The puck drops on the 2025-26 NHL season in less than two weeks, which means we're about six weeks from the hockey world fixating on a select group of players levelling up. Who's poised to break out in a big way? Who will become this year's Jackson LaCombe or Nick Suzuki? Below, we predict two types of breakout candidates: players who will jump from "OK" to "good" (like LaCombe) and players who will jump from "good" to "great" (like Suzuki).
Zack Bolduc, Canadiens
Type of breakout: OK to good
Bolduc authored one of the finest late-season performances in the NHL - 13 goals in 26 games following the 4 Nations Face-Off to cap an impressive rookie campaign. The Canadiens were clearly watching closely. In July, they acquired Bolduc from the Blues for fellow 2022 first-round draft pick Logan Mailloux.
Bolduc brings a hard-nosed element to Montreal's forward group as a speedy, forecheck-loving winger. He can slot anywhere in the lineup at five-on-five and assume the bumper role on the power play. Armed with a bullet of a shot, Bolduc was a prolific sniper in junior and has so far been efficient in the NHL, scoring on 15.2% of his shots on goal through 97 games.
The most revealing bit from his statistical profile: St. Louis outscored the opposition 38-20 last season when Bolduc was on the ice at five-on-five.
Dylan Guenther, Mammoth
Type of breakout: Good to great
Guenther is a thoroughbred sniper. His release is lightning quick and deceptive. He's capable of getting "lost" in coverage and is always the first to backcheck if things go awry - in other words, a playmaker's dream. He lives to score goals.
Appropriately nicknamed "Gunner," the right-shot winger missed 12 contests last year. The injury killed some of Guenther's momentum, but he still managed to lead the Mammoth in game-winning goals (nine) and power-play goals (12), and he finished second in total goals (27) and shots on goal (204).
Guenther, 22, and center Logan Cooley have chemistry. JJ Peterka, acquired in the offseason, could become the third member of an explosive young line.
While Utah's supporters and hardcore NHL fans elsewhere are well aware of Guenther's tantalizing skill set and sky-high ceiling as a player, the 2025-26 season could be his official mainstream coming-out party. Forty goals?
Lian Bichsel, Stars
Type of breakout: OK to good
Bichsel, listed at 6-foot-7 and 231 pounds, loves laying the body and is happy to absorb a check to make a play. Among 221 defensemen who logged 500-plus minutes last season, he finished first in hits delivered per 60 minutes of action and second in hits received per 60.
Make no mistake, the Swiss blue-liner won't post eye-popping point totals during his career. He's a shutdown defenseman, full stop. However, Bichsel is mobile for his size and can move the puck well enough to hold his own in key situations.
Dallas' back end has defined tiers right now: Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley in Tier 1, Esa Lindell in Tier 2, and Ilya Lyubushkin, Nils Lundkvist, and Bichsel in Tier 3. It'd be surprising if Bichsel, who's impressed the club through 56 NHL games, doesn't level up to Tier 2 by season's end.
Jake Sanderson, Senators
Type of breakout: Good to great
Name a metric that captures the nuances of the defenseman position, and there's a good chance Sanderson finished last campaign in the top 25, if not top 10, in the entire league. The 23-year-old workhorse controls the game with spectacular skating ability, next-level smarts, and an extremely active stick.
Sanderson's approaching Jaccob Slavin-level defensive dominance but actually has better offensive tools. (The Senator tied for 10th in total points and had the second-most power-play points among defensemen in 2024-25.)
Sanderson demanded the hockey world's attention with a strong performance in two games at the 4 Nations, and, despite stiff competition, will challenge for a spot on Team USA's Olympic squad. Trip to Milan or not, expect him to be in the middle of the Norris Trophy conversation for years to come. He's that automatic.
Will Cuylle, Rangers
Type of breakout: OK to good
Cuylle, 23, broke out to some extent last season by compiling 45 points in 82 games as a sophomore. In fact, he was the only NHLer to bag 20 goals and issue 300 hits. What a player - and he has at least one more gear to reach.
Chris Kreider is no longer a Ranger following a June trade to Anaheim, which means Cuylle will be in the spotlight moving forward. He now occupies a premium winger spot at even strength and is the main net-front guy on the power play.
Cuylle can be the New York version of Toronto's Matthew Knies. Both have linebacker size and strength, excel along the walls in all three zones, and can alternate between retrieving pucks and finishing scoring chances.
Macklin Celebrini, Sharks
Type of breakout: Good to great
Celebrini finished third in Calder Trophy voting last season, partly because the surface-level narrative wasn't overly compelling. He sat out a chunk of games due to injury, the Sharks missed the playoffs by 44 points, and his raw production - 63 points in 70 games - was noteworthy but not mind-blowing.
Shift to shift, though, Celebrini looked phenomenal. He won the third-most puck battles in the NHL, generated scoring chances at an exceptionally high rate, and consistently transported the puck safely from zone to zone.
Celebrini, now 19, simultaneously resembled a 10-year All-Star (with a polished game) and a rookie (just getting started). He's on the cusp of superstardom.
"He's really hungry. You could see last year. As the season went on, he got better and better," Penguins great Sidney Crosby said in early September.
Crosby got to know Celebrini at the 2025 world championships in May and the Olympic orientation camp in August. He then invited the youngster and his San Jose teammate, Will Smith, to Nova Scotia for a few days of private training.
"He's even better than he was at worlds, (improving greatly) even over a couple of months," Crosby said of those on-ice sessions out east.
Jake Neighbours, Blues
Type of breakout: OK to good
Neighbours, a shoot-first winger, scored a combined 49 goals over the past two regular seasons. He put up six points in his first seven playoff games this spring as the Blues lost to the Jets in the opening round. Neighbours' name surfaced in offseason trade rumors, firing up Sabres fans about the possibility of him being a key piece in a move that would send Bowen Byram to St. Louis.
Is the first 30-goal campaign of Neighbours' young career next?
Like Cuylle, Neighbours possesses an enviable mix of size, strength, and skill that coaches drool over and star players - in this case, No. 1 center Robert Thomas - crave in a linemate. He's good at leveraging his thick frame (6-foot, 201 pounds) to get high-quality puck touches in and around the opposing net.
Lukas Dostal, Ducks
Type of breakout: Good to great
Dostal is just 25, but he's already proven he can be a reliable No. 1 goalie. His league-wide stock would be much higher if he played in a Canadian market.
Dostal had an underrated 2024-25, ranking ninth in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes among netminders with 40 or more appearances. The Czech native's 0.40 GSAE/60 rate was right behind Dustin Wolf, Igor Shesterkin, and Linus Ullmark. What's more, no goalie "stole" more games over the course of the season than Dostal. (A steal, according to Sportlogiq, is awarded to a goalie when his GSAE value is the difference in the game's final score. Dostal and Filip Gustavsson of the Wild each recorded nine).
Veteran John Gibson's departure is another reason to keep an eye on Dostal. The Ducks, who are on the upswing, fully believe in their guy. Dostal's entering the first season of a five-year extension paying him $32.5 million.
Mackie Samoskevich, Panthers
Type of breakout: OK to good
Samoskevich checks off key boxes of a breakout player.
Coming off a quietly productive season - check. The sharp-shooting winger posted 15 goals, including five game-winners, and 16 assists for a 31-point first full season. Logging only 13:19 a night over 72 games, Samoskevich's 0.94 goals per 60 minutes ranked fourth among all Panthers.
Starting the new campaign in an elevated role - check. Matthew Tkachuk is expected to be sidelined until December, so the Panthers need Samoskevich to fill a top-six spot at even strength. He'll also get a look on the power play.
Playing for a raise - check. Samoskevich, 22, signed a one-year, $775,000 extension in July to help keep the band together in Florida. His next deal won't be so team-friendly if his play and numbers continue to trend upward.
Dylan Samberg, Jets
Type of breakout: Good to great
Samberg, a late bloomer, is the oldest player on this list and also plays the least sexy brand of hockey. That said, he blossomed into a needle-moving shutdown defender last season and surely has more to give in Winnipeg.
Samberg, 26, is a master of the finer details - controlling gaps, blocking shots, angling at the blue lines, killing plays with his stick - that lead to strong results in rush and net-front defense. He logged the fourth-most minutes among Jets defensemen in 2024-25 while skating alongside childhood buddy Neal Pionk on the second pair. In July, he inked a three-year contract extension.
Can Samberg develop a meaningful offensive game? Can he close the gap between him and top dog Josh Morrissey, as far as role and overall impact?
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter/X (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).
