NHL Prospect Watch: Dallas Stars
Ahead of the 2025-26 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. This series will highlight current and former WHLers who are signed to an NHL contract, have recently been drafted by an NHL team, or meet the NHL’s definition of a rookie. And boy howdy, do the Dallas Stars prospects shine bright.
Brandon Gorzynski
Mr. Score-zynski, come on down! The 6-foot-2, 182-pound winger worked his way up from an extra forward to a top-six forward and penalty kill whiz on the powerhouse Calgary Hitmen in 2024-25. Gorzynski tallied 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points in all 68 regular-season games in 2024-25. Gorzynski tied for seventh on the team in goals and plus/minus (+27) and eighth in assists and points. His eight playoff points (4G-4A) were also among the best on the team as the Hitmen reached Game 7 of the second round. Dallas selected the Scottsdale, Ariz. product with the 126th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Since being chosen by Calgary in the first round of the 2022 WHL U.S. Priority Draft, Gorzynski has put up 21 goals and 30 assists for 51 points in 110 regular-season games.
Consider this an official motion to legally change Brandon Gorzynski's name to Brandon Scorezynski.@WHLHitmen | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/92lzZj59s2
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 23, 2025
Niilopekka Muhonen
What a year it’s been for Niilopekka Muhonen. After the Stars snapped him up with the 158th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, Muhonen made the jump overseas to join the Medicine Hat Tigers. The 6-foot-5, 214-pound rearguard strung together four goals and 13 assists for 17 points and a +20 rating in 60 regular-season games to help the Tabbies clinch first place in the Eastern Conference. Muhonen added another goal and two assists in 18 playoff games, including the game-opening goal in Game 5 of the 2025 WHL Championship Series en route to an Ed Chynoweth Cup win. The Kupio, Finland product went on to appear in all four games for Medicine Hat at the 2025 Memorial Cup and signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Stars in early July.
A Pekka bomb from Muhonen opens the scoring!
🍎Pacheco pic.twitter.com/GIHGxkWVVp
— Medicine Hat Tigers (@tigershockey) May 17, 2025
Cameron Schmidt
Did the Stars pull off the steal of the 2025 NHL Draft? While the Stars had to wait until the third round to make the team’s first selection, they wasted no time in taking speedy forward Cameron Schmidt at 94th overall. The 5-foot-8, 161-pound winger erupted for 40 goals (including 10 multi-goal games) and 38 assists for 78 points in 61 regular-season games with the Vancouver Giants. Schmidt led the Giants in points and goals, while tying for seventh in goals and game-winning goals (seven) across the entire WHL. In the postseason, he bagged another nine points (4G-5A) in five games, though Vancouver couldn’t get past the eventual Western Conference champion Spokane Chiefs. Schmidt was also chosen to represent the WHL at the first-ever CHL-USA Prospects Challenge, where he registered a game-winning goal and an assist in two wins for the CHL. The Prince George, B.C. product also added a pair of gold medals to his trophy case after wins at the 2024 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup (3G-1A) and 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship (2G-2A).
More highs than a DCC kickline 🤩
Get into Cameron Schmidt's dynamic goal-scoring ability!@DallasStars | #TexasHockey | @WHLGiants | #NHLDraft2025 pic.twitter.com/bfRCr87buJ
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 28, 2025
Matthew Seminoff
The 21-year-old forward split his second professional season between the AHL’s Texas Stars, where he scored two goals and seven assists for nine points in 56 games, and the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads, where he added another two goals and three assists in five contests. Born in Virginia but raised in the Lower Mainland, Seminoff played his entire junior career with the Kamloops Blazers, earning the ‘A’ in his final season and piling up 170 points (73G-97A) in 196 career regular season games. He also averaged just shy of a point-per-game in the postseason, totalling 28 points (16G-12A) in 31 contests over two trips to the WHL Playoffs and tacking on three goals and two assists at the 2023 Memorial Cup.
🚨 SEMINOFF 🚨
On the @idaho_central power-play 92 seconds into the third and it's a one goal game!!!
🍏 Register, MacEachern pic.twitter.com/NIsuOiyuts
— Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads) February 16, 2025
Chase Wheatcroft
The former WHL All-Star kicked up the pace in his second season with the Texas Stars, snagging 10 goals (including one game-winner) and 17 assists for 27 points in 67 contests, highlighted by a five-game point streak (3G-4A) to kick off the 2024-25 regular season. He also booked his first trip to the AHL Playoffs, where he made eight appearances to help the Stars reach the conference finals. Wheatcroft, 23, finished ninth on the team in goals. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound forward split his junior career between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince George Cougars, netting 78 goals and 111 assists for 189 points in 205 regular-season games over four seasons. Wheatcroft popped off for a monster 107-point (47G-60A) campaign in 2022-23, finishing second only to Connor Bedard in the WHL scoring race. The statement season was enough to earn the Calgarian a three-year, entry-level deal with Dallas as an undrafted free agent.
brings the puck in the zone ✅
draws a hooking penalty ✅
creates a play ✅
cleans up the rebound ✅Chase Wheatcroft, everybody. 👏 pic.twitter.com/tSLxIIP8OZ
— Texas Stars (@TexasStars) March 22, 2025
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