Junior Hockey’s Rising Stars - Best of March 2026
WRITTEN BY JOSHUA BOYD
Each week, check back with The Dan K Show as Joshua Boyd breaks downthe 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.
Junior Hockey's Rising Stars Of The Month: March 2026
We take a short break from the weekly look at the nation's top junior players (born 2007 and younger, or 2008 and younger for the USPHL Elite and EHL Premier). We turn our gaze to the full month of March. As we've done for a while now, we start with the top performances from USHL players on the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings.
Top 5 USHL on NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings (NA Skater Rankings)
1. Evan Jardine, F, Youngstown Phantoms, 8GP-5G-7A-12PTS (155th)
2. Blake Zielinski, F, Des Moines Buccaneers, 10GP-7G-5A-12PTS (56th)
3. Wyatt Cullen, F, U.S. NTDP U-18, 8GP-6G-4A-10PTS (23rd)
4. David Bosco, F, Cedar Rapids Roughriders, F, 11GP-7G-2A-9PTS (182nd)
T/5. Landon Hafele, F, Green Bay Gamblers, 9GP-3G-5A-8PTS (48th)
T/5. Victor Plante, U.S. NTDP U-18, 9GP-2G-6A-8PTS (36th)
USHL Goaltender On NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings (NA Goaltender Ranking)
1. Tobias Trejbal, Youngstown Phantoms, 5-1-0-0, .910 save %
USHL
Forward: Jason Musa '07, Cedar Rapids Roughriders
During March, Musa racked up eight goals, the most for any 2007-or-younger player in the league. The second-year RoughRider and University of Massachusetts recruit added five more assists for 13 points over 11 games. Between March 21-27, he scored four goals over three games, including a GWG in a one-goal regulation victory on March 21. That two-goal performance was also part of a four-game streak featuring eight of his 11 points. Over two seasons, Musa has played in 120 regular season games for the RoughRiders, racking up 81 points.
Defense: Cullen McCrate '07, Fargo Force
McCrate currently stands with 30 points in 61 games, and exactly one-third of those points came during the month of March. He averaged a point-per-game pace with a 5-5-10 line, scoring half of the 10 goals he's scored this season in the winter-spring changeover month. Defensively, he was a +3 for the month that he started with a five-game, seven-point scoring streak. McCrate will be in East Lansing this fall, suiting up for Michigan State. He currently has 111 USHL games under his belt and 35 career regular season points.
Goaltender: Joseph Skidmore '08, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
Skidmore completed an undefeated month (5-0-0-0) for the second time this season, as he also won his first three junior games in October. Those eight wins represent the majority of his 12 total victories this season. During March, Skidmore extended what is now a seven-game winning streak bridging February to April. March 1 saw his first shutout, as he stopped all 27 shots he faced, also representing his high in single game saves for the month. He gave up two goals or less in four of his five wins.
NAHL
Forward: Nick Snyder '07, Bismarck Bobcats
Snyder didn't hit the ice with the Bobcats this season until January, but when he did, he hit it running. He scored 11 points in his first nine games after posting 11 in 26 last season, which he split between the Bobcats and the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite. Snyder helped the Bobcats win the Robertson Cup last spring. He started this year with the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede, who drafted him in the 2024 USHL Draft. He scored three points in 32 USHL games, and he currently has 23 points in 20 games, with 12 of those points coming in eight March contests. The University of Vermont recruit finished March with nine points in four straight games, including the OT game-winner on March 20.
Defense: Denny Oh '07, Oklahoma Warriors
Oh scored a large percentage of his 24 total points this year during March, racking up 10 points over six straight games in an eight-game month. Oh is in his first season with the Warriors, who signed him this year after he was a CSSHL All-Star with the Yale Hockey Academy last year. He has also represented his native South Korea at the World Under-18 Championships.
Goaltender: Ethan Phillips '07, Shreveport Mudbugs
Phillips, the Providence College recruit, registered two shutouts among his month that saw him go undefeated in regulation (5-0-0-1). After putting up 14-and 27-save shutouts, he ended last month with a .951 save percentage in the six games, giving him an overall number of .929, good for third in the NAHL. His GAA is 2.15, which also places him in the Top 10 overall.
NCDC
Forward: Anthony Roy '07, Universel Academy
Roy, frequently named in this column, led all of the NCDC in scoring in March - without even the benefit of any playoff games. Roy played in nine games, seeing his team close its season at the end of the regular season. Still, no one produced more than his insane eight goals and 23 points in just nine games. He closed the season with 84 points, second all-time for a single NCDC campaign (to former Michigan Tech and current minor pro player Patriks Marcinkevics, who scored a record 96 points in 2021-22). Roy had first hit four points in a game on Feb. 14. He had three four-point games in March, all part of a 16-game, 38-point scoring streak that started on Feb. 15.
Defense: Dominique Allard '07, Utica Jr. Comets
Allard finished the regular season with six points over his final five contests, including a hat trick scored on March 13. In the postseason, Allard has contributed heavily on the defensive side to help the Jr. Comets reach the New England Conference round-robin series (running April 9-11). The two top teams from that will reach the conference final April 14-16. During the regular season - his second NCDC campaign with the Jr. Comets after moving to the NCDC team from their USPHL Premier team last year - Allard finished with 26 points in 53 games.
Goaltender: Ethan Moser '07, Lewiston MAINEiacs
Another team that has reached the New England Conference round-robin tournament is Lewiston, backstopped by Moser, who didn't lose a game last month. He went 5-0, and also appeared in a game in relief where he surrendered no goals. Overall, he had a .951 save percentage and never gave up more than two goals in any game, including a 22-save shutout on March 13. Well into April, he has not given up more than two goals in any game since Feb. 15 (three). For the regular season, he finished in the top 10 with 17 wins and a 1.89 GAA. His regular season save percentage was .941, ranking third among goalies with at least 20 games played.
EHL
Forward: Aiden Forcier '07, HC Rhode Island
Forcier aced the season, finishing with the 12th highest regular season points total in the league's history, scoring 84 points. Currently, he is sitting tied at the top of the EHL's playoff scoring leaderboard, scoring 10 points through four games. For the month of March, combining his final regular season and early playoff games, Forcier posted a 4-9-13 line in seven contests. He finished the month on a four-game, 10-point scoring streak that he has extended into April. He has scored goals in his last three games, as well.
Defense: Jack Copponi '07, East Coast Wizards
Copponi is tied for first in points in the playoffs so far, scoring 10 points in five games. The East Coast Wizards blueliner posted eight points (all assists) in seven March games, including five points in their two-game sweep of the Valley Jr. Warriors to start the playoffs. Copponi, a former Worcester Academy standout, registered 25 points in 38 games.
Goaltender: Conner Nicolson '07, Providence Capitals
Nicolson played in eight games and in 459 minutes, third in the whole league for last month. He went 5-3-0-0, including a four-game winning streak to start the month for him. Unfortunately, two of his three losses came in the playoffs, seeing an end to his season and that of the Capitals. He posted a .922 save percentage during the month, and for the regular season, his 20 wins ranked third in the league.
USPHL Premier
Forward: Teigen Leibelt '07, Southern Alberta Mustangs
Leibelt capped his first junior season by finishing with 60 points in just 35 games for the first-year Mustangs USPHL team. Leibelt finished with a season-and career-best six points (1-5-6) on March 15, a performance which completed a regular season-ending 10-game, 29-point scoring streak that dated back to Jan. 23. For March, he scored a total of 23 points in 10 games.
Defense: Mason Seibel '08, Calgary Bandits
Seibel closed out his season in a big way, with two points in each of his final four contests. This was all part of a giant 13-game, 20-point scoring streak that went back to January. Seibel finished with a 2-9-11 line in his seven March games. For the season, he scored 32 points in 31 games and he added seven points in five playoff games.
Goaltender: Felix Tolke '07, Hampton Roads Whalers
Tolke tied for the USPHL Premier's wins record (27), as he lost just once in regulation in the regular season. He had one regulation and one overtime loss in the postseason, finishing the "second season" with a 5-1-1-0 record. That closely matches his March record of 6-1-1-0 with a .943 save percentage. After tying the all-time record for shutouts in a regular season with his 10th on the final regular season day of March 1, he also put up two shutouts in the playoffs, with 22 saves on March 13 and 26 saves on March 26. His only regulation loss in the postseason was to the eventual defending National Champion Vernal Oilers.
NA3HL
Forward: Emerson LaRoche '07, Louisiana Drillers
LaRoche's exploits have been storied and certainly celebrated throughout this first year of Junior Hockey's Rising Stars. LaRoche launched from his 127-point regular season (seventh all-time; youngest in the top 10) into a 14-point postseason performance over eight games, including five points in four games at the Fraser Cup Championship Series. He finished his regular season with a scoring streak that he extended well into the playoffs, totaling 20 games and 44 points between Feb. 1-March 21.
Defense: James Steinberg '07, Long Beach Sharks
Steinberg helped his team to the Fraser Cup Championship Series, putting up five points in his first five postseason games, and adding an assist in the Sharks' pair of Fraser Cup contests, as well. For March, he finished with a total of seven points in nine games. Steinberg started his NA3HL career with the Sharks with four games in 2024-25, and he stands with 47 points in 53 regular season and playoff contests.
Goaltender: Nathan Mach '07, Granite City Lumberjacks
Mach kept up the beat where it mattered, eventually winning eight games in March, including the March 29 defeat (a 22-save shutout) of the previously undefeated Louisiana Drillers. Mach's overall March record was 8-2 and he came out with a .912 save percentage from the full month's action.
USPHL Elite
Forward: Chase Shoats '08, Coral Springs Jr. Cats
Shoats, who joined the Jr. Cats from not far away in Boca Raton, Fla., finished in the top 20 of Elite scoring with 53 points in 41 games. After closing the regular season with four points in two games, he put up six points in four playoff games. For those keeping score, that's 10 points over just six games to close his 2026-27 campaign.
Defense: Quincy Walker '08, Tampa Bay Juniors
Walker scored a goal to finish the season and then added six more assists in seven playoff games, including a trip to the USPHL Elite Nationals. He finished with 19 points in 26 regular season games before his fantastic postseason performance. Walker also picked up 10 games with the Juniors' Premier team, earning an assist.
Goaltender: Orane Green '08, Montreal Knights
Green enjoyed a huge first year in junior hockey, joining from the Knights' own 18U team of 2024-25. He had the second most wins with 15 and put together a 4-1-0-0 run in the playoffs (including the Nationals) as well, with a .918 save percentage and a 2.78 GAA.
EHL Premier
Forward: Tomass Vekselis '08, New Jersey 87's
Vekselis rode a massive scoring streak right into (and so far through) his playoffs, scoring 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points in just 14 games between Feb. 27 and April 4. Vekselis scored a 10-15-25 run in 10 games during the month of March, including a season-and career-best 3-3-6 performance on March 1. During the regular season, Vekselis scored 30 goals, which ranked fifth. He was also top 10 in scoring with 59 points, certainly a good performance in his first North American season.
Defense: Tai Jausovec '08, Union Jr. Thunder
Jausovec came on huge late in the season, posting 13 points in 13 March games. His 10 points in the 11 regular season games represented more than a third of his 26 total points in 40 games. Jausovec's five points in four playoff games see him ranked in the Top 10.