The 2026 NHL Draft Board by TLY

The 2026 NHL Draft is finally here… Stumps and Derek are breaking down their Draft Board:

1. Gavin McKenna

Special offensive mind. Elite puck skills. Seems almost predestined to be one of the NHL’s premiere scorers. He’s a step ahead of the game when he has the puck. 

Off-puck flaws are real, but feel exaggerated at times simply to bring down an otherwise magnificent talent. One of the most over-thought prospects in years. 

Stumps: Highest ceiling in the draft class. World-class skill. Terrific playmaker. There are worries about his size and pace of play translating to the NHL but it’s hard to pass over a skilled player like this. I struggle between him and Stenberg at times. Ultimately he’s #1. 

2. Ivar Stenberg 

Franchise winger. Unbelievably good at every single aspect of ice hockey. 

In some ways, he’s smarter than McKenna. He’s certainly more efficient and plays a more pro-style game. His lack of a truly special trait keeps him at 2nd for me, but almost all of his traits float from above average to high end. Something of a Seth Jarvis and Lucas Raymond hybrid. 

Stumps: The most complete player in the draft. Doesn’t have the same skill set McKenna has but I don’t think he’s that far off. The skill and board work are elite. Love watching him protect the puck below the dots and use his small area skills. I think SJS would be crazy not to go Ivar despite their depth at forward and lack thereof on D.

3. Chase Reid

The draft’s best bet at a true number 1 defenseman. Reid has the size, the dynamic skating, and the scoring ability of a potential Werenski-esque blueliner. 

Like McKenna, his flaws have become magnified in such a way as to make me think tearing the kid down is the point. 

He isn’t the most positionally sound defenseman right now, often a bit too ambitious in his decisions to pinch or activate or join the rush.

But the best teams err on the side of aggression in these decisions and it’s better to hold back a tiger than paint stripes on a kitten.

4. Caleb Malhotra 

The draft’s biggest riser. He essentially runs down the list of admirable traits in a hockey player and just checks every box. 

At the junior level, he’s gotten away with a relative lack of agility in his skating and the absence of truly special puck skills. He plays a very high-paced 1v1 game that I doubt translates. 

But I have him at 4 anyway because his small-area game is truly excellent. Between his ability to win on the walls, the skating speed (he’s good in straight lines), and his scoring profile? He has a legitimate chance to be a number 1 center whose game has some tonal similarities to Auston Matthews. The injured wrist version who still puts up 40 goals with strong two-way results, not the 70 goal Selke guy. 

Stumps: I think Malhotra projects as a solid middle of the lineup player. Good skater. Can transition the puck through the neutral zone pretty well. Solid playmaker. Doesn’t have anything that jumps out of you but screams “solid two way guy with touches of offensive spurts” some team in the top 7 will take him. I’ve seen some people have him as far back as 15-16. I don’t have him that low but I can see where some parts of his game can make someone balk. 

5. Viggo Bjorck 

Don’t do it, NHL teams. Just don’t. In fairness to the team side scouts, the chatter is that Bjorck will finally be a small player that isn’t summarily dismissed. 

Bjorck is only nominally small. He functions as a much larger player with excellent puck protection abilities and a surprising aptitude for winning battles, even against grown professionals. 

He’s a hockey genius who has used his preternatural understanding of positioning and rotations to be trusted eventually with playing 20 minutes a night at the SHL level. 

If the production was stronger, he’d be competing for number 2 or even number 1 on my board. His one downside right now is that players his size that hit the way Viggo can do often produce more than Viggo did. 

As it is, I find him closer to number 3 than number 6 on this board and only barely give the edge to Malhotra at 4. 

Stumps: One of my favorite players in the draft. I would absolutely love it if the Flyers made him a target. A smaller player, but that doesn’t matter. He doesn’t play small. Engaged in forechecking battles, a really slick passer. Good hands, smart kid with a motor. Anytime I watched a Sweden Junior game, I always found myself: who’s this Bjorck kid? He’s always coming out of corners with the puck. Subtle passes once passing lanes are opened up for a split second. I love this guy. 

6. Carson Carels

Many people have Carels even higher than this, and I can understand why. His collection of attributes is nearly as robust as Reid’s. 

Great skater in a big frame. He’s the draft’s best lockdown defender in my view, leveraging his skating and ruthless physicality to defend a lot like McAvoy (when McAvoy isn’t being tasked to play like Makar on a depleted Bruins team.) 

His game is steadier than Reid’s but certainly less dynamic when he has the puck. 

Carels is a strong on-puck player, seemingly always making the correct play when he has it on his stick.

That will bring him a long way in the league, but I do think he lacks the true scoring punch of a player who could contend for a Norris trophy. 

Stumps: I don’t see the offensive guy that some people see but he’s going to be a really good defenseman. He can skate, he’s physical (shoutout to the farm, carry those Hay Bales!), and he has some offensive touch. I personally like Smits and Villeneuve a little better but Carels will be a good hockey player in the NHL. 

7. Daxon Rudolph

The equal-opposite of Carson Carels. If you’re looking for a steady defenseman, I highly suggest you look elsewhere. 

Rudolph is someone who plays smaller than he is, and has passed up more than his share of opportunities to kill an opposing cycle. He’s a strong but not excellent rush defender. When his team doesn’t have the puck, he’s content to just get by too often.

But when he has the puck? He’s a machine. One of the most offensively gifted players… yes, players… in the draft. 

His shot is a legitimate threat. He did not pot nearly 30 goals by accident or by nauseating repetition. He has the scoring arsenal of a forward. 

More than that, he’s an excellent passer who carves up opposing defenses in his sleep with vision and creativity from the point or activating down the wall. 

People should look more carefully at where the NHL is going. Offensive defensemen and rovers are taking over. 

The Hurricanes just won a Cup while icing a team of Jaccob Slavin and 5 psychopaths whose commitment to the defensive end could be reasonably questioned. 

The Panthers have won 2 Cups by simply collecting large, smooth skating behemoths who simply manifest everywhere and function as 4th forecheckers.  

Bowen Byram got traded for the Makar package. Comically absurd, but it nevertheless speaks to where the league is going.

Brandt Clarke was one of the league’s more statistically excellent defensemen and would’ve been a high-end top-pair guy if his coach had sense.

Matthew Schaefer was closer to winning a Norris trophy than losing the Calder. 

This isn’t the National Steady League. It’s the National Hockey League. 

8. Wyatt Cullen

One of the most electric players in the draft. He has skill closer to McKenna than the rest of the class behind him. 

Cullen is the walking definition of the word dynamic. He makes people miss at high speeds like a star running back and can make some incredibly slick plays off the wall to boot. 

His decision making isn’t the greatest, but that’s more par for the course with the NTDP, a program who teaches creativity first and risk assessment somewhere in the top 15. 

The statistical profile doesn’t really match the talent, but I largely attribute that to Cullen just now hitting his stride. 

If a team were to like him in the top 3 for the development still to come? They’d have me nodding along in appreciation of the logic. 

Stumps: Wildcard pick here. One of the most skilled players in the draft but can be extremely frustrating at times. Can be a “do it all” player where he skates into 2-3 defenders inside of pulling back and finding lanes but if you want to talk about skill, passing ability and shot? This kid could go top6 if a team says we can fix some of his flaws 

9. Keaton Verhoeff 

I’ve long been a Verhoeff optimist. Of course, once upon a time, that meant believing in him as a top-2 talent for the class and a potential challenger to McKenna’s throne. 

We can put that to bed. But other than that most extreme outcome, I wouldn’t put anything else past him. 

Verhoeff’s current skating level was exposed at the NCAA level, and his impressive WHL puck skills led to some ghastly NCAA puck management. 

Still, at the end of the day, this is a massive defenseman with strong puck skills and a cannon for a shot. He’s also as physical as they come in this class of very physical defensemen.

There’s still a top-pair NHL guy in there and all the rumored excerpts of combine interviews have been glowing for Verhoeff, depicting him as a kid more than willing to put the work in on his skating. 

I’d be comfortable betting on him higher than this, but it is nevertheless a bet. Without gambling? He’s still a top-10 player in this class. 

Stumps: A lot of people are down on him because of his “down” year in his freshman year of college. But I’m more willing to give a 17 year old kid some leeway. A great skater and defender. Love his stick during transition rushers. Heard from Cam Robinson’s podcast that Verhoeff showed him some advanced science stuff of how he knows he needs to get a quicker first step and work on some things and I personally love hearing that from a 17 year old kid who was in some peoples top3 a year ago. Add in the fact that he’s 6’4 and I don’t see him leaving the top10.  

10. Alberts Smits 

Smits is the quintessential high-floor pick. Not only is it unquestionable that he’ll be an NHL player, and likely soon, it’s overwhelmingly probable that he’ll be a top-4 defenseman. 

He’s a massive, smooth-skating defenseman that will hit anything that moves and has enough puck skill to keep the disc moving in the right direction. 

I can’t think of many second pairs he wouldn’t upgrade very soon. His top-pair upside is more distant to me, less likely to be realized than the 9 players ahead of him. 

But you really can’t go wrong with Smits at any pick in this draft.

Stumps: I love Smits. Played in the Olympics as a teenager. A great skater, one of the top offensive defenseman in the draft along with Villeneuve (who I think is better). Can QB your Powerplay and be that aggressive defenseman on your team that is always pinching and joining the rush.

11. Alexander Command 

One of my favorite players in the draft to watch. I have a natural reflex to roll my eyes whenever someone tells me about a physical two-way center with a relentless motor. Command fits that bill.

Of course, those players rarely have the fluid skill of Command. 

His skill is understated, as he prefers to protect the puck and wait for the next play to manifest instead of challenging a slew of defenders to high-speed 1 on 1s. 

It’s possible that his lack of dynamism limits his ceiling, but I’m not as sold on that being fait accompli as some are. 

Bar the wizards like Jack Hughes and Connor McDavid, many of the league’s most prolific offensive players play with the kind of robotic efficiency Command has. 

There’s a top-6 center here. 

12. Maddox Dagenais 

One of my favorite prospects in the class. Dagenais is power and finesse all in one package, and his skating is even closer to a strength than a weakness. 

You’re probably asking… So what’s the weakness? 

And I only know that academically! 

See, Dagenais became an entirely different player in the middle of his draft year. His motor went from his primary weaknesses to one of his greatest strengths. 

He played with unrelenting hustle and overwhelming physicality, becoming a master of the reverse hit.

His skill and booming shot, always standout traits but never enough to carry his game on their own, became servants to his motor. Creating a high-octane game that has some rhymes with Kirill Marchenko and Matthew Knies in the NHL today. 

Many around the draft space have understandable skepticism about the return of the Old Dagenais, but because I didn’t experience that kid? I’m all in on the New Dagenais and perfectly willing to trust that a 17 year old simply developed. 

Stumps: One of my favorites in this draft. QMJHLer so a lot of people look over his production (62 in 62). I can’t totally blame people. The Q is a weirdo league but Maddox’s intangibles are extremely translatable for me. A smooth skater, big, super skilled and has a great shot. Saw Jackie Spiegal say in her blog the other day that Nathan Quinn (164th overall in 2025 by PHI) said he has the best shot he has ever seen. I’m all in if he’s the pick. Also a winger not a center. 

13. Nikita Klepov 

Nikita Klepov is another player where I wonder if the NHL has simply overthought this. 

The OHL leading scorer—he accomplished this on a Saginaw Spirit that lacked a lot of high-end talent—is draft eligible this year. 

If you turn on the tape, you see a kid with no glaring red flags. 

A creative, deceptive playmaker is simultaneously a real threat to beat goalies with his release.

He’s not the most physically gifted player, but neither his frame nor skating are problematic. 

He’s just… really good at hockey.

Stumps: Klepov is super fun. Really skilled, a WIRE of a wrist shot. Does a great job of creating space for himself with he puck on his stick and that’s a super translatable trait for me. Decent skater but his hands, shot and IQ is what separates him. I really like him.

14. Elton Hermansson 

One of the more fun players in this class. Hermansson is as smooth with the puck as they come. His season was, a bit like Dagenais, a tale of two halves. 

With Allskvenskan, he was as good as you’d expect a player his age to be.

At the juniors level, he was inefficient and occasionally lackadaisical. 

He’s an effortless dual-threat, equally comfortable beating goalies with his own release or creating a slam dunk for teammates. He has a knack for the cross-ice pass especially.

His motor inconsistencies drag him down. So does his skating. I don’t see it as a major concern personally, but some are VERY low on it. 

In order to play the puck dominant game he clearly wants to play, you’d want him to pick up another step.

Stumps: SUPER SKILLED. Maybe even too skilled for his own good sometimes. Can do a little too much , forcing issues but one of the most natural gifted players in the draft. If he’s available when the Flyers are picked you have to just take him and deal with the logjam at wing later. 

15. Tynan Lawrence 

What does Tynan Lawrence’s agent need? 

DEATH PENALTY… BANG… KABOOM… FIRING SQUAD! 

In all seriousness, the fall of Lawrence is mostly a story of a deeply mismanaged season. Starting your season injured, coming back to the USHL briefly, only to randomly decide to try your hand at the NCAA is genuinely insane. 

He bit off more than he could chew, but man was it a huge bite. 

At the end of the day, we’re still talking about a two-way center with high-end skating ability and a shot I believe will begin beating goalies imminently. 

His hands need to catch up to his desire to carry the puck as much as Jack Hughes. His vision would ideally take a step from here. 

But even if that doesn’t work out, and there’s ample reason to believe it will, he’s still a useful third-line center in the NHL.

Stumps: Same as Verhoeff, I think it’s weird the hate he got for going to college. Especially the way it happened. Landing in college in the middle of the season with a decent role. Super skilled, a terrific skater who is a dog to play against. I love him. I’m still high on him. I’m not out because a 17 year old KID didn’t light up college hockey after joining Boston University halfway through the season. 7 in 18 isn’t really AWFUL for a KID in college. Going to be a really fun two way player with offensive jam. I want the Flyers to go after him if he falls in the slightest.

16. Xavier Villeneuve 

What is Xavier Villeneuve if he isn’t Lane Hutson? Well, the likelihood that he’s an NHLer at all in that world is fairly small. 

But that isn’t the end of the conversation with Villeneuve. 

What if he’s Lane Hutson? 

Then he’s a top-3 player in this class. 

Is there a real possibility that he’s Lane Hutson or something close? Absolutely.

The hip injury that plagued his season is enough to back me off a few spots while ranking him, but nowhere near enough to leave him out of the first round. 

At the end of the day, this is a player with the kind of puck skill and dynamic skating that rarely comes along in a defenseman and that’s worth betting on. 

Stumps: My favorite prospect in the Flyers range and one of my favorite overall prospects in the game. Elite offensive traits. A terrific skater who dekes guys out of their skates with ease. Misdirection and edges are elite. You’re going to have to live with the fact that he’s just not a big guy and will get pushed around at times. In his defense, I don’t think people who critique his defensive issues are being truthful when they say he does everything back there below average. I think he’s transition defense with the way he can work gaps and use his stick is elite at times. He moves pucks fast and with ease. Whoever ends up with Xavier is going to get a dynamic offensive defenseman that needs to be paired with someone who can help mask his issues below the dots. What he brings offensively easily offsets the defensive woes.

17. Malte Gustafsson 

Something of Villeneuve’s opposite. Gustafsson has a ton of places he can get to as a player. He’s massive and a genuinely great skater who flashes real upside with the puck on his stick, but also shows off a real shutdown side of his game. 

I do think he ends up picking one approach and sticking to it as time goes on. But all roads lead to the NHL. 

There’s also a distant possibility he becomes a true all-around force.

Stumps: A riser in this draft. One of the best defensive defenseman in the entire draft class. 6’4 200 pounds, can really skate and likes to use his body. Reads plays off the puck really well. Is always in really solid defensive position. Active stick constantly. Engages in the corners with assertiveness and can skate out of pressure. He showed glimpses of being able to contribute offensively. Solid soft hands, is able to carry pucks pretty well for his size. I’d be shocked if he made it out of the top10 but this isn’t my prospect ranking. I’m just giving some thoughts on these guys. 

18. Adam Novotny 

Novotny might be the king of “overlook the production and watch the tape” among draft eligibles this year. 

For most of the year, he was a winger with size and speed both in abundance who could forecheck as well as anyone in the class. He paired that with genuine puck skill. 

At his lows, he took on the mantle of Plexiglass Punisher. 

He has a lot of eerie similarities with Owen Tippett, but if you’re a believer, he could just as easily become Adrian Kempe.

Stumps: I’ve seen so many different takes with this kid it’s crazy. For me, I like his skill. He’s a super talented playmaker. Can carry pucks well and forechecks relentlessly. Soft hands with speed and skill. I called him Morgan Frost with a motor and Derek thought that was pretty funny. He has a more tenacious side to him than Morgan which is going to translate to the NHL easier and has the same puck skills. I like him.

19. Ryan Lin 

One of the best hockey players in the draft, Lin is nevertheless restrained by his lack of exceptional athletic traits. That likely matters more among defensemen than forwards, but all the same, it shouldn’t be ignored what he is. 

An extremely intelligent three-zones defenseman who can defend well above his weight class and put points on the board. 

If his skating and puck skills improve, he’s one of the better defensemen in this class of outstanding defensemen. 

If they don’t, he does share some profile similarities with Cam York. Who is still an NHL defenseman.

Stumps: Extremely smooth skating right handed defenseman that has some soft skill. Sometimes leaves a little more to be desired but definitely something there to work with.

20. Tommy Bleyl 

Quite possibly the best skater in the draft, Bleyl reduces most forecheckers to mere memories as he dances through the neutral zone to create seemingly unlimited supplies of exits and entries. 

The OZ creativity and puck handling is a step behind someone like Villeneuve to me, but don’t tell his actual production that. 

It’s quite possible I’m actually too low on Bleyl despite ranking him in the top-20. He’s a really exciting player. 

Stumps: In terms of straight line speed and carrying the puck, Bleyl is one of the best in the draft class. Offensive defenseman with extremely good skating ability. I don’t think his edges are as elite and eye popping as Villeneuve’s, but Tommy straight line skating is better. 81 games in 63 games with the Moncton Wildcats. I think he’ll be another player we all look back at, with Xavier, where you ask yourself, “hey why did teams pass on him? Because he’s small? lol” 

21. Ilya Morozov 

At first glance, Morozov fits the “potential Adam Lowry” stereotype to a tee. Huge, merely okay skater, extremely high-level defensive forward. 

It’s possible, perhaps even likely that this is all he ever amounts to. 

But there’s a world where Morozov transcends his typecast using a combination of his surprisingly adroit puck handling and a legitimately imposing puck protection game to be an all-around possession monster at the next level that fits perfectly between two shot creating wingers. 

Stumps: One of the youngest players in the draft, Morozov is a 6’3” center out of University of Ohio (Miami). He carries the puck pretty well and has some skill to go along with a very solid defensive game already as a 17 year old in college. I could totally see teams seeing where his overall game already is as a teenager and projecting that even if he doesn’t turn into this offensive dynamo, his overall offensive package will be efficient enough to compliment his overall solid defensive game already. Button has him going to PHI so lock this in. 

22. Mathis Preston

Stumps: Elite skater with elite speed and shot. Can sometimes do a little too much with the puck as I’ve said a couple times with the overall skilled guys in this class besides McKenna (Hermansson and Cullen. I wouldn’t be very mad if this was the Flyers guy. Don’t even care that he’s a winger. He has the game-changing skill and speed that makes you say wow.

Join The Chase