The return of Down on the Farm is right around the corner. Prospect seasons are underway. 2024 third-round goalie Kim Saarinen started HPK’s first regular-season game in Liiga, turning away 29 of 31 shots through regulation and overtime, only to lose in a shootout. 2025 fifth-round pick Maxim Agafonov has already played three regular-season games for his VHL club Toros Neftekamsk. (More on that in a moment.)

For now, we’ll continue with a Rookie Camp edition of Friday Film Room, breaking down on video of Julius Miettinen, the aforementioned Agafonov, and Jakub Fibigr. One tweak I’m making this week is to include a “best-case peak projection” alongside the “50th-percentile peak projection” I have been providing previously.

The former is what it sounds like: If everything comes together for this player, what could he become and when will he get there? The latter projection is an attempt to predict an “average” peak outcome and “average” timeframe to get there. If you have questions or Film Room requests, don’t hesitate to reach out below or on social media @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.

Julius Miettinen | Forward | 19 years old | 2024 second-round pick (unsigned)

Video: All Shifts | Everett Silvertips vs. Portland Winterhawks (AHL) | Apr. 16, 2025

Notes: Julius Miettinen is a workhorse with the size, physicality, and skating to be an NHL player. He can show pro-ready defensive skill and compete at times, too—particularly when the difficulty of the situation ratchets up. I thought his play at the 2025 World Junior Championship was a particularly compelling argument for Miettinen’s pro projection. He used his size to gain productive net-front positioning and win puck battles, and he used speed and anticipation to disrupt on the penalty kill and press the play on the forecheck. He was one of Finland’s best players en route to a round-robin victory over the more-talented United States and event runner-up status.

In junior, he was an indispensable player from the center position for the Everett Silvertips last season, often finding a way to score a gritty goal when his team most needed it. His ability to take tough matchups and win critical draws was also essential to Everett’s success. That said, there were quiet stretches for the player and times where his skill level with the puck on his stick looked closer to average by CHL standards. He’s not going to overwhelm in transition or off the rush, preferring to work in a support role that creates advantages for his teammates. This limited his point production and tempers his high-end projection.

2025-26 season outlook: Leading Everett (WHL) and Team Finland (WJC) in top-six roles, and developing his consistency and offensive production.

System rank: No. 7 (No. 6 forward)

Best-case projection: NHL third-line center (ETA: mid-2027-28) | 50th percentile projection: NHL fourth-line center (ETA: 2028-29)

Maxim Agafonov | Defenseman | 18 years old | 2025 fifth-round pick (unsigned)

Video: All Shifts | Toros Neftekamsk v. Magnitka Magnitogorsk (VHL) | Sept. 8, 2025

Notes: As mentioned above, Agafonov’s 2025-26 season is already underway in Russia at the second-tier professional level VHL—a league that is often analogized by scouts to ECHL-level competition. This is strong experience for the 18-year-old defender, and if first impressions are any indication, he’s on solid footing at this professional level. In the Sept. 8, 2025, game excerpted above, Agafonov was deployed in a second-pair, power-play quarterback role, and his broad skillset translated.

He looks sturdier this season in his 6-foot-2 frame when compared with the player I saw last season. Even playing against older competition he was willing to engage physically at the net front and along the boards, and he held his own. If he can continue to add muscle, he’ll really look the part of a professional defenseman.

Agafonov moved the puck capably through the neutral zone, effectively reading when he had the advantage to take open ice and connecting on stretch passes. In the offensive zone, the skill level is there to be an effective shooter and passer from the blue line. At times he uses his skating to cycle down lower into the offensive zone to create advantages, which is a good sign that the offensive production should tick up.

Questions remain about his overall hockey sense and defensive instincts. He seemed to drift and lose his mark in the defensive zone at times, conceding open net-front advantages. The physicality and fundamentals in his own zone need to progress, but this is not atypical for a young player. I don’t see a true carrying trait but a broad set of skills that could carry him higher than his draft status might have suggested if he can continue to make across-the-board progress.

2025-26 season outlook: Regular playing time for Toros Neftekamsk (VHL).

System rank: Outside the top 20

Best-case projection: NHL third-pair defenseman (ETA: 2027-28)| 50th percentile projection: AHL second-pair defenseman (ETA: 2028-29)

Jakub Fibigr | Defenseman | 19 years old | 2024 seventh-round pick (unsigned)

Video: All Shifts | Czechia vs. Switzerland (U20 Five Nations) | August 30, 2025

Notes: Fibigir’s 2024-25 season with the Brampton Steelheads was quieter from a point-production perspective than I would have anticipated, but his role never waned, and I saw strides defensively from a player that struggled at times in that regard as an OHL rookie the year before. He also continues to earn opportunities at the international level from Team Czechia in a top-four, power-play role—like he did at the 2025 U20 Five Nations tournament a couple weeks ago. All of this suggests to me that he’s well regarded by the coaches that work with him.

In the defensive zone, he leverages above-average skating skill and creativity to break the forecheck and quickly outlet the puck to teammates. He’ll disrupt the play at the blue line or along the boards at times, but overall could use a bit more decisiveness in his reads in those areas. He has enough skating speed to be a factor in transition offensively and save breakaways on the back check.

In the offensive zone, he has adequate skill with the puck on his stick at the blue line to find open teammates and get his shots through on net. I’d anticipate that the point production finally ticks up for Fibigr in the year ahead.

2025-26 season outlook: Top-four and power-play role for Brampton Steelheads (OHL)

System rank: Outside the top 20

Best-case projection: NHL No. 6 or No. 7 defenseman (ETA: 2028-29)| 50th percentile projection: Multi-year AHL second-pair defenseman (ETA: 2027-28)