Initially announced by the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and later confirmed by the University of Michigan, a top prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft will play for a different team next season. Adam Valentini will be joining the Wolverines next season rather than the Rangers.
The Toronto native is projected to be a late first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, but his prospect ranking could rise following his performance with Team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He finished the tournament with four goals and nine points in five games, after scoring 17 goals and 39 points in 58 games with the USHL’s Chicago Steel.
Moving from the OHL to the NCAA will be a significant risk for Valentini. If he performs well against much older competition, he could find his way into being a late lottery selection. Still, if the transition goes poorly, Valentini could fall out of the first round altogether. Furthermore, with the Wolverines having one of the youngest rosters in the Big Ten Conference next season, there’s no guarantee the team around him can lift him if he falters.
Other snapshots:
- According to a post on his LinkedIn, and shared by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, former NHL enforcer Shawn Thornton is moving on from his position with the Florida Panthers. Despite not sharing the next role of his career, Thornton had been working as the Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Panthers for the last four years. Without speculating too much on his next chapter, it’s realistic to think that Thornton has found another role in hockey operations elsewhere.
- In a new interview with Daria Tuboltseva of RG Media, Carolina Hurricanes Alexander Nikishin spoke at length about his preparation for what’s expected to be the first full season in the NHL this upcoming year. Up to this point, Nikishin only has four postseason games under his belt from the 2024-25 Stanley Cup playoffs, but he did play the entire regular season with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. In the interview, he spoke about how seriously he’s taking his preparation for the upcoming campaign, saying, “I want to train properly. My first NHL experience was a lesson – I realized what I need to work on. Now it will be easier because I already know the guys, the staff, the locker room, how practices go. I can’t wait for the season, but preparation is the key. I want to be as useful for the team as possible, without being the weak link.“
- A few weeks ago, reports emerged that Nashville Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney considered retiring last summer. Similarly, a new interview between Rasmus Kågstrom of Hockeysverige and defenseman Adam Wilsby indicates that the latter was considering a return to his native Sweden rather than continue his pursuit of an NHL role. As things turned out, Wilsby spent most of his time playing for the Predators last season and has a decent chance to make the team out of training camp this September. In the interview, Wilsby was quoted as saying, “Of course, I started thinking about where I would take the next step. At the same time, I felt like I wasn’t quite done with the US yet. I felt like it would either work out, or I would probably end up going to Europe. It’s great that it paid off.“