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The Vegas Golden Knights championship window is wide open, and their acquisitions of superstars like Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner over the years have raided the team’s draft capital and prospect pool. That’s why in The Athletic’s Top 100 drafted prospects in the NHL, published on July 15, Scott Wheeler only has two Golden Knights prospects to talk about on his list. Moreover, there’s only one skater in the Top 100, while one of Vegas’ top prospect goalies cracked the list of Top 20 drafted goalies.
Which Golden Knights prospects made their way into The Athletic's Top 100 rankings?
As expected, recent top 2026 draftees including Gavin McKenna (No. 1 - Chicago) and Ivar Stenberg (No. 2 - San Jose) took the two spots on the list, followed by Porter Martone (Philadelphia), Michael Misa (San Jose), and Chase Reid (Seattle) to round out the top five. At No. 45, the lone Golden Knights prospect, Trevor Connelly, cracked the list. The 20-year-old from Tustin, CA, drafted 19th overall in 2024, played the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign with the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHL, scoring 14 goals and 49 points, good enough for a 1.06 points-per-game average.
Regarding the other Vegas player to find a place among Wheeler’s selections is goalie Carl Lindbom. The 23-year-old from Stockholm, Sweden, got his first taste of NHL action in 2025-26, skating in eight games with the Golden Knights, going 2-4-2 with a 3.00 GAA and .873 SV%. In the AHL, with the Silver Knights, Lindbom was superior, producing a 24-5-8 record with a 2.16 GAA and .926 SV%, earning a spot at the annual AHL All-Star Game and post-season Second All-Star Team honors. Through two seasons in the AHL, the 2021 draftee, 222nd overall, has a 42-20-11 record with a 2.41 GAA and .919 SV%.
Interestingly, Connelly joins 2026 first-round pick Juho Piiparinen as the only two first-round selections still with the Golden Knights organization. Every top pick in their history, including Cody Glass (2017), Nick Suzuki (2017), Erik Brännström (2017), Peyton Krebs (2019), Zach Dean (2021), and David Edstrom (2023), has since been dealt and is skating with other clubs. Meanwhile, at 222nd overall, Lindbom is the latest drafted prospect in Vegas history, and the only player selected in the 200s to skate in the NHL for the club.
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This article was originally published on vegashockeyknight.com as Only two Golden Knights prospects crack The Athletic's Top 100 rankings.
