Adam Benak Shines at Wild's Prospect Showcase

Adam Benak showed up to the Minnesota Wild's prospect showcase this weekend and completely showed out. The 2025 fourth-round pick was going to potentially be overshadowed by the likes of Danila Yurov and Zeev Buium at this pre-season exhibition, but should be considered closer to that tier of future members of this team than before.

The 5-foot-8 forward was motoring all over the ice. Breaking up plays, having his own scoring chances, and of course setting up a whole lot for his teammates.

Benak is heading to the OHL's Brantford Bulldogs this upcoming season after playing last year with the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms. He is slowly climbing the ladder to potentially be one of those players where his size doesn't hold him back. And the Wild got him in the fourth round. Nuts.

• More on Benak and how both the Wild and the player are confident that he will prove a whole lot of people wrong. [The Athletic]
• We might have to start thinking about this world. What would a post-Kaprizov Wild team look like? [Hockey Wilderness]

Off the trail...

• After losing his job with the Dallas Stars, Peter Deboer regrets singling out Jake Oettinger as a reason why they lost in the playoffs. Yeah, duh. [TheScore]
• A trade and we haven't even started training camps. The Philadelphia Flyers have sent 6-foot-8 netminder Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a sixth-round pick. Flyers clear up some of their goaltending depth chart and Blue Jackets get a goalie. [NHL.com]