The start of the USHL regular season began last week with the annual Fall Classic in Pittsburgh. Although numerous NHL prospects compete in this league, perhaps the one garnering the most attention at the moment is Youngstown Phantoms’ forward Adam Benak. The young Czech is 2025 draft-eligible, and already has experienced much success in international competition. As the attached article by FloHockey points out, Benak had two critical points in Pittsburgh, including the assist on the game-wining overtime goal in Youngstown’s opener. This comes on the heels of a pre-season effort in which he tallied nine points in three games for the Phantoms.
Opposite Benak, an off-the-radar player who caught my attention is Chicago Steel defenseman Arseni Marchenko from Belarus. Not only is Marchenko hard to miss from a physical standpoint (6’6″, 207 lbs.), he showed good mobility for a man his size. He also appears to have a penchant for joining the rush to create odd man situations, and possesses the vision to contribute offensively. Whether he will sustain this level of play for a full season remains to be seen, as he is an unproven commodity at this point.
Sticking with Chicago, my final thought pertains to Steel forward and University of Michigan commit Alexander Hage. The Canadian forward is the brother of former Chicago Steel player and current U of M Wolverine Michael Hage (Montreal 2024 1st rounder, 24th overall), and is 2026 draft-eligible. He possesses the speed and skill to be near the top of the draft board at that time.
Best of luck to these players this season.
https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2025-nhl-draft-september-watch-list
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/620132/arseni-marchenko