{"id":386165,"date":"2026-01-03T19:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T19:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/386165\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T19:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T19:13:07","slug":"top-10-nhl-draft-prospect-standouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/386165\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 NHL Draft prospect standouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. \u2013 For the most part, the World Junior Championship is typically dominated by NHL prospects.<\/a><\/p>\n

It makes sense, given they\u2019re older and may have already played in this tournament before. In theory, they\u2019re closer to the NHL than their younger brethren. But all 32 NHL teams are keeping a close eye on those eligible to get selected this spring \u2013 whether they be first-year eligible, or those trying to show how far their development has come since being passed over.<\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019re going to look at 10 prospects eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft who have stood out the most. Some are in the running for major tournament awards, while others have dramatically boosted their draft stock in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

These 10 prospects deserve your attention \u2013\u00a0and for what it\u2019s worth, the top five, in particular, are super tight:<\/p>\n

1. Tomas Galvas, D (Czechia)<\/p>\n

Galvas has continued to establish himself as one of the best WJC players in recent Czech hockey history with his attempt at challenging Jiricek for tournament MVP honors. Galvas is as good a skater as you\u2019ll find at this tournament, using his quick footwork to pivot on a dime. He also makes quick, accurate backhand passes that seem to throw off opponents quite frequently. Passed over twice before (he\u2019s small at 5-foot-10), it\u2019ll be interesting if teams deem his talent too good to ignore at this point.<\/p>\n

2. Gavin McKenna, LW (Canada)<\/p>\n

For all the talk about McKenna not living up to expectations, he has been Canada\u2019s most consistent forward. He has points in all five games so far, scoring three goals and six assists. He only scored in the one game against Denmark, but his ability to find his linemates on the power play has been incredible. I have liked his two-way game much more than we\u2019ve seen out of him at Penn State, and I think very few players have met his natural skill and hockey sense in the offensive zone.<\/p>\n

With Latvia lacking true high-end talent, \u0160mits was tasked with heavy minutes \u2013 and he didn\u2019t disappoint. He was excellent at both ends of the ice, and he often was tasked with leading the team\u2019s offense when things were looking dire. \u0160mits\u2019 mix of hockey sense, mobility and disruption potential should allow him to become a top-four defenseman in the NHL. There\u2019s still room to grow in his decision-making and in whether his offensive prowess will carry over. <\/p>\n

Many expect Stenberg to be the top challenger to Gavin McKenna to go No. 1 at the NHL Draft. The highly skilled forward had a solid round-robin (surprisingly, he failed to register a point in the 8-1 win over Germany), scoring a couple of big goals along the way. Whenever teams shut down Frondell, Stenberg was there to pick up the slack and start shooting like a maniac. There isn\u2019t a single player in this draft class I\u2019d trust more in a high-pressure situation to score a big goal \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t mean I didn\u2019t wish we had seen more from Stenberg up to this point.<\/p>\n

5. Chase Reid, D (USA)<\/p>\n

When Cole Hutson went down with an injury, Reid stepped up in a big way. He quickly became the team\u2019s go-to power-play quarterback, showing a level of hockey sense and playmaking acumen that few 17-year-olds have managed to replicate. His ability to fake a shot before finding a perfect passing lane has been unmatched\u00a0in Minnesota. Don\u2019t be surprised if he\u2019s taken in the top five of the 2026 NHL Draft \u2013 he has a massive ceiling.<\/p>\n

Anton Frondell was Sweden\u2019s best player in the round robin, but Bj\u00f6rck wasn\u2019t far off at points. The projected first-rounder had points in all but one of his round-robin games and seemingly got better with every showing. While scouts wish he\u2019d be bulkier (he\u2019s 5-foot-10), his hockey IQ is off the charts. Bj\u00f6rck\u2019s shot is incredibly deceptive, especially on the power play. He doesn\u2019t give you much to work with if you\u2019re a goalie \u2013 and it\u2019s because he doesn\u2019t need to. His shot is quick and accurate, and he consistently releases it from a dangerous area.<\/p>\n

7. Matias Vanhanen, LW (Finland)<\/p>\n

Vanhanen hasn\u2019t scored a single goal through five games, but he has been, arguably, the most important part of Finland\u2019s top line. He\u2019s the glue that keeps it altogether, essentially. Vanhanen has points in all but one game, the 2-1 overtime loss to the Czechs. In that span, he has averaged two shots per game, but has also assisted on some of Finland\u2019s biggest goals \u2013\u00a0including the 3-on-3 overtime winner against the United States. Vanhanen might be small, but he has played a bit more feisty than I remember seeing, and he\u2019s been chirping everyone on the ice. <\/p>\n

8. Tomas Chrenko, C (Slovakia)<\/p>\n

Teams didn\u2019t learn at the U-18s last spring: stop leaving him alone on the power play. All he does is exploit open space. He had a hat-trick against Germany and another three points against the Americans to finish as Slovakia\u2019s most important player. A projected first-round pick in 2026, Chrenko has done wonders for his draft stock in Minnesota \u2013 although I know some scouts wanted to see him more engaged away from the puck at 5-on-5. But when he\u2019s all alone with the puck, he doesn\u2019t miss.<\/p>\n

9. Bruno Osmanis, RW (Latvia)<\/p>\n

Latvia had very little skill up front, with Osmanis among the few who consistently made things happen. I loved him the most on the power play \u2013 I\u2019d argue he was a top-five player in the tournament on the man advantage, overall. That\u2019s mostly because he waits long enough to get the pass where it needs to be, and not on net just for the sake of trying something. Osmanis was the team\u2019s best skater because he\u2019s not only quick but also pivots well and is highly shifty. Overall, I loved his tournament.<\/p>\n

10. Luka Radivojevic, D (Slovakia)<\/p>\n

The Slovaks missed Radivojevic in the opener, and then their defense improved mightily after he joined. Throughout his international career, Radivojevic has rarely not been Slovakia\u2019s best player in any given event. He\u2019s by far the most skilled defender they have, and he\u2019s electric on the power play. He makes everyone around him better, with his hockey sense and raw talent being true difference-makers. He finished the tournament with five points and was a major reason the Slovaks came close to winning against the USA and Switzerland. He\u2019ll have a chance to play in his fourth World Juniors next year, where he\u2019ll look to lead a potentially stronger Slovak team deeper into the tourney.<\/p>\n

Other notables: William Bundgaard, RW (Denmark); Jasper Kuhta, RW (Finland); Ethan MacKenzie, D (Canada); Dustin Willh\u00f6ft, C (Germany); Nils Maurins, G (Latvia); Lars Steiner, C (Switzerland)<\/p>\n

SPONSORED BY bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. \u2013 For the most part, the World Junior Championship is typically dominated by NHL prospects. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-386165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}