Three Players to Watch in the NHL Preseason
NHL fans around the world are looking closely at the NHL Preseason. This year, it begins on September 20th with the St. Louis Blues going up against the Dallas Stars and going until October 4th. Younger players are sure to receive plenty of spotlight and attention from fans who are looking for big improvements throughout their favorite team. This especially includes three notable players worth discussing.
Matvei Michkov
Matvei Michkov enters the coming campaign as one of the brightest young lights in the league, his rookie year having already laid the groundwork for what promises to be a dazzling career. His offensive instincts are rare in their natural fluidity, and every shift he takes brims with the anticipation of something extraordinary. The Flyers, in the middle of a rebuild heightened by the trade for Trevor Zegras, entrusted him with meaningful minutes last season, and he rewarded that faith with a performance that placed him among the most productive rookies in the league. Yet beyond the raw statistics, Michkov’s true brilliance lies in his creativity with the deceptive movements, the feints, and the subtle understanding of how to bend the game’s rhythm to his will. His brilliance shines brightly and beyond his years. In the preseason, as line combinations are shuffled and new strategies tested, Michkov will likely stand as a constant source of offense, a reminder that the Flyers’ rebuild is not merely theoretical but already manifesting through his stick.
Ryker Evans
Ryker Evans represents a different but equally valuable kind of promise, a defenseman whose rise has been steady, deliberate, and earned through reliability as much as flair. The Seattle Kraken saw in him not only the mobility and puck-handling skill of a modern blueliner but also the composure to anchor a young defensive core. Last season, he absorbed heavy minutes, logging both defensive responsibility and offensive transition work with a poise that belied his age. The organization’s decision to invest in him with a multi-year contract signals their belief that he is more than a depth piece but instead a central pillar in their design. In the preseason, Evans will be closely watched not for whether he belongs, but for how far he can ascend.
Arturs Silovs
Meanwhile, Arturs Silovs embodies the mystery and volatility of the goaltending position, where one performance can elevate a player into stardom or bury him in obscurity. He comes to Pittsburgh from Vancouver not as an untested novice, but as a goaltender already hardened by the crucible of playoff runs in the AHL, where he stood tall in moments of great pressure. His size, his athleticism, and his calm demeanor in the crease all mark him as a netminder capable of seizing opportunity when it appears, and in the Penguins’ crowded goaltending hierarchy, the preseason may provide just such a chance. For Silovs, each exhibition start will be a proving ground, a stage where every glove save and every rebound control becomes an argument for why he deserves to be trusted when the season begins in earnest. He is, at once, a prospect and a potential revelation.
As the opening faceoff of the preseason approaches, attention sharpens on these three young men whose trajectories may well define their franchises’ fortunes in the years ahead. Matvei Michkov carries the spark of artistry, a forward whose scoring touch and vision mark him as a beacon for a Philadelphia team hungry for resurgence. Ryker Evans brings a quieter strength, the steady maturation of a younger defenseman who may soon shape Seattle’s back end into one of the most reliable in the league. Arturs Silovs, standing tall in the crease, offers Pittsburgh the tantalizing possibility of stability in a position so often ruled by uncertainty. Together, they embody the essence of preseason intrigue of raw talent on the cusp of refinement and promise awaiting proof. For fans and analysts alike, their performances will not simply be exhibition games but glimpses into the NHL’s unfolding future.
