Top NHL prospect rankings: Schaefer, Hagens, Martone, more - ESPN

Hockey season is underway around the world, and we've had a month to watch the NHL's top prospects. Teams with draft picks aplenty over the past few years will have many prospects featured on this top 50 affiliated prospects list.

Here are the criteria: Any player who is under 23, with less than 50 NHL games played, is eligible. The rankings account for the player's current performances, his NHL projection, his development curve and his age.

The Islanders lead the list with five in my top 50, followed by the Blackhawks, Sharks and Mammoth with four apiece.

2025 draft: Tracker | Grades
2024 draft: Tracker | Grades

Had this list dropped prior to the start of the NHL season, Schaefer would have been second. His play has been impossible to ignore, as he is averaging well over 20 minutes of ice time per game and is the only defenseman in NHL history to record a point in his first five games as an 18-year-old.

Schaefer has been nothing short of incredible to start his NHL career, earning himself the quarterback role on the Isles' top power-play unit.

The smooth-skating defender has held his own against some of the league's best offensive players, and coach Patrick Roy has been effusive in his praise for the youngest player in league history to play more than 25 minutes in a game. It is rare that a defenseman enters the lineup as an 18-year-old (barely) and provides value offensively and defensively. He leads the Isles' defensemen in 5-on-5 time on ice, points, shots on goal and shot attempts, and has a positive expected goals share.

The sky is the limit; Schaefer is off to a brilliant start and has a real chance to be one of the league's elite at the position.

The Calder Trophy favorite came into the season as the must-see