This week we are on to Part Two of our Core Four with Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville and San Jose.

The Core should be players from each roster who are the foundation for their team's roster over the next three to five years.

Ideally, players should be between the ages of 22 and 27 and either approaching their peak or already in it.

Here were the articles leading into 2024-25 for Core Fours. Part One, Two and Three

Here are this week's Core Four:

Edmonton Oilers (2024-25 Core: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman)

Connor McDavid (F) (28.6)

There is some concern in Edmonton as McDavid enters the last year under contract with the Oilers in 2025-26. He's saying all the right things to assuage the fears of the fans, but one never knows until an extension is signed. 

After putting up 64 goals and 89 assists for 153 points in 2022-23, McDavid has produced 32 goals in 76 games and 26 goals in 67 games. His shots on goal have declined from 4.3/g to 3.5 and 2.9. I'm not sure how 100 points in 67 games during 2024-25 can be deemed an off-year, but for McDavid it certainly was.

In my mind, he is still the best forward in the NHL, and Edmonton needs to max out whatever they need to give him to keep him in Edmonton.

Leon Draisaitl (F) (29.9)

Draisaitl has scored 50 goals or more, four times and posted 100 points, six times in his career. He had 52 goals in 71 games, which included 36 ES goals (which was a career-high). He is signed for the next eight years at $14 million AAV.

The only fear in fantasy with Draisaitl and McDavid is that the Oilers load manage both and have them play 70-75 games during the regular season.

Evan Bouchard (D) (25.9)

Bouchard has 149 regular season points in his last 162 games (0.92/g) and 20 goals and 61 assists in his 75 career playoff games. He's a legitimate 70–80-point producer who helps run one of the most lethal power plays in the NHL.

He has his defensive shortcomings, but overall Bouchard is a top 15 defender in the NHL if he is producing. Bouchard has four years remaining at $10.5 million AAV. 

Zach Hyman (F) (33.2)

One could argue for the inclusion of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Darnell Nurse here in place of Hyman but I'm hoping that his 54 goals in 2023-24 and his 27 goals in 2024-25 will be split down the middle in 2025-26 and Hyman gets back up to around 35-40 goals.

Neither Nugent-Hopkins or Nurse really stepped up in 2024-25 to warrant inclusion in my opinion.

He might miss the first month of the campaign with his wrist injury that he incurred in the playoffs last year, but the Oilers need him to be much better once he returns than he was in 2024-25. He has three years remaining at $5.5 million AAV.

Los Angeles Kings (2024-25 Core: Quinton Byfield, Drew Doughty, Kevin Fiala, Anze Kopitar)

Quinton Byfield (F) (23.0)

Byfield had 23 goals and 31 assists in 81 games in 2024-25, where he played more down the middle than he had in the past (416 faceoff wins compared to his previous high of 124 in 2021-22).

He didn't make another step up in production from his 55 points in 2023-24 but did see an increase in ice time from 16:29 to 18:37 per game. His power play usage remained at 47.3% compared to 46.4% in 2023-24. He set a career-high in hits with 80 over his previous high of 66.

With Anze Kopitar announcing that this would be his last season, Byfield should be the heir apparent for the first line centre role, if he proves he can handle the role in 2025-26. He is signed for four more years at $6.25 million AAV.

Kevin Fiala (F) (29.1)

Fiala has played 232 NHL games with Los Angeles and has produced 87 goals and 205 points (0.88/g) over the past three seasons.

He's become a steady point producer for the Kings between 65-75 points per season and is signed for the next four years at $7.875 million AAV. He led the Kings with 25 points on the power play in 2024-25 and is a vital part of the first unit.

Adrian Kempe (F) (29.0)

Kempe's inclusion here, relies on him re-signing with the Kings as he enters 2025-26 going into the last year under contract with them.

He led the Kings in scoring with 35 goals and 73 points in 2024-25 and has thrown at least 100 hits in each of the past four seasons.

With Kopitar's impending retirement, it puts the King's window of winning very much into 2025-26 and that includes Kempe's future on their roster.

Brandt Clarke (D) (22.6)

It's hard to justify putting Drew Doughty here who will be turning 36 during the next season. Doughty played just 30 games in 2024-25 and it's time for Clarke to inherit the spotlight in the coming years.

He had five goals and 33 points in 78 games as a rookie but has some adapting to do to get to the next level in the NHL.

Look for his power play time to grow (41.1%) and his ice time (16:17) to increase steadily in the next year or two.

It is strange to not include Kopitar and Doughty here as they have been core fixtures in Los Angeles for the past 15 years or more.

Minnesota Wild (2024-25 Core: Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, Brock Faber)

Kirill Kaprizov (F) (28.3)

The Wild management and fans have been thrown into a bit of chaos with the news/rumor that Kaprizov turned down $16 million AAV over eight years.

This is the equivalent to McDavid not re-signing in Edmonton. Whether Kaprizov is on this list next year for the Wild will be determined.

Kaprizov has posted 185 goals and 386 points in 319 games (1.21/g) with the Wild over the past five years.

He played just 41 games in 2024-25 and the Wild somehow finished with a record of 45-30-7.

Joel Eriksson Ek (F) (28.6)

Eriksson Ek played just 46 games in 2024-25 and put up 14 goals and 14 assists (0.61/g). It was the first time in his previous seven seasons that he hadn't improved his points per game pace going from 0.21/g in 2017-18 to 0.83/g in 2023-24.

While Eriksson Ek might not produce more than 55-65 points each year, he provides around 150 hits, 60 blocks and 700 face off wins annually.

Matt Boldy (F) (24.4)

Boldy had a career-high of 73 points in 82 games (0.89/g) in 2024-25 while averaging 20:17 per game. He might see some reduction in ice time in 2025-26 as both Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov should play more than 46 and 41 games each.

He doesn't play much at even strength with either Kaprizov or Eriksson Ek, and has proved that he can produce on a line no matter who is there.

Marco Rossi (F) (23.9)

There were some rumblings that Rossi was on the trade block during this past summer. They did re-sign him for three years at $5 million AAV so that might have deferred that topic for a year or two.

He set career-highs in goals (24) and points (60) in 82 games during 2024-25. His ice time increased from 16:44 to 18:15 and his face off wins went from 335 to 464.

Unless he shoots more often (1.7/g), he might have reached his ceiling at around 20-25 goals.

The Wild are hoping that Zeev Buium is a consideration to be on this list next year.

Last year, we had Brock Faber (23.0) here, but his play fell off a little bit in 2024-25 with 10 goals and 19 assists in 78 games while he averaged 25:32 per game. I believe Faber will be top pairing defender on the Wild for a few more years, but that the offensive role will be Buium's.

Filip Gustavsson (G) (27.2) was also a consideration here after a record of 31-19-6 and a save percentage of 91.4, but he'll have to do it again next year to cement a spot.

Nashville Predators (2024-25 Core: Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Roman Josi, Juuse Saros)

Filip Forsberg (F) (31.1)

Forsberg has five years remaining at $8.5 million AAV and was the best Predator in 2024-25 with 31 goals and 45 assists in 82 games (0.93/g), to go along with 151 hits and 52 blocks.

He has back-to-back 82 game seasons after not playing more than 69 games in any of the six years prior.

Roman Josi (D) (35.2)

The good news is that Josi is as healthy as he can be for 2025-26 and should start the season from game one. He was limited to just 53 games in 2024-25 and put up 38 points which was his lowest output since 2020-21 when he had 33 points in 48 games.

Will Josi be 100% of the player that he has been in recent campaigns at the age of 35 and with his particular condition? Probably not, but he should be the best player on this roster for 2025-26. He is signed for three more years at $9.059 million AAV.

Juuse Saros (G) (30.4)

Saros had his first sub 90% save percentage in his career since coming into the league in 2016-17 (not including the one game in 2015-16). He had a record of 20-31-6 with a save percentage of 89.6% and a GSAA of negative 10.86.

Saros is signed for the next eight years at $7.74 million AAV, so the Predators need him to be the goalie he was in 2023-24 and before.

Steven Stamkos (F) (35.6)/Jonathan Marchessault (F) (34.7)

The Predators need at least one and hopefully both Stamkos and Marchessault to grab the horns and be a Core piece on this team for 2025-26. What they got in 2024-25 was not that.

They need 30-40 goals from both of these guys and 70-75 points at the very least. If they can get that, then this team has a shot at the playoffs.

Stamkos needs more than 12 ES goals. He has three more years at $8 million AAV.

Marchessault had 21 goals and 36 assists in 78 games but had 23 power play points. His 34 ES points was his worst production since 2016-17 when had 33 ES points in 75 games.

Nashville's window is closing rapidly.

San Jose Sharks (2024-25 Core: Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, Tyler Toffoli, Yaroslav Askarov)

Macklin Celebrini (F) (19.2)

Celebrini came in as an 18-year old rookie in 2024-25 and established himself as the best player on the Sharks within a game or two. He finished with 25 goals and 38 assists in 70 games (0.9/g). He also won 506 faceoffs at a 48.2 percent clip. Compare that to other rookies that come in at his age and most are under 40 percent.

The sky is the limit for this kid. The Sharks need to surround him with young talent and let them grow together over the next four or five years.

William Eklund (F) (22.9)

Eklund had career-highs in goals (17), assists (41) and points (58) in 77 games. His ice time went from 18:40 to 19:33 and his power play time was 58.0% down from 64.2%.

He doesn't project to be a huge goal scorer in the NHL as he hovers around 2.0 shots on goal per game, so 25-30 might be his ceiling unless he drastically increases his shots on goal.

I think he'll be a 20-25 goal and 50-55 assist type player at some point.

Yaroslav Askarov (G) (23.2)

The Sharks traded for Askarov to be their core goalie in a few years. They need to do whatever they have to in order to make him that by 2026-27.

He played just 13 NHL games for the Sharks in 2024-25 and had a record of 4-6-2 with a save percentage of 89.6.

If he doesn't play 35-45 games for San Jose in 2025-26, then something has gone wrong with his development and he won't be on this list come next year.

Will Smith (F) (20.5)

Smith had 18 goals and 27 assists in 74 games as a 19-year old rookie in 2024-25. The fourth overall pick in 2023 should improve on that in 2025-26 and perhaps see more than 15:51 of icetime per game and increase his 45.1% time on the power play.

He had just 13 hits and 16 blocks, so won't help out in any banger leagues now or in the future.

Players like Michael Misa (18.5), Quentin Musty (20.2) and Sam Dickinson (19.2) could be on this list in the next two to four years.

Next week we will continue on with our last installment and look at Seattle, St. Louis, Utah, Vancouver, Vegas and Winnipeg.

Thanks very much for reading. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter @gampbler15.