The 2026 NHL Draft is days away and we are sharing our complete rankings publicly ahead of Buffalo.
Below you will find our full big board, 105 ranked prospects across six tiers, plus eleven Honorable Mentions. Every ranking reflects the consensus evaluation of our eleven-scout team after a full season of watching this draft class.
A note on how we do things at Smaht Scouting: we do not rank players just to fill spots. If the conviction is not there, the player does not get a ranking. That means our list may be shorter than others, but it is built the same way NHL teams actually draft, on genuine belief in the player at that pick.
The rankings are just the beginning. Behind every name on this board is a full scouting report written by the scout who evaluated that player. The complete 2026 Smaht Scouting NHL Draft Guide, 105 prospects, 11 scouts, a scouting report on every ranked player, is available now for $15.99 USD.
If you want to know why we have Björck third, Malhotra ninth, or Shaikhlislamov 61st, the guide has the answer.
TIER 1: FRANCHISE Rare, elite talent. Near-certain top-line NHL impact.
- Gavin McKenna | LW | Penn State | NCAA
- Ivar Stenberg | LW/RW | Frölunda | SHL
- Viggo Björck | C/W | Djurgården | SHL
TIER 2: STAR PROSPECT High-likelihood star players. Highly confident core contributors with All-Star upside.
- Tynan Lawrence | C | Boston University | NCAA
- Xavier Villeneuve | D-L | Blainville-Boisbriand | QMJHL
- Chase Reid | D-R | Sault Ste. Marie | OHL
- Alberts Smits | D-L | Jukurit | Liiga
- Keaton Verhoeff | D-R | North Dakota | NCAA
- Caleb Malhotra | C | Brantford | OHL
- Malte Gustafsson | D-L | HV71 | SHL
TIER 3: FIRST-ROUND CALIBER Highly confident high-level depth players with a real chance at becoming core or star contributors.
- Mathis Preston | F | Vancouver | WHL
- Carson Carels | D-L | Prince George | WHL
- Wyatt Cullen | F | USNTDP | USNTDP
- Ethan Belchetz | LW | Windsor | OHL
- Elton Hermansson | RW/LW | Örebro | HockeyAllsvenskan
- Adam Novotný | LW/RW | Peterborough | OHL
- Ryan Lin | D-R | Vancouver | WHL
- Tommy Bleyl | D-R | Moncton | QMJHL
- Oscar Hemming | F | Boston College | NCAA
- Oliver Suvanto | C | Tappara | Liiga
- J.P. Hurlbert | F | Kamloops | WHL
- Juho Piiparinen | D-R | Tappara | Liiga
- William Håkansson | D-L | Luleå | SHL
- Daxon Rudolph | D-R | Prince Albert | WHL
- Alexander Command | C | Örebro | SHL
TIER 4: FIRST-ROUND VALUE Confident depth players and the best of the upside bets in the class.
- Jack Hextall | C | Youngstown | USHL
- Victor Plante | F | USNTDP | USNTDP
- Ilia Morozov | F | Miami University | NCAA
- Casey Mutryn | F | USNTDP | USNTDP
- Vertti Svensk | D-L | SaiPa | Liiga
- Adam Andersson | C | Leksand | SHL
- Marcus Nordmark | RW | Djurgården | SHL
- Yegor Shilov | C | Victoriaville | QMJHL
- Wiggo Sörensson | C/W | Boro/Vetlanda | HockeyAllsvenskan
- Gleb Pugachyov | F | Nizhny Novgorod | KHL
- Simas Ignatavicius | F | Genève-Servette | NLA
- Dmitri Borichev | G | Yaroslavl | KHL
- Adam Valentini | F | University of Michigan | NCAA
- Chase Harrington | F | Spokane | WHL
- Nikita Klepov | F | Saginaw | OHL
TIER 5: SECOND-ROUND CORE Players with a real chance at becoming good depth contributors, alongside true boom-or-bust bets.
- Julien Maze | F | Regina | WHL
- Adam Goljer | D-R | Trenčín | Slovak
- Maddox Dagenais | C | Québec | QMJHL
- Ryan Roobroeck | C | Niagara | OHL
- Niklas Aaram-Olsen | F | Örebro | SHL
- Nikita Shcherbakov | D-L | Ufa | KHL
- Tomas Chrenko | C | Nitra | Slovak
- Ryder Cali | F | North Bay | OHL
- Brooks Rogowski | C | Oshawa | OHL
- Alexander Bilecki | D-L | Kitchener | OHL
- Rudolfs Berzkalns | C | Muskegon | USHL
- Lavr Gashilov | C | Yekaterinburg | MHL
- Adam Nemec | F | Levice | Slovak
- Jaxon Cover | RW | London | OHL
- Axel Elofsson | D-R | Örebro | J20 Nationell
- Pierce Mbuyi | LW | Owen Sound | OHL
- Casper Juustovaara Karlsson | C/LW | Luleå | SHL
TIER 6: DEPTH & UPSIDE Longshots with varying levels of upside and certainty. Wide projection range.
- Viktor Fyodorov | C | Nizhny Novgorod | KHL
- Tomas Galvas | D-L | Liberec | Extraliga
- Blake Zielinski | F | Des Moines | USHL
- Alan Shaikhlislamov | RW/LW | Ufa | KHL
- Landon Hafele | F | Green Bay | USHL
- Lars Steiner | RW | Rouyn-Noranda | QMJHL
- Brek Liske | D-R | Everett | WHL
- Liam Ruck | F | Medicine Hat | WHL
- Samu Alalauri | D-R | Lahti | Liiga
- Yelisei Ryabykin | D-L | MHK Dynamo Moscow | MHL
- Tobias Trejbal | G | Youngstown | USHL
- Ossi Tukio | D-L | Ilves | Finnish U20
- Evan Jardine | F | Youngstown | USHL
- Jordan Duguay | F | Portland | WHL
- Mikey Berchild | F | USNTDP | USNTDP
- Egor Barabanov | F | Saginaw | OHL
- Ben Macbeath | D-L | Calgary | WHL
- Jonas Lagerberg Hoen | F | Leksand | SHL
- Oscar Holmertz | C | Linköping | SHL
- Ryan Brown | LW | London | OHL
- Beckett Hamilton | F | Red Deer | WHL
- Jakub Vanecek | D-L | Tri-City | WHL
- Giorgos Pantelas | D-R | Brandon | WHL
- Logan Stuart | F | USNTDP | USNTDP
- Parker Trottier | F | USNTDP | USNTDP
- Matias Vanhanen | F | Everett | WHL
- Ryder Fetterolf | G | Ottawa | OHL
- Luke Schairer | D-R | USNTDP | USNTDP
- Thomas Vandenberg | C | Ottawa | OHL
- Matvei Kotkov | F | Yaroslavl | KHL
- Bode Laylin | D-R | Tri-City | WHL
- Simon Katolicky | LW/RW | Tappara | Liiga
- Atte Vuori | F | Karpat | Finnish U20
- Vilho Vanhatalo | RW/LW | Tappara | Liiga
- Jonah Sivertson | RW | Prince Albert | WHL
- Malcolm Gastrin | C | MoDo | SHL
- Nils Bartholdsson | F | Rögle | SHL
- Jakub Frolo | F | Ilves | Liiga
- Yaroslav Fedoseyev | D-R | Chelyabinsk | KHL
- Harrison Boettiger | G | Kelowna | WHL
- Beckham Edwards | C | Sarnia | OHL
- Markus Ruck | F | Medicine Hat | WHL
- Landon Amrhein | F | Calgary | WHL
- JC Lemieux | F | Sudbury | OHL
- Alisher Sarkenov | RW | Prince Albert | WHL
- Landon Nycz | D-L | UMass | NCAA
- Carter Casey | G | Medicine Hat | WHL
- Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen | D-L | University of Michigan | NCAA
HONORABLE MENTIONS Merits NHL draft consideration. Listed unranked.
Nolan Stewart | F | Victoria | BCHL
Noah Kosick | C | Swift Current | WHL
Alessandro Di Iorio | F | Sarnia | OHL
Charlie Morrison | D-L | Québec | QMJHL
Quinn McKenzie | C | Sault Ste. Marie | OHL
Noel Pakarinen | LW | Kiekko-Espoo | Liiga
Ethan MacKenzie | D-L | Edmonton | WHL
Måns Gudmundsson | D-R | Färjestad | SWE U20
Alexander Morozov | D-L | Togliatti | KHL
Ivan Fomin | LW/RW | Primorsky Krai | VHL
Roman Laman | C | Omsk | MHL