{"id":373470,"date":"2026-06-24T20:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T20:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/373470\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T20:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T20:27:09","slug":"keegans-top-64-2026-draft-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/373470\/","title":{"rendered":"Keegan’s Top-64 2026 Draft Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to yet another draft ranking! If you\u2019re a SJHN YouTube\/Discord member<\/a>, you got some of this article early. I\u2019ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts, clips and plays of the players with you all in the Discord as I\u2019ve put this list together<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not a member, consider joining!<\/a> We have exclusive draft content, early access videos and articles, plus a growing community of San Jose Sharks fans and hockey nerds alike. You\u2019ll get early access to SJHN videos and behind-the-scenes stuff from Sheng and myself daily.<\/p>\n

Top-64 2026 Draft Prospects<\/p>\n

This year we have a top-64 and a whole lot of honorable mentions that I am excited to show you all.<\/p>\n

I have two reference points next to each prospect: EliteProspects Ranking (EP)<\/a>\u00a0and the EP<\/a> consolidated ranking from multiple sources (Cons.)<\/a> The consensus ranking is from June 19th, so some may be off by a few spaces as they update that frequently. Each player\u2019s top line shows where they are ranked, with the gap to my own rank in parentheses. A plus means I\u2019m higher on the player than that source; a minus means I\u2019m lower.<\/p>\n

Some players carry a \ud83c\udfaf Perfect Fit flag. These are the players I\u2019m more confident have a place in an NHL lineup, even if that ceiling isn\u2019t necessarily very high. They carry certain NHL qualities in their pace, processing, or compete that I think they fit different NHL archetypes at the next level despite size or other limitations.<\/p>\n

Now certainly lots of other players on this list have a place in the NHL. The flag is mostly to highlight why I have them in a given tier, to showcase them a bit more, and explain why I might be higher than some on these players.<\/p>\n

Deep Draft?<\/p>\n

This draft in my eyes isn\u2019t as deep as others. The last full writeup I did in 2023 was 100+ players because that draft felt so deep throughout the second round and into the third. This draft it seems like the high-end skill might run out a bit faster.<\/p>\n

I think there are interesting picks on Day 2, and a lot of re-entries that have made real good cases for being higher picks than I think people are expecting.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there aren\u2019t a lot of high-end goalscorers up front. There are lots of good playmakers, big project forwards and high motor guys, but pure snipers seemed hard to come by.<\/p>\n

Defensively the top of this class is excellent, and better than I remember from recent drafts for sure. It does drop off pretty heavily after that top few tiers in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Finally there are quite a few goalie options that I think will start going the beginning of round 2, like they seem to do over the past few drafts. While there may not be a true star in net, the ones I\u2019ve highlighted here have stood out as good bets to me<\/p>\n

\nTier 1 \u2014 Future Stars\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a small tier at the top. Luckily, this is where the San Jose Sharks sit with the No. 2 pick.<\/p>\n

I think these two players are the headliners of this class and have been for the majority of the year. These are the two players that I think have the best ceiling and certainty to being stars at the next level.<\/p>\n

1. Gavin McKenna\u00a0\u2014 LW\/L \u00b7 5\u201911\u201d, 170 \u00b7 Penn State (NCAA) \u00b7 EP 1 (even) \u00b7 Cons. 1 (even) <\/p>\n

There may not be a ton to say about McKenna that hasn\u2019t already been written, but I\u2019ll certainly try to give my thoughts. When people use the work dynamic, they often misattribute the word to a single attribute. A player is fast = a player is dynamic. A player is a great puck-handler = a player is dynamic. To me, I try to avoid the word unless I\u2019m talking about a specific combination of things happening on the ice with a player. <\/p>\n

Gavin McKenna is dynamic. He shifts the play with his vision, his hands and his feet that then changes the flow of the game. That\u2019s dynamism. It\u2019s not rushing up the wing really fast or putting a puck through a defender\u2019s legs. It\u2019s manipulating the play so that the actions you take with the puck open up options. McKenna is the best in the class at this. He\u2019ll use his excellent awareness to shift play, move a defender, then connect where a teammate will be after he\u2019s moved. When I saw future San Jose Sharks star Will Smith in 2023, I wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cHis handling skills are so impressive. He\u2019s one of the few forwards on this list, or in any draft that can see how the ice will look like 2 plays ahead before he makes his move. Not, makes move, then sees teammate for pass. No. He makes his moves because the teammate will become open after he makes said move.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s dynamism. That\u2019s Gavin McKenna\u2026but he\u2019s even more advanced at this stage. He\u2019s more deceptive, faster and quicker with his thinking at the NCAA level than Will Smith was in his draft year. We\u2019ve seen how good Smith is becoming at the NHL level next to Celebrini, and whoever drafts McKenna is going to be over the moon with his playmaking in a few years time. <\/p>\n

Sure there are concerns about his physicality, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s nearly as important as some make it out to be for a player like him. He\u2019s going to push play through other means, even if he does probably need a primary forechecker and puck-retriever on his line. <\/p>\n

For a very brief time I moved Stenberg ahead of McKenna, but after he settled into the NCAA and started putting on highlight reel games again, playing with the confidence and swagger that he\u2019s had his entire career, I realized that it simply will not matter soon what league he\u2019s playing in. Gavin McKenna is a star in the making.<\/p>\n

2. Ivar Stenberg\u00a0\u2014 LW\/L \u00b7 5\u201911\u201d, 183 \u00b7 Fr\u00f6lunda HC (SHL) \u00b7 EP 2 (even) \u00b7 Cons. 2 (even) <\/p>\n

Stenberg had a brief stent at #1<\/a> overall for me after the World Juniors, where I found him to be just a bit more impactful than McKenna on a game to game basis. Admittedly he\u2019s a player that I think isn\u2019t as high of a producer as McKenna at the next level, but it may simply not matter. When you need a player to give you that consistent offense and transition play, with solid two-way play up and down the ice, Stenberg is going to be the guy. His best asset is his ability to continually move the puck into better positions. If you distill Stenberg\u2019s success down to a single thing, it\u2019s that. He\u2019s constantly looking for the next play to move the puck into a higher danger area than it currently is. If he\u2019s got the puck in the highest danger area, he\u2019s shooting, and he\u2019s got a hell of a shot to go with an impressive playmaking toolkit. Off-puck he\u2019s opening himself up to receive the pass and sneak into scoring areas. In the same way people love to have 12 definitions of dynamism, they also love to have 12 definitions of hockey IQ. To me, Stenberg, to me, is hockey IQ. <\/p>\n

While Leo Carlsson might have a higher ceiling and overall impact on the game at the NHL level because of his size and position, I can honestly say Stenberg has looked more impressive than he did at the SHL level. More impressive than William Eklund, Anton Frondell this year, and just about every Swedish prospect in the past 20 years. <\/p>\n

So while I think he\u2019s going to be a star at the next level, I think McKenna has just a SMALL edge offensively that\u2019ll make him slightly more valuable to a team in the future. It\u2019s close, and it has been all year. Picking either first overall in a normal draft year would be absolutely justified.<\/p>\n

\nTier 2 \u2014 Blue-Chips\n<\/p>\n

This tier is the blue-chips. High-end prospects that have the potential to be first-line, first pairing players, but may not hit that ceiling. They\u2019ll be the best prospects for a lot of teams drafting them and help shape teams going forward. The certainty of stardom may not be there, but they have certainly separated themselves enough from the lower tiers. A star, possibly multiple may come out of this group for sure. They\u2019re top-10 quality prospects in most drafts.<\/p>\n

3. Chase Reid\u00a0\u2014 D\/R \u00b7 6\u20192.5\u2033, 190 \u00b7 Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) \u00b7 EP 3 (even) \u00b7 Cons. 3 (even) <\/p>\n

To start: Chase Reid has the chance to be the most valuable player from this draft. The debate has raged online between scouting services, fans and the media about the top end of this draft with so many high-value defenders available vs. the smaller skilled wingers occupying the top two spots. What does an NHL team need if they all hit their ceiling? Chase Reid is the ceiling pick, but with risk.<\/p>\n

Reid has been typecast as a purely offensive D with high speed, transition play and a lethal shot. While that\u2019s true, I think his defense gets overlooked. He\u2019s ahead of guys like Rudolph, Parekh and Yakemchuk from recent drafts defensively in my mind. He can be physical when he needs to be and at times it even looks like he enjoys a physical playstyle, throwing his body around to get the puck back. He can throw himself out of position this way by looking for a physical play instead of a simple steal, but I\u2019d prefer seeing that he can use his frame rather than not. It\u2019s a bit of a balancing act defensively for him. There are times when, like mentioned he\u2019s too aggressive, but also times when he\u2019s a bit lackadaisical, waiting for the play to break down so he can pick the puck up and transition. This will need to improve. He\u2019s at his best defensively when he\u2019s involved, but trusting his D partner to pick up the puck after he makes a stop. Right now he was doing just far too much at both ends of the ice for the Greyhounds. Everything ran through Reid, which is somewhat encouraging. Once he\u2019s in a better system with a better D partner, more involved forwards in transition, I really see him flourishing. A place like Michigan State, which has accumulated some of the best talent for the upcoming NCAA season is going to allow Reid to thrive. <\/p>\n

Offensively, when he\u2019s moving, he\u2019s a force. His hands are exceptional for a defenseman. He moves and transitions the puck so effectively at the junior level. The comp has been Zach Werenski for him, both used by himself and by public scouts, and that seems right. He\u2019s got a mind for getting the puck in deep by himself, making a play, retreating back and continuing to keep the puck in the zone to pressure defenses. He\u2019s an excellent shooter from the point, although his accuracy is a bit all over the map. Needs to improve on keeping the puck on net. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s not in the same tier as McKenna and Stenberg simply because he doesn\u2019t have as long of a history as them at producing at a high-high level, and he wasn\u2019t always consistent with his play this year. To me though, he\u2019s the best defense prospect in this class, possessing the potential to be a true #1D<\/a> on a team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to yet another draft ranking! If you\u2019re a SJHN YouTube\/Discord member, you got some of this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[62931,149617,146457,111607,143275,150460,127553,111608,95508,111610,127554,35470,93,4399,150462,150463,75543,150464,150465,149618,40771,126956,143278,150466,143279,143280,150467,150468,9898,150469,130841,150395,150470,116241,111611,88,90,89,98,143283,146472,52846,143285,149619,143286,111612,150471],"class_list":["post-373470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2026-draft","tag-adam-goljer","tag-adam-novotny","tag-alberts-smits","tag-alexander-command","tag-brooks-rogowski","tag-caleb-malhotra","tag-carson-carels","tag-chase-reid","tag-daxon-rudolph","tag-elton-hermansson","tag-ethan-belchetz","tag-featured","tag-gavin-mckenna","tag-gleb-pugachyov","tag-ilia-morozov","tag-ivar-stenberg","tag-jack-hextall","tag-jaxon-cover","tag-juho-piiparinen","tag-keaton-verhoeff","tag-keegan-mcnally","tag-liam-ruck","tag-maddox-dagenais","tag-maksim-sokolovskii","tag-malte-gustafsson","tag-marcus-nordmark","tag-mathis-preston","tag-nhl-draft","tag-nikita-klepov","tag-nikita-shcherbakov","tag-niklas-aaram-olsen","tag-oliver-suvanto","tag-oscar-hemming","tag-ryan-lin","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-simas-ignatavicius","tag-tommy-bleyl","tag-tynan-lawrence","tag-viggo-bjorck","tag-william-hakansson","tag-wyatt-cullen","tag-xavier-villeneuve","tag-yegor-shilov"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}