Last season all four players we spotlighted as potential NHL debutees for 2025-26 ended up making their debut (gotta give some props for the Ben Kindel inclusion). Add in Jake Livanavage and Sergei Murashov and six players took rookie laps ahead of their first game last year, not counting goalie Taylor Gauthier who sat on the bench for a game serving as backup without actually playing.
Who could be up for a first career NHL game this season?
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The pickens are slim in that area. The Ruck twins aren’t expected to make the monumental WHL to NHL leap that Kindel did, and since Murashov and Harrison Brunicke have already played in the big league, there aren’t too many young players with strong cases to make debuts right off the bat. It’s more of a reload year in terms of the new additions that will need some time.
There could be a few choices, let’s get at it.
Bill Zonnon
The 2025 first round pick made a splash by scoring a goal in each of his first three pro games in the AHL playoffs this spring to jump onto the scene and announce his arrival. Zonnon only turns 20 in October, he’s almost certain to spend the bulk – if not the entirety- of the 2026-27 season with Wilkes. The Penguins did bring in David Gustafsson to play in a Joona Koppanen type of swing role, and Tristan Broz is still around too, so it would take quite the confluence with the timing of injuries and excellent performance for Zonnon to get an opportunity at center. Never say never, it’s a long now 84-game schedule and wouldn’t be a complete shock to see Zonnon make his NHL debut sooner than later if he keeps on the same upward trajectory that he’s been on. 2026-27 might be one year too soon to feel confident about calling the shot before he really gets into the mix, but he’s certainly somewhere on the radar.
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Oliver Okluliar
OK, get your Conor McGregor ‘who the fook is that guy’ out of the way first and we’ll continue. Okuliar was acquired over the summer, he’s a 26-year old forward who did well in the AHL in his lone season in 2024-25 (41 points in 69 games with Charlotte), did well last year in Sweden (29 points in 41 games with Skelleftea) and scored a goal for Slovakia in the 2026 Olympics. Okuliar is a physical winger that forechecks hard, has limited skating and skill but isn’t a stretch to imagine him fitting in for a fourth line role for a few games in the middle of the season when some other players on the team get banged up. That can be hard to imagine at this point with the Pens flush with forwards at the moment, but keep in mind that Pittsburgh used seven forwards in NHL games last year that started the season in AHL Wilkes-Barre. It doesn’t take a lot to see a game or two from players that start out very deep within the organization.
Mikhail Ilyin
Ilyin fits in the Zonnon category of feeling more comfortable to predict an NHL debut in 2027-28, but the 21-year old Russian has too much skill to ignore as a possibility. Ilyin has the playmaking chops that made him one of the most productive teenaged players in KHL history, and he acquitted himself well in the AHL playoffs with nine points in 15 games. He might require some patience and acclimation time to adjust to the North American style of game, but again from the note above, lots of AHL players get at least a look in the NHL within this organization over the course of a season. It’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where Ilyin excels in the AHL enough to merit an opportunity at some point during the 2026-27 campaign.
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That’s about it for this year, players like Chase Pietila and Finn Harding could be considered extreme longshots, but considering the depth at their position (right handed defensemen) it would be tough to see them with a pathway to the NHL this season. Similarly, it would take three goalies injured or sick at the same time for Gauthier to work his way up to the backup spot so he doesn’t look likely to make an NHL appearance this year. Some might squint and see a possibility for Tanner Howe or Melvin Fernstrom, but that looks too remote at this point given where their games are at coming into the season.
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