With the World Juniors firmly in the rear-view mirror and many “junior” leagues past the halfway point of their seasons, it is time to update and expand the McKeen’s Hockey 2026 draft rankings. This time around we are bringing you a top 64, in addition to several honourable mentions.
While many in the industry seem to be wavering on the concept of Gavin McKenna being the top player available, he remains at the top of our list. We understand the apprehensiveness, but we also believe that McKenna still possesses the highest upside of any player available this year; plus, his performance in the NCAA has ticked up post WJC’s. However, we also believe that the gap is razor thin at this point between McKenna and several of the players we have ranked behind him. In particular, Ivar Stenberg received a fair amount of support from our team to be ranked ahead of McKenna.
While the race for first overall will be fascinating as June approaches, the debate over the top defenseman available will rage even more intensely. Verhoeff remains ranked first in this grouping, but there are arguments to be made that any of Reid, Smits, or Carels could be or should be the top defenseman selected. One thing is for certain; it is a good year to be drafting in the top five if your organization needs a quality young defender.
Caleb Malhotra, Oscar Hemming, Alexander Command, Wyatt Cullen, and Maddox Dagenais are among our highest climbers compared to the previous ranking. Malhotra suddenly finds himself competing for an OHL scoring title, showing tremendous improvement as an offensive play driver over the course of the last few months. The Oscar Hemming saga finally reached a conclusion after he joined Boston College at the end of December. While the offensive production has been only mediocre, his impact on the ice has been incredibly impressive as a freshman power forward; it’s cliche but he’s passing the eye test on a consistent basis. Command has been terrific for both Sweden internationally and in the J20 league, and he plays a competitive and fast paced game from the center position. Wyatt Cullen hasn’t played a lot this year, but when he has, he’s been outstanding for the NTDP. Lastly, Dagenais is finally putting everything together for the Quebec Remparts, as the former first overall pick in the QMJHL draft is becoming more confident in being able to utilize his physical gifts.
Our largest “fallers” were Xavier Villeneuve, Mathis Preston, Ryan Roobroeck, and Beckham Edwards. While we respect Villeneuve’s offensive upside as one of the draft’s most dynamic playmakers, we also wonder how much his game has truly grown in the last calendar year as one of this draft’s oldest first time eligible players. The offensive production just hasn’t been at an elite level the last few months. Can a trade to Vancouver (WHL) help Mathis Preston find more consistency and urgency in his game? Roobroeck’s offensive production has definitely improved over the last few months, but like Villeneuve, we wonder how much his game has truly improved this year as a third year junior player. Lastly, Beckham Edwards is a power skating forward with a goal scorer’s touch, but, the offensive consistency has been majorly lacking this year and it brings to light concerns over his projection and ceiling.
What about the goalies? Initially, our team wasn’t enamored with the talent level for the position this year, however, some performances over the last few months have helped to change our mind. We have three goaltenders ranked inside of our top 64, with Tobias Trejbal of Youngstown (USHL) sitting at the top of that list. Trejbal has been outstanding in the USHL this year and the UMass commit has the size and athleticism combination to make him a potential NHL starting netminder.
You can expect our next update towards the end of March as we expand to a top 100 ranking.
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | TEAM | HT/WT | DOB | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gavin McKenna | LW | Penn State (NCAA) | 5-11/170 | 12/20/2007 | 22 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 19 |
| 2 | Ivar Stenberg | LW | Frolunda (SHL) | 5-11/185 | 9/30/2007 | 29 | 7 | 21 | 28 | 6 |
| 3 | Keaton Verhoeff | D | North Dakota (NCAA) | 6-4/210 | 6/19/2008 | 22 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 23 |
| 4 | Chase Reid | D | Soo Greyhounds (OHL) | 6-2/185 | 12/30/2007 | 39 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 30 |
| 5 | Alberts Smits | D | Jukurit (Fin-Liiga) | 6-3/205 | 12/2/2007 | 34 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 12 |
| 6 | Carson Carels | D | Prince George (WHL) | 6-2/195 | 6/23/2008 | 37 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 42 |
| 7 | Tynan Lawrence | C | Muskegon (USHL) | 6-0/185 | 8/3/2008 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 6 |
| 8 | Viggo Bjorck | C | Djurgardens (SHL) | 5-9/175 | 3/12/2008 | 29 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| 9 | Caleb Malhotra | C | Brantford (OHL) | 6-0/170 | 6/2/2008 | 45 | 23 | 38 | 61 | 37 |
| 10 | Ethan Belchetz | LW | Windsor (OHL) | 6-5/225 | 3/30/2008 | 43 | 29 | 16 | 45 | 35 |
| 11 | Oscar Hemming | LW | Boston College (NCAA) | 6-4/195 | 8/13/2008 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 12 | Adam Novotny | LW | Peterborough (OHL) | 6-1/205 | 11/13/2007 | 37 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 8 |
| 13 | Ryan Lin | D | Vancouver (WHL) | 5-11/175 | 4/18/2008 | 42 | 11 | 39 | 50 | 33 |
| 14 | Daxon Rudolph | D | Prince Albert (WHL) | 6-2/205 | 3/6/2008 | 45 | 21 | 33 | 54 | 42 |
| 15 | Oliver Suvanto | C | Tappara (Fin-Liiga) | 6-3/210 | 9/3/2008 | 34 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| 16 | Elton Hermansson | RW | MoDo Hockey (Allsvenskan) | 6-1/180 | 2/5/2008 | 29 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 14 |
| 17 | Ilia Morozov | C | Miami (NCAA) | 6-3/195 | 8/3/2008 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 25 |
| 18 | Xavier Villeneuve | D | Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL) | 5-11/160 | 9/29/2007 | 35 | 6 | 30 | 36 | 35 |
| 19 | Malte Gustafsson | D | HV 71 (SHL) | 6-4/200 | 6/11/2008 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 20 | Juho Piiparinen | D | Tappara (Fin-Liiga) | 6-2/200 | 8/10/2008 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 21 | Alexander Command | C | Orebro (Swe U20) | 6-1/185 | 6/16/2008 | 24 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 30 |
| 22 | Wyatt Cullen | LW | USN U18 (USDP) | 5-11/175 | 9/8/2008 | 17 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 2 |
| 23 | JP Hurlbert | LW | Kamloops (WHL) | 6-0/185 | 4/11/2008 | 45 | 31 | 41 | 72 | 26 |
| 24 | Nikita Klepov | RW | Saginaw (OHL) | 6-0/180 | 6/27/2008 | 45 | 28 | 32 | 60 | 27 |
| 25 | Mathis Preston | RW | Spokane (WHL) | 5-11/175 | 7/21/2008 | 36 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 32 |
| 26 | Jaxon Cover | LW | London (OHL) | 6-2/175 | 2/13/2008 | 45 | 14 | 20 | 34 | 40 |
| 27 | William Hakansson | D | Lulea (SHL) | 6-4/205 | 10/8/2007 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 28 | Giorgos Pantelas | D | Brandon (WHL) | 6-2/215 | 4/24/2008 | 45 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 30 |
| 29 | Brooks Rogowski | C | Oshawa (OHL) | 6-6/225 | 6/28/2008 | 31 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 10 |
| 30 | Maddox Dagenais | C | Quebec (QMJHL) | 6-3/195 | 3/27/2008 | 43 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 23 |
| 31 | Tomas Chrenko | C | HK Nitra (Slovakia) | 5-11/170 | 11/2/2007 | 33 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 6 |
| 32 | Marcus Nordmark | LW | Djurgardens (Swe U20) | 6-1/180 | 5/4/2008 | 21 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 42 |