Bruins Well Represented at NAHL's Top Prospects Tournament
NAHL Austin Bruins

Bruins Well Represented at NAHL's Top Prospects Tournament

Published on January 29, 2026 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Austin Bruins News Release


AUSTIN, MINN. - Six Austin Bruins players will be attending the North American Hockey League's Top Prospects Tournament in February. Captain Nathan Williams, Gus Elbert, Mikey Coleman, EJ Paddington, Alvin Elisson and Sam Kline were selected to represent the Bruins at the annual event, as announced on the league's official roster reveal show on Thursday. Additionally, Head Coach Steve Howard was named head coach for the Central Division. Bruins broadcaster David Koier was named as one of the broadcasters for the tournament.

Williams was named Captain of the team heading into his third season in the Black and Gold and took off running. The defenseman currently leads all NAHL blueliners in assists (39), power play assists (29) and plus/minus (+30) while sitting in second in points with 46. With a three point weekend against the Mallards, Williams extended his point streak to 13-straight games, going 5-17-22 in that span. The Wisconsin native wrote his name in Bruins history earlier this season when he passed Jack Malinski for most assists all time by a Bruins defenseman. Williams currently sits sixth all time in assists with 72, while his 138 games played places him 18th all time in Bruins history.

Elbert returned to the Bruins blue line after seeing action in 41 regular season games last season. The defenseman found his stride at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, finishing seven of his final 23 games with a +2 or better. His +28 finished second on the Bruins among blueliners behind Williams. This season, the alternate captain is second among Bruins defenseman with 16 points and is second overall with two shorthanded goals. The West Fargo product has picked it up recently, scoring four points in his last five games including a goal against the Bismarck Bobcats on January 17th.

Coleman is no stranger to the Top Prospects Tournament. The veteran forward was a part of the 2024 NAHL Selects Gold team while representing the St. Cloud Norseman. In two games at the tournament Coleman netted one goal for the Gold. Coleman finished that season leading the Norseman with 25 goals and 50 points. After a season with the USHL's Fargo Force, the Grand Forks, ND native suited up for the Black and Gold and has been an offensive producer for the team. Coleman is fifth on the team in goals with 14 goals with three multi-goal games. He was most recently honored as the NAHL Central Division's Second Star of the Week after netting three goals and an assist for four points against Minnesota last weekend. Coleman now has eight points in five straight games.

EJ Paddington returned to the Bruins as the team's leading returning scorer after posting 20 goals, 30 assists and 50 points last season on the All-Canadian line with Alex Laurenza and Luc Malkhassian. Despite not having his linemates back with him, Paddington never lost his stride. Averaging 1.22 points per game, Paddington boasts 44 points off of 21 goals and 23 assists along with a league best 12 power play goals. The second year Bruin has recorded two different eight plus game point streaks, including recently a career high nine game streak that saw him go 7-9-16 from December 19th through January 17th. Paddington's consistency and net front presence make him a threat as the 6 '4 lefty has yet to go back to back games this year without recording a point. The Thunder Bay product was honored as Central Division Star of the Week back on December 22nd after his three goal, two assist performance helped the Bruins to a weekend sweep of Aberdeen. His career stats are noteworthy too, sitting top 15 in Bruins history in points (94), goals (41), and assists (53).

Elisson is a first year Bruin out of Ljungby, Sweden. A producer from the blue line, Elisson found the back of the net three times in his first eight games, including a game winning goal at the NAHL Showcast on September 26 against the Maine Nordiques. Elisson spent the 2024-25 season as the alternate captain for the J20 Region's IF Troja-Lungby J20 team where he scored 17 points in 33 games where he was second among his team's defenseman with 15 assists. His five goals this season are currently tied for second among Bruins blueliners while his two game winning goals are tied for third on the team.

Sam Kline was a presence on the ice in his final season of AAA hockey. The Lincoln, Nebraska native not only led his hometown Stars 18U team in scoring but he finished tied for third among all 18U AAA skaters with 108 points off of 43 goals and 65 assists. The rookie took a few games to find his footing before taking off in October where he posted his first career three point game but also finished the month with a 2-4-6 stat line in five games played. Since then, Kline has been consistently on the scoresheet, leading Bruins rookies with 18 points. The forward's most recent success shined through in Bismarck when he scored a power play goal that sparked a three goal comeback to take down the Bobcats 6-5 in a shootout. Kline finished the weekend 1-2-3.

Steve Howard is currently in his ninth season at the helm of the Bruins in 2025-26. Over the course of his stint in Austin, Howard has amassed over 250 wins and has made it to the playoffs in six of a potential seven opportunities, even taking the Bruins to the Robertson Cup Final in 2023-24. Last season, Howard coached the Bruins to a franchise record tying 42-win season en route to the Central Division Finals.

Koier joined the Austin Bruins as their play-by-play broadcaster for the 2024-25 season. Since then Koier has called every Bruins preseason, regular season and playoff game since joining the organization. The Voice of the Bruins was voted by his fellow NAHL broadcasters and league staff to be one of two broadcasters for the Top Prospects Tournament.

The NAHL Top Prospects Tournament returns to the USA Hockey Arena on February 16-17, 2026. This yearly event provides NCAA and NHL scouts with a look at the best uncommitted players the NAHL has to offer, as well as some potential NHL Draft picks. The USA Hockey Arena is the home of the United States National Team Development Program and the USNTDP team will compete at the Top Prospects Tournament this year. This tournament brings the league's athletes straight to the coaches and scouts as NCAA programs work to finalize their roster for the following season.

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North American Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2026


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