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The 2026 NHL Draft guide built on original scouting from a team of 11 scouts who watched this class all season. Every ranking has a scouting report behind it. No recycled boards. No filler. Just conviction. This is the first annual Smaht Scouting NHL Draft Guide. We plan to do this every year and thisContinue reading “The Smaht Scouting 2026 NHL Draft Guide”

Written by Josh Tessler My wife Elizabeth asked me a question the other day that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. She wanted to know if junior teams develop players for the team or for what comes next. It’s a question most casual fans don’t ask, and honestly, most serious fans don’t either.Continue reading “Goalie Development: Why the Numbers Don’t Tell the Full Story”

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.Continue reading “Final 2026 NHL Draft Rankings”

Editor’s Note The puck dropped on the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship on April 22 in Trenčín and Bratislava, and the round-robin is already underway. This preview was prepared ahead of the tournament and is being published with light editorial framing to reflect where things stand early on. The scouting reports below remain focusedContinue reading “Smaht Scouting: 2026 U18 Worlds Team-by-Team Guide”

Josh Tessler, Alexander Appleyard, Gray Matter, Nathan Hutchinson, SpokedZ, Chris Ford, Austin Garret, Iván Ortiz, Thomas Gagné, Tom Watson and Dan Haurin combined their draft rankings and put together the official Smaht Scouting Midseason 2026 NHL Draft Rankings, a comprehensive look at the top prospects eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. The rankings reflect monthsContinue reading “Midseason 2026 NHL Draft Rankings”

The World Junior Championship remains one of the most revealing tournaments in hockey, offering a unique intersection of elite talent, developmental variance, and high-pressure international play. With this year’s tournament set in Minnesota, players will be challenged not only by the quality of competition but also by the intensity that comes with playing on NorthContinue reading “2026 World Junior Championship Primer”

This piece was written by Austin Garret — you can follow him on BlueSky @Austin716. As I went to write the bi-weekly post a week and a half ago, I realized that the bulk of the players that I have been excited to watch this year were coming up on their third game for me toContinue reading “Bi-Weekly Musings: The Last One Before Scouting Reports”

This piece was written by Austin Garret — you can follow him on BlueSky @Austin716. As we head to the American Thanksgiving holiday I find myself having just a few players left on my preliminary list that I haven’t tracked or scouted yet. This time of year usually marks the end of identifying the top-endContinue reading “Bi-Weekly Musings: Into the Depths We Go”

This piece was written by Nathan Hutchinson — you can follow him on Twitter at @Hutch1760. Almost a third of the way into the OHL season the top of class seem to be separating themselves from the rest of the pack, I wanted to go over a few names that I feel haven’t had theContinue reading “Under-the-Radar OHL Draft Eligibles”

Josh Tessler, Alexander Appleyard, Gray Matter, Nathan Hutchinson, SpokedZ, Chris Ford, Austin Garret, Iván Ortiz, Thomas Gagné, Tom Watson and Dan Haurin combined their draft rankings and put together the official Smaht Scouting 2026 NHL Draft Preliminary Rankings, a comprehensive early look at the top prospects eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. The rankings reflectContinue reading “Preliminary 2026 NHL Draft Rankings”