Young NHL Stars Making Their Mark in 2025-26

The 2025-26 NHL season has been flying by, and this year especially we’ve seen tons of young talent emerge, with some players dragging their otherwise shaky teams into playoff positions.

Let’s take a look at some of these players, who are being coined as generational talents, and already making a splash early in their careers.

Macklin Celebrini (Forward, San Jose Sharks)

Simply put, Macklin Celebrini has had an unreal sophomore season in the NHL. While the 2024 first overall pick out of Boston University and Hobey Baker award recipient for best player in college hockey was not nearly as hyped to be a game-changing talent as his predecessor, Connor Bedard, he has certainly made it known that he is here and he is here to stay.

Celebrini had 25 goals, 38 assists, and 63 points in 70 games played his rookie season (which is still incredibly impressive), a total which he has already far surpassed at the Olympic break. After 55 games, he stands at 28 goals and 53 assists, totaling 81 points (4th in the NHL), and has the Sharks, which were dead last in the league last season, legitimately battling for the last wild card spot in the playoffs.

Pretty impressive, right? Well, he’s also in Milan, Italy right now playing for the Canadian Olympic team, on a line with Connor McDavid.

I can’t say enough good things about Macklin Celebrini this year, and I imagine this trend will continue throughout his career.

Connor Bedard (Forward, Chicago Blackhawks)

Will Connor Bedard be better than Celebrini in the long term? I think so. Right now, however, Celebrini is just on a different level.

Bedard was taken first overall in 2023 by the Chicago Blackhawks after breaking all sorts of records in juniors with the Regina Pats of the WHL. If anything could describe what he did before joining the NHL, it would be pure and utter dominance. Leading up to the draft, Bedard was highly regarded as a generational talent, and a tendency to put up points on a similar or better level than Connor McDavid.

This is for good reason. The Vancouver native’s unreal skating ability, puck control, passing, and most impressively, his shot, get him posted constantly on highlight reels. If you ever put a Blackhawks game on, it’s the Connor Bedard show. But while he hasn’t had as explosive of a first few years as Celebrini, his stat line is still impressive for what he is working with. The Sharks’ front office is putting together a rebuild that is moving at a much faster pace than the Blackhawks, who still sit near the bottom of the league. Additionally, frequent injuries haven’t allowed Bedard to truly dominate on the level as some of the other top players.

I think when all is settled, Bedard will be a top three player in the league.

Matthew Schaefer (Defenseman, New York Islanders)

Schaeffer, the first overall pick in this past year’s draft, has well exceeded expectations during his rookie season, and has had people calling him a generational talent.

But first, let’s look a little into how he got here. Schaeffer’s story up until now has been, quite frankly, inspirational. After losing his billet mother in 2023 and his mother in February 2024 to cancer, his performance has gone above and beyond.

At the Olympic break, the 18-year-old defenseman sits at 39 points in 58 games, and his elite skating ability coupled with his high-level hockey IQ makes him one of the more feared young stars in his first year.