Latest from Ben Pope
The full 2025-26 schedule will be released Wednesday, but the Hawks already know they’ll start on the road yet again.
The 18-year-old power forward became the NHL’s No. 3 overall pick after the Hawks gathered intel from former players Johnny Oduya and Marcus Kruger and watched Frondell transform his skating.
Rinzel, in likely his last appearance in the prospect rankings before graduating into the NHL full-time, has surged to the top of the list — which now runs 20-plus players deep.
Nestrasil, a 6-5 Czech forward whom the Hawks drafted No. 25 overall last week, has come a long way over the last year.
Mustard has blazing speed and played well in his first season of college hockey. His next step includes learning how to convert more of his scoring chances.
The Hawks made only two small moves Tuesday, leaving their 2025-26 roster ready for a full-fledged youth movement.
Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson has made four Lafferty trades — three in which he has acquired the speedy forward.
Wyatt Kaiser, Louis Crevier and Arvid Soderblom will remain restricted free agents, while Philipp Kurashev will hit the open market.
The Hawks have selected plenty of so-called “toolsy” kids on longer developmental timelines in recent years. They followed the same strategy at this NHL Draft when picking Vaclav Nestrasil and Mason West.
The Hawks added three forwards, one defenseman and one goalie to their 2025 draft class Saturday — including two very tough guys.