Amid a host of unknowns heading into the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ 2025-26 campaign, one word skates above any degree of uncertainty: youth. The Firebirds, who own the American Hockey League’s youngest roster, entered their fourth season sporting a cast of 17 players who are 23 years old or younger. A few of those teammates are too young to walk into a bar and order a beer.
A far cry from previous Firebirds rosters led by veteran free agents, this fresh-faced version of the team amply sports five years of draft picks by its NHL parent club, the Seattle Kraken. “[It’s] a very young roster, with just five players who aren’t on their entry-level contracts,” says Troy Bodie, the Firebirds’ vice president of hockey and business operations. “But, I think it’s quite an advantage to have so many of our Kraken draft picks on the team. We’ve drafted well over the years, and this is a very talented and smart group – guys who are going to become fan favorites right from the start.”
Those seeds of nascence were planted last season when a mesh of vets and eight rookies saw the ’Birds fall in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. That represented the first time in team history that the squad didn’t advance to the league’s championship finals. “Our first two years, we were very veteran-heavy here, still waiting for a lot of our draft picks to mature to the age of coming into pro hockey,” Bodie says. “And then last year, we started to get a lot of these guys in here. So, we went from having veteran teams the first two seasons to last year’s team, which was younger. There was a lot of learning and teaching involved.”
Though the AHL – at its core – is a developmental league, a locker room of teachers and students doesn’t stamp the season ahead as a mere testing ground. “We’ve been preparing for this for years,” Bodie says. “Our player development group has done a very good job getting these guys ready.”
Baby Birds
In fact that the Firebirds don’t merely roster youth offers ample intrigue for the 2025-26 season. Rather, it’s a team of experienced youth. Of the 25-man opening day roster, 14 players were regulars on last year’s team. This includes 21-year-old net-minder Nikke Kokko, who finished last season ranked in the league’s top 15 across all key goalie metrics.
“It can be tough to think of second- or third-year players as veterans, but our roster has so many guys who got their feet wet last year and even the year before that,” Bodie says. “And these guys are now stepping into crucial offensive roles and very important shut-down roles.”
Key 2024-25 contributors Jani Nyman and Ryan Winterton earned opening-day roster spots with the Kraken this year. A cache of top returning prospects includes Jagger Firkus, Jacob Melanson, Ville Ottavainen, Eduard Sale, Ty Nelson, and Logan Morrison. Fleshing out the feathers are popular returning veterans John Hayden, Gustav Olofsson, Ian McKinnon, Mitchell Stephens, and Ben Meyers. Captain Max McCormick, still under contract, is out for the season after undergoing hip surgery. The mesh of vets and fresh legs is cause for optimism across the organization.
“If you look at our group, we had eight rookies last year that will become second-year players this season,” says Derek Laxdal, the Firebirds’ head coach. “And now, we have seven more rookies coming in for this year. But, I have a saying for the teams I’ve coached in the AHL and in junior hockey: ‘young and stubborn.’”
Between youth and experience, a focus on future Kraken will be magnified like no previous season. Just as Kokko shined in his rookie campaign and blue-liner Nelson evidenced impressive strides across his inaugural year, a trio of players will prove to be focal points in season four.
Defenseman Tyson Jugnauth is a 21-year-old Toronto native and the 100th overall pick in the 2022 draft. Last season in the WHL, he tallied 122 points in 83 games. That stellar season in junior hockey extended to a fine impression at this year’s Kraken camp. “[He’s] a very smooth, skilled, and smart hockey player,” Bodie says about Jugnauth. “He put up a lot of points in the WHL last year, of course. He’s the type of player … you just can’t teach a lot of the things that Tyson has. He reads the puck very well, very quick; reads and scans the power play very, very well.”
“If you look at the Hughes brothers in the NHL, if you look at Lane Hutson – last season’s NHL Rookie of the Year – I think Tyson fits in that category,” Laxdal concurs. "These are good, dynamic comparisons for him. He’s an exciting, fast-paced, fast-moving, handsy, offensive defenseman. He’s a guy that’s on the power play; he’s a breakout machine and has a very good head on him. I think our fans are going to be very excited to see how he grows.”
Frontliner Oscar Fisker-Mølgaard is only 20 years old, but the Danish native already sports three years of pro hockey in Sweden’s HV71 League. There, his 129 career games resulted in 47 points. “Oscar is a very intelligent, two-way player,” Bodie says. “Yes, he’s just 20, but he’s been playing against grown men over in Sweden for three seasons, along with three years on the Danish Men’s National Team. So, he’s got a bunch of experience playing high-level hockey. He’ll be a big part of our team.”
After coaching Fisker-Mølgaard in seven Firebirds games last year, Laxdal is equally enthused. “We talk about being ‘ripe on the vine’; well, Oscar is a guy that’s already starting to ripen,” he says. “[He’s] a very smooth-skating center-man, very well-rounded, 200-foot player. We expect him to take huge steps going forward.”
Forward Eduard Šalé is a 20-year-old native of the Czech Republic and the 20th overall pick in the 2023 draft. He started off sizzling for CV last season, with five goals in his first 25 games. Yet, after leading the Czechs to a third consecutive medal in the World Junior Championships during the CV season, he authored just one more score in his final 29 Firebirds contests. A rebound to form is anticipated.
“Eduard showed the flashes last year – a highly skilled and highly competitive player,” Bodie says of Šalé. “Being a 19-year-old in this league is so difficult; there are very few players in this league mature enough to play as a teenager. He got a great taste last year and had some very solid runs, but it’s difficult to maintain that as a 19-year-old. But, Eduard came into camp in top shape, and he very much impressed [us]. We expect big things from him this year.”
The AHL campaign traditionally starts with a slow schedule (the ‘Birds have only 18 games during October and November). But, the team’s staff members anticipate a rapid learning curve for the young bunch. “It’s important to know that, day by day, we’ll only be getting better,” Laxdal says. “The players are reaching for the ceiling. Between the culture, the fans, the environment in the arena, the leadership group we have – these kids are only going to improve. And that’s very exciting.”
Though a third return to the Calder Cup playoffs might be a lofty benchmark for this season, franchise expectations show no sign of being allayed. “There’s going to still be a learning curve along the way, but I’d like to see this group adapt quickly,” Bodie concludes. “I wanna see these guys compete hard in front of our fans; I don’t want to see them give up an inch. Having a competitive nature is non-negotiable for Firebirds. I want a team that our Valley can continue to be proud of.”
