison joined the Warriors from the USHL's Cedar Rapids Roughriders, and he was a multiple year USA Hockey Nationals competitor with the Dallas Stars Elite at the 14U, 15U and 16U levels.
Rylan Bydal '07 made the jump to juniors with the NAHL's Anchorage Wolverines after a fantastic career with both Grand Fords Red River High School and Team North Dakota. He is currently in the Top 20 for NAHL scoring as a rookie with 10 points in seven games, with five of his points coming Oct. 3-4 with a 2-3-5 line.
Bydal's Wolverines teammate Aiden Lawson '07 had the best weekend for a 2007 or younger blueliner in the NAHL with three assists, all on Oct. 3. Lawson joined Anchorage in his second NAHL season from the Maryland Black Bears and has four assists through four games. He is committed to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Aaron Sachs '07 is a goaltender to watch, as he has two games under his belt and is undefeated in 65 minutes of hockey. The North Iowa Bulls goalie stopped 44 of 48 shots before falling in a shootout against Austin. He has a 1.92 GAA and .942 save percentage out of the gate along with his 1-0-0-1 record. He is a product of the Lincoln Stars AAA program, and was drafted in 2023 by the USHL's Lincoln Stars.
NCDC
Adam Botlo '07 scored five goals and added one assist in his only action of the past week with the first-year Springfield Pics NCDC team on Oct. 4. He currently has 10 points in seven games, after making the jump from the Pics Premier team. Prior to that, he had played with the Pics' 16U AAA squad in the Tier 1 Hockey Federation. He is tied for sixth in scoring among NCDC players in birth years 2007 or younger.
Also starting this year with the NCDC Pics is former Premier Pics player Maverick Labonte '07, who produced four assists in one game on Oct. 4 vs. the Junior Bruins. He had 30 points in 32 regular season games, and then 12 points in 11 playoff games as the Pics pushed to the National Championship Game last spring.
Conner Boulay '08 had himself a five-point weekend for CT Chiefs North against the St. Stephen County Moose in two games, giving him seven points in nine games this season. Boulay split last season between the Maine Nordiques (NA3HL) and Kents Hill School.
In net, the first junior win for the Lewiston MAINEiacs' Ethan Moser '07 was a shutout, as he knocked away all 35 shots faced against the Woodstock Slammers on Oct. 4. Moser is a product of the Colorado Rampage organization.
EHL
Previously mentioned, Ernests Muska '07 continues to rack up the points, scoring four goals and one assist over four games between Sept. 30 and Oct. 4, sending home a goal in each of those four games. He now has six points in six games for HC Rhode Island.
Sam Steinman '07, another previously highlighted athlete here, posted five points in three games. He is in the top 15 overall for scoring with seven points in just four games.
Two other newcomers with five points last week include Aiden Forcier '07, another HC Rhode Island standout with six points in six games. He had a 2-3-5 line in his most recent four games, joining the HC from the Prout School and previously the 95 Giants.
Joining the Providence Capitals this year from the CSSHL's Rink HA Kelowna U17 team, Dylan Cawley '07 put up a 1-4-5 line in his own four games.
NA3HL
Brody Emond '07 is right back where he was last season, leading the NA3HL's Maine Nordiques. After posting 43 points in 40 games last year, Emond currently has 12 points in eight games, thanks in part to eight points in his past three games between Oct. 1-4. This includes a hat trick scored on Oct. 4.
Also returning is St. Louis Jr. Blues defenseman Mitchell Nappier '07, who is also leading his team in scoring, with 14 points in eight games, good for second among NA3 defensemen. He racked up six assists in two games Oct. 4-5. He has also played for CarShield AAA and Christian Brothers College High School.
In his seventh junior game with the New Hampshire Mountain Kings, Talon Schackman '07 scored his first junior hat trick. That put him at seven goals and 11 points this season. He had a 4-2-6 line over three games between Oct. 1-4. Schackmann joined the Mountain Kings from the Midwest Blackbirds 18U AA squad.
Three starts has equaled three shutout wins for the Texas Roadrunners' Calum Hartner '07, whose 30-save shutout on Oct. 3 saw him rack up his most saves in a doughnut performance. He is 3-0 with a 1.000 save percentage since joining from Michigan's Clarkston High School.
USPHL Premier
Welcome to North American hockey, Vertti Sakko '07! In his first game with the Fresno Monsters, Sakko posted four goals and added two assists for six points on Oct. 3. He went on to add five more points for a 6-5-11 line, joining the Monsters from KJT Haukat.
Another first-year Fresno Monster, Swedish import goaltender Noah Hammarstrom '07 stopped all 65 shots he faced in two games, first with 37 saves on Oct. 3 and 28 more saves on as many shots on Oct. 5.
Very quickly, the Battle Creek Kernels' Simon Racinsky '08 has become the highest scorer in his birth year for the Premier Conference. Joining the Kernels this year from the HC Pilsen Wolves, he has 15 points in seven games, including two goals and five assists Oct. 4-5.
In a three-game series Oct. 3-5, the Fort Wayne Spacemen's Preston Slater '07 sent home one goal and set up six others for seven points over the weekend. That pulled the former Brookfield (Wis.) High School up to a point per game average in his first nine junior games.
USPHL Elite
Florida Eels returning veteran Dominick Dantona '08 is already just two points from equaling his 38-game output of his rookie Elite season in 2024-25. Dantona recently posted three goals and four assists in two wins on Sept. 29 and Oct. 4. His 11 points in four games rank him tied for sixth in Elite scoring, and his 2.75 points per game is second only to teammate Nikita Schevyev for players with multiple games played.
Dantona's fellow Eels veteran Paxton Campbell '08 is one-third of the way to the 30 points he registered last year, posting 10 points so far this year - partially on the strength of a 3-3-6 line in the two games of Sept. 29 and Oct. 4.
Jamie Natali '08 was on fire for the Connecticut Jr. Rangers, scoring three goals and adding two assists for five points in Oct. 4 and 5 wins, including the GWG on Oct. 4. Natali is tied for third in points per game in the Elite with 2.67, from eight points in three games. He joined the Jr. Rangers from the Golden State Eagles in his home state of California.
In net for the Jr. Rangers, Dane Simpson '08 stopped 35 of 37 shots in the Jr. Rangers' Oct. 4 win. A former Littleton Hawk who backstopped his team at the Tier II Nationals last spring, Simpson certainly celebrated a great first junior victory.
EHL Premier
The second-year New Jersey Bear Dominic Moushon '08 once again has our attention, scoring three goals over his last three games to stand as the league's leading scorer with 11 points in five games.
Josh Vaughn '09 registered an assist in each of his three games last week, his first junior points. The blueliner has been - and remains - a member of the Valley Forge Minutemen, having played four games with the Minutemen in addition to his four games so far with the Pennsylvania Huntsmen.
Defenseman Vincenzo LaBianca '08 earned his first two assists in his first three junior games between Oct. 2-4 for the New Jersey 87's. He has also played for Team 87's in the Peak Performance Prep Hockey League. He played last year for the 87's AAA team in the THF and also for Notre Dame High School.
In his first junior game, Quebec native Noah Poisson '08 put up a fine effort by stopping 36 of 38 shots in regulation. He also stopped five of eight shootout attempts, before ultimately falling in the 1v1 portion of the game. An exciting net prospect for the New England Wolves organization, Poisson joins from the La Sarre Conquerants in the Quebec AAA Midget league.