Can New York’s Matthew Schaefer, San Jose’s Michael Misa, or one of the other blue-chip prospects selected at the 2025 NHL Draft have an impact as soon as next season?

The NHL is increasingly a young man’s game, and organizations have changed their approach to roster building accordingly.

The league skews heavily towards players aged in their mid-20s for two critical reasons. The first is that, time and again, hockey aging curves show a player’s mid-20s are his peak performance years. The second concerns contracts – the league’s collective bargaining agreement typically puts players under team control earlier in their careers, limiting exposure to the league’s broader market. That can keep salaries in check in most cases, at least until a player is eligible for unrestricted free agency.

That said, the success rate of extremely young skaters is fleeting at best and reserved typically for the game’s elite. Most high-grade prospects will spend........

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