The Vegas Golden Knights are today’s focus in the NHL prospect pool overview series.

Tony Ferrari digs into Golden Knights’ strengths and weaknesses, the latest draft class, positional depth chart, next player in line for an NHL opportunity and more. A player who no longer holds rookie eligibility in the NHL is considered graduated and no longer a prospect for these exercises, with few exceptions.

Initial Thoughts

Throughout their nearly decade-long existence, the Golden Knights have shown they are comfortable leveraging their prospect pool and draft capital to improve their current roster. No team in the NHL has done that with more commitment and consistency. They’ve traded every first-round pick they’ve had or made aside from their 2024 first-rounder, Trevor Connelly. 

Connelly is a highly skilled player who can dazzle with his puckhandling and offensive creation. He’s quick, agile and shifty on his feet, which allows him to carve through the opposing team in the neutral zone. Even in his six-game AHL stint at the end of last season, Connelly’s speed and puck skill held up.

Connelly is the Golden Knights' only top-tier prospect, and he could be an effective top-six forward this season with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights as a 19-year-old before jumping to the NHL next year. If he can’t stick in the AHL, he could head to the WHL, where the Penticton Vees own his rights.

Another player who will play his first full AHL season is Jordan Gustafson, who has had injury issues over the last few years. The two-way center plays an anticipatory game. While he lacks the elite skill set you’d like to see from a player looking to make an offensive impact, he plays an efficient game with the puck, and his defensive value helps supplement that. He must get back on track and stay healthy this season in Henderson, but there is some nice upside as a potential third-line center. 

Jakub Brabenec is entering his third AHL season, and although there’s been some progress, he’s still struggling to adjust to a scoring role and finding himself playing more of a depth role. Brabenec is a tactical player at heart, but he needs to develop a bit more skill and speed to keep up at the pro level in North America.

The injection of youth in Henderson continues as Mathieu Cataford is jumping into the AHL after a solid QMJHL career. He takes excellent routes on the forecheck, understands where to position himself as the second man into a battle and has so many of those little nuanced traits. Cataford’s final QMJHL season wasn’t what he wanted, taking a big step back in his production, but he showed many of the same traits. A fresh start in the AHL might be perfect for him. 

On the back end, the prospects are somewhat limited, but 20-year-old Arttu Karki is an interesting offensive blueliner who is playing well in his native Finland. Karki is a very skilled passer and puckhandler. He moves well in transition and joins the rush when there is an opportunity. He could be a candidate to jump to the AHL after this season with HIFK in the Liiga. 

U-23 Players Likely To Be On NHL Roster This Season

N/A

2025 NHL Draft Class

Round 2, 55th overall - Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, RW, Lulea Jr. (Swe.)

Round 3, 85th overall - Mateo Nobert, C, Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)

Round 6, 186th overall - Alexander Weiermair, C, Portland (WHL)

Round 6, 187th overall - Gustav Sjoqvist, D, AIK (Swe.)

The Golden Knights didn’t have much in the way of draft capital, but they still managed to grab a few decent prospects at the 2025 NHL draft.

Jakob Ihs-Wozniak is a big-time shooter who can score from all over the ice. Whether he’s in tight or around dots, Ihs-Wozniak is a threat. His pace is an issue at times, which is his biggest drawback, but he has the size NHL teams love. Ihs-Wozniak was one of the best players in the Swedish junior league this year, so nabbing him in Round 2 was a big win for Vegas. 

In the third round, the Knights took a high-end passer in Mateo Nobert. His game needs to round out with his skating being a particular area of growth, but the facilitation ability is impressive. Nobert is constantly scanning the ice and looking to make short, quick passes to teammates and then jumping up into pockets of space for a return. He has some work to do, but he could be an interesting pro.

Alex Weiermair was a bit of an off-the-board pick as the 20-year-old had been struggling to find his footing at the NCAA level, which resulted in him jumping to the CHL in the middle of his sophomore season. He’s an overager who scored at roughly a point-per-game pace at the junior level. Weiermair has some nice transition passing ability, and he seems to complement his linemates well, but there just wasn’t much that teams were in love with from an NHL projection, so this is an interesting one.

Vegas capped off its draft with a big, heavy defender in Gustav Sjoqvist, a 19-year-old who spent most of the season in the Allsvenskan. He seemed to hold his own against men physically, which was nice to see as he relies so much on his ability to lean on attackers and close out along the boards to defend. He’s a bet on a safe, steady defensive player with limited upside.

Strengths

Calling any singular area in the Vegas prospect pool a strength is generous at best. The right wing is the closest thing to a strength they have with the addition of Ihs-Wozniak, along with the continued development of Cataford and Tuomas Uronen. Braeden Bowman was the Henderson Silver Knights’ second-leading scorer last year as well. They don’t have a surefire NHLer, but they have a few guys who could be solid depth scorers.

Weaknesses

The weakness could be the entire prospect pool, but the right side of the blueline is particularly weak. They have a few lower-end prospects, so it’s not completely bar,e but the likelihood of any of them actually reaching the NHL is quite low. Vegas hasn’t put much of an emphasis on the drafting and development of talent, which is the reason for their lack of talent in the pipeline. 

Hidden Gem: Matyas Sapovaliv, C

The Knights don’t have much going for them in the prospect pool, but one player that has consistently developed well and shown to be better than expected is Matyas Sapovaliv. He’s a big, defensive-minded center who can make noise around the net with his nifty hands and soft touch. He’s not really a creative player or a guy who is going to dazzle as a playmaker, but he plays sound defense, facilitates up ice and crashes the crease. He had a decent rookie season in the AHL, but the Knights will want to see more before he jumps up into the NHL lineup.

Next Man Up: Lukas Cormier, D

After missing so much of last season and not getting into action until March, Cormier will look to make noise in training camp and earn a role with the Golden Knights. The Knights have a solid lineup, and they’ll likely be tough to crack, but if there is anywhere on the team that they could use an infusion of puck-moving and mobility, it might just be the blueline.

Prospect Depth Chart Notables

LW: Trevor Connelly, Trent Swick 

C: Matyas Sapovaliv, Jordan Gustafson, Jakub Brabenec, Mateo Nobert

RW: Jakob Ihs-Wozniak, Mathieu Cataford, Tuomas Uronen, Braeden Bowman

LD: Lukas Cormier, Arttu Karki, Christoffer Sedoff, Abram Wiebe, Gustav Sjoqvist

RD: Viliam Kmec, Noah Ellis, Joe Fleming

G: Carl Lindbom, Pavel Moysevich, Cameron Whitehead, Jesper Vikman

For a deeper dive into the prospect pool with player rankings, check out the Yearbook and Future Watch editions of The Hockey News in print.