AHL unveils 2025-26 First and Second All-Star Teams, DiPietro leads selections

Michael DiPietro didn’t just anchor Providence’s run to a fourth division title in seven years. He put up the kind of season that forces the league to stop and put his name on the top line again: 34 wins, a 1.88 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage and three shutouts, enough to earn First Team AHL All-Star honors for the second straight year. The Providence Bruins’ crease has become one of the clearest success stories in the league, and DiPietro’s numbers made it impossible to ignore.

The rest of the First Team looked like a snapshot of the AHL’s most productive young skill across the board. Colorado defenseman Jack Ahcan posted 50 points, Rochester blueliner Zac Jones hit 60, and Colorado forward Alex Barre-Boulet reached 70. Belleville winger Arthur Kaliyev finished with a league-leading and team-record 39 goals, while Syracuse standout Jakob Pelletier piled up 77 points and added a special-teams punch with eight power-play goals, five shorthanded goals and three game-winners. The message from that group is simple: the league’s best teams were not just winning, they were getting real NHL-caliber offense from players who have made the AHL too small for them.

The Second Team carried the same theme. Henderson goalie Carl Lindbom put together a 24-5-4 record with a 2.20 GAA and a .924 save percentage in 34 games, while teammates Lukas Cormier and Tanner Laczynski joined him after strong two-way seasons. Milwaukee defenseman Ryan Ufko landed on the list after a 44-point campaign, Texas center Cameron Hughes was rewarded for a 66-point season that included 16 goals and 50 assists, and Grand Rapids forward John Leonard made the cut after scoring 32 goals in just 46 games. Those are not empty accolades. They are the profiles of players who have either already pushed into NHL conversation or are making the case right now.

The selections were voted on by AHL coaches, players and media from all 32 member cities, and each honoree will receive a custom-designed crystal award. The timing also fit the league’s late-season picture: Providence, Grand Rapids, Colorado, Henderson and other clubs were already in strong postseason position, which made the honors feel less like a ceremony and more like a scoreboard on organizational depth. DiPietro’s repeat First Team nod also underlined how rare sustained dominance can be. He was the AHL’s outstanding goaltender in 2024-25, and now he has backed that up with another season that put him at the center of the league’s best storylines.

The next checkpoint comes Friday, when the AHL announces the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award winner. For now, the All-Star Teams tell the bigger story: the AHL’s most important players were not just piling up points and saves, they were forcing their way into the NHL conversation by overwhelming the level beneath it.