Each year, The Athletic’s prospects writers Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler put together their own mocks predicting the draft.

Once a year, though, they also come together to make picks for the first two rounds to give the exercise more of the unpredictability that comes over draft weekend. This year, after a coin flip, Wheeler started the mock with the No. 1 pick, and then he and Pronman made their way through the first 63 selections of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Remember: These are not how they would pick (that’s a different exercise coming soon) but rather their educated best guesses based on their understanding of team preferences, areas of need and the consensus around where these players will be selected.

Note: The Vegas Golden Knights were stripped of their second-round pick (originally No. 61) as a result of “flagrant violations” of the NHL’s media regulations; they can appeal that decision to the league office. This mock draft was also completed before the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs was completed. As a result, the draft order at the ends of Rounds 1 and 2 has changed slightly since these picks were made. 

1. Toronto Maple Leafs: Gavin McKenna, LW, Penn State (NCAA)

I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that McKenna is the pick for the Leafs; there is some doubt out there about him, and there’s a case to be made to prioritize a longtime organizational need on D. But there’s risk in chasing a premium position at the expense of a premium talent, and I still expect that the Leafs will land on McKenna in the end. — Wheeler

2. San Jose Sharks: Chase Reid, RHD, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

The Sharks get a foundational defense piece they’ve needed throughout their rebuild, as Reid projects to run a power play and log a lot of minutes in the NHL. Ivar Stenberg is tempting here, but the stars feel like they would align too well for the Sharks and Reid, given how close the two players are in talent. — Pronman

3. Vancouver Canucks: Caleb Malhotra, C, Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)

The Canucks add the top center in the draft, filling a premium position with a winning player with local ties. Malhotra checks a lot of boxes. He’s a player you build around and could be Vancouver’s future captain. — Wheeler

4. Chicago Blackhawks: Ivar Stenberg, LW, Frölunda (SHL)

Chicago adds the most dynamic player left on the board in Stenberg, a potential top-line winger with a high compete level, even if it makes its core forward group a bit on the smaller side. — Pronman

5. New York Rangers: Carson Carels, LHD, Prince George (WHL)

In Carels, the Rangers get a high-end skater and competitor who fits their profile and gives them the stud left-shot D their pool lacks. — Wheeler

6. Calgary Flames: Keaton Verhoeff, RHD, North Dakota (NCAA)

The Flames get a premier two-way defenseman in Verhoeff, a 6-foot-4, mobile blueliner with legit offense and stopping potential at the next level. — Pronman

7. Seattle Kraken: Daxon Rudolph, RHD, Prince Albert (WHL)

A strong season — and a stronger finish — has put Rudolph into this conversation. After years of taking exclusively forwards with their top picks, the Kraken finally take a premium D. — Wheeler

8. Winnipeg Jets: Alberts Smits, LHD, Munich (DEL)

The Jets are thrilled to get a defenseman like Smits at 8, a blueliner who can affect the game at both ends with size, skating, puck play and a big point shot. — Pronman

9. Florida Panthers: Viggo Björck, C, Djurgården (SHL)

Centers never linger long, and the Panthers know the value of a smart and competitive one. Tynan Lawrence makes sense here for the same reason, but Björck wins out on pro experience, proximity to making their veteran club and IQ/skill. — Wheeler

10. Nashville Predators: Malte Gustafsson, LHD, HV71 (SHL)

The Predators grab a massive, mobile blueliner in Gustafsson, who was arguably the best defenseman at U18 worlds. He’s comparable as a player to former Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm. — Pronman

11. St. Louis Blues: Tynan Lawrence, C, Boston University (NCAA)

The Blues have dedicated a lot of draft capital to the wing and defense in recent years. They’ll be thrilled to add one of the top centers in the class if there’s one available here. — Wheeler

12. New Jersey Devils: Wyatt Cullen, LW, U.S. NTDP (USHL)

The Devils step up to take one of the most dynamic and talented players in the draft in Cullen, who has the potential to become a top-six winger if his development continues to trend as it has over the last six months. — Pronman

13. New York Islanders: Ethan Belchetz, LW, Windsor (OHL)

The Islanders don’t have a player like Belchetz in their pool, and that makes him and BC’s Oscar Hemming attractive here. Belchetz’s track record gives him the slight edge. — Wheeler

14. Columbus Blue Jackets: Oliver Suvanto, C, Tappara (Liiga)

Columbus drafts a highly competitive two-way center in Suvanto, who projects to have middle-six offense in the NHL. — Pronman

15. St. Louis Blues: Alexander Command, C, Örebro 

The Blues double down on centers and add Command, a strong, pro-look center who projects as a middle-six pivot. — Wheeler

16. Washington Capitals: JP Hurlbert, RW, Kamloops (WHL)

The Capitals get a little screwed by a run of centers and opt for the dynamic Hurlbert, who is one of the most skilled and natural scorers in this class, albeit as an average-sized winger. — Pronman

17. Los Angeles Kings: Oscar Hemming, LW, Boston College (NCAA)

The Kings need a legit forward prospect, and they’re thrilled to pounce on Hemming, a big, powerful forward with some unique attributes in this class. — Wheeler

18. Washington Capitals: Maddox Dagenais, C, Quebec (QMJHL)

Dagenais is a big, physical forward with good but not great offensive skills whose stock kept rising all season. He has middle-six potential, even if it’s not a sure thing that he will stay down the middle as a pro. — Pronman

19. Utah Mammoth: Ryan Lin, RHD, Vancouver (WHL)

The Mammoth have prioritized length on their back end, and their pool is missing a prospect like Lin as a result. He gives them something different while still offering the competitiveness they look for. — Wheeler

20. San Jose Sharks: Adam Goljer, RHD, Trencin

The Sharks leave the draft with two potential top-four defensemen in Reid and Goljer. Goljer was excellent at the recent U18s, with strong skating and puck-moving ability while being able to make stops. — Pronman

21. Philadelphia Flyers: Adam Novotny, LW, Peterborough (OHL)

Novotny has NHL strength, speed and work ethic to go with an NHL shot, and fits the Flyers’ profile. He projects as a middle-six winger who can play up and down your lineup. — Wheeler

22. Pittsburgh Penguins: Ilia Morozov, C, Miami (NCAA)

The Penguins get a versatile two-way center with size in Morozov, who had a productive 17-year-old season in the NCHC while also displaying a detailed, physical game off the puck. — Pronman

23. Boston Bruins: Elton Hermansson, RW, MoDo

The Bruins had success drafting a talented winger out of HockeyAllsvenskan in the late first round once before. We won’t set those kinds of expectations for the highly skilled Hermansson, but the Bruins are willing to try to go two-for-two. His 21 points in 38 games isn’t far off from the 24 points in 36 games that a certain someone produced in 2013-14, either! — Wheeler

24. Vancouver Canucks: Casey Mutryn, RW, U.S. NTDP (USHL)

The Canucks pick up a versatile forward in Mutryn, who has size and speed and can play on both special teams. Between him and Malhotra, they just got a lot harder to play against. — Pronman

25. Montreal Canadiens: Ryder Cali, C, North Bay (OHL)

The Habs add size, strength and a north-south pro-style player in Cali, a driven and brawny forward who gives their pool something different — and something it needs. — Wheeler

26. Seattle Kraken: William Håkansson, LHD, Luleå

Håkansson adds some size and grit to a Seattle prospect pool that’s lacking in those areas. A gold medalist at the World Juniors for Sweden, Håkansson projects to play hard defensive minutes in the NHL one day. — Pronman

27. New York Rangers: Simas Ignatavicius, C, Genève-Servette

The Rangers add a big, strong, pro-built center, filling multiple areas of need at once within their pool. — Wheeler

28. Calgary Flames: Liam Ruck, RW, Medicine Hat (WHL)

Calgary steps up to take one half of the most dynamic duo in the CHL this season. Liam is considered a half step above his brother and has high-end offense and a good motor, although so-so foot speed. — Pronman

29. Buffalo Sabres: Gleb Pugachyov, LW, Nizhny Novgorod

The Sabres haven’t shied away from drafting Russians and could use a big, strong, competitive, high-motor forward like Pugachyov in their pool. With a young core already established on their roster, they can also afford to wait for him; Pugachyov has two more years on his KHL contract and could well re-up there another time. — Wheeler

30. Carolina Hurricanes: Tommy Bleyl, RHD, Moncton (QMJHL)

Carolina selects one of the most prolific defenders in junior hockey this season. Bleyl is a mobile, highly skilled blueliner who has racked up points all year, including a great postseason, but he’s of average size. — Pronman

31. St. Louis Blues: Jack Hextall, C, Youngstown (USHL)

The Blues again prioritize adding depth down the middle in their pool with the well-rounded, pro-style Hextall, one of the only players left who’s a safe bet to actually stick as a center in the NHL. — Wheeler

32. Ottawa Senators: Brooks Rogowski, C, Oshawa (OHL)

With Ottawa’s re-awarded pick, the Senators take one of the best pure athletes in the draft. He’s a massive center with the feet and hands to play at the next level. He’s not the sexiest pick, but he looks like an NHL player. — Pronman

33. Vancouver Canucks: Nikita Klepov, LW, Saginaw (OHL)

It’s not often that the OHL’s leading scorer is available in the second round, and the Canucks jump on Klepov to start Day 2. — Wheeler

34. Chicago Blackhawks: Jakub Vanecek, LHD, Tri-City (WHL)

Chicago takes a promising young defenseman in Vanecek, who was productive at multiple levels this season. He’s tall and skates well, while showing the ability to play both ways with potential secondary offense in the NHL. — Pronman

35. Calgary Flames: Mathis Preston, RW, Vancouver (WHL)

The Flames take the fast and skilled Preston, leaning into a player type they’ve targeted in the past and comfortable betting on his talent and pedigree winning out in Round 2. — Wheeler

36. Calgary Flames: Tobias Trejbal, G, Youngstown (USHL)

The Flames select the best goalie in the draft. Trejbal had a fantastic season in the USHL, and he’s big, athletic and technically sound with all the traits you want. — Pronman

37. Chicago Blackhawks: Ben Macbeath, LHD, Calgary (WHL)

The Blackhawks add another good-skating D in Macbeath, who didn’t finish on a high note in the WHL playoffs and at U18 worlds, but was a riser this season and in the second half. — Wheeler

38. Seattle Kraken: Alessandro Di Iorio, C, Sarnia (OHL)

Seattle drafts a hard-to-play-against center in Di Iorio, whose skating and effort level could make him a dependable bottom-half-of-the-lineup pivot one day. — Pronman

39. Pittsburgh Penguins: Juho Piiparinen, RHD, Tappara (Liiga)

After taking a forward with their first three picks of last year’s draft, the Penguins take Piiparinen, the captain of this ’08 Finnish age group and a projectable — if vanilla — NHL D who does a lot of things at an average or above-average level. — Wheeler

40. Florida Panthers: Chase Harrington, LW, Spokane (WHL)

Harrington is a scrappy winger with good speed and hands who has scored at a quality clip the last two seasons in the WHL. He plays the game in a way the Panthers tend to target. — Pronman

41. Vancouver Canucks: Niklas Aaram-Olsen, LW, Örebro

The Canucks add the Norwegian-born Aaram-Olsen, a talented scoring winger who can beat goalies from the high slot and has been highly productive in Sweden. — Wheeler

42. Nashville Predators: Xavier Villeneuve, LHD, Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL)

Nashville rolls the dice on the dynamic Villeneuve, a second-round swing akin to when they picked Samuel Girard, as Villeneuve shares high-end skating and offensive skills while being a concern away from the puck. — Pronman

43. Columbus Blue Jackets: Marcus Nordmark, LW, Djurgården 

The Blue Jackets take a swing on the highly talented but frustrating Nordmark, the most purely skilled player remaining. — Wheeler

44. New Jersey Devils: Nikita Shcherbakov, LHD, Ufa

The Devils are happy to take a chance on a massive Russian defenseman who played very well versus men this season. His offense isn’t amazing, but he showed two-way potential against pros this season. — Pronman

45. Chicago Blackhawks: Dmitri Borichev, G, Lokomotiv

The Blackhawks take one of the top goalies in the class, prioritizing an area of need with their third second-round pick. Borichev was excellent in the MHL this year and is the top ’08 Russian goalie. — Wheeler

46. Los Angeles Kings: Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, RW, Leksands

The Kings take one of the most purely talented players in Lagerberg; he has first-round tools/underage profile, but he missed almost the entire season due to a knee injury. He’s a tall, fast goal-scorer who has shown significant offense in junior in Sweden. — Pronman

47. Detroit Red Wings: Thomas Vandenberg, C, Ottawa (OHL)

It has been 14 years since the Red Wings have had to wait this long to make a pick, and they take the hardworking Vandenberg, a Providence commit who’s one of the youngest players in the class. — Wheeler

48. Florida Panthers: Samu Alalauri, RHD, Pelicans

Florida drafts a mobile puck-moving defenseman in Alalauri, who was one of Finland’s best U18 players in international play this season. He has decent size and projects to have value at both ends of the ice versus men. — Pronman

49. Toronto Maple Leafs: Jaxon Cover, RW, London (OHL)

The Leafs select Cover, one of the more fascinating development stories of this draft class. Cover, a Penn State commit, has legit puck skill and is still learning the rest of the game after coming up as a roller hockey player. — Wheeler

50. Anaheim Ducks: Måns Gudmundsson, RHD, Färjestad

Gudmundsson is a big, heavy, right-shot defenseman who projects to play hard defensive minutes in the NHL, although his puck play is average. — Pronman

51. Calgary Flames: Markus Ruck, C, Medicine Hat (WHL)

The Flames make the Ruck twins’ dream come true and are happy to get Markus, the CHL’s leading scorer this year, late in the second round to boot. His skating needs to improve at his size, but the work ethic and playmaking are there. — Wheeler

52. Edmonton Oilers: Patriks Plumins, G, Zemgale

The Oilers take another stab at their goalie of the future by drafting the 6-foot-4 Plumins, who was brilliant at the recent U18 worlds for Latvia. — Pronman

53. Philadelphia Flyers: Egor Shilov, C, Victoriaville (QMJHL)

Shilov isn’t a prototypical Flyer in play style, but they take a swing on the talented center, a Penn State commit who finished top 10 in the Q in scoring this year. — Wheeler

54. Pittsburgh Penguins: Filip Ruzicka, G, Brandon (WHL)

The Penguins draft the towering 6-foot-7 Ruzicka, who was one of the top goalies in the WHL this season. He’s a talented albeit somewhat unorthodox type of netminder. — Pronman

55. Calgary Flames: Ryan Roobroeck, LW, Niagara (OHL)

After taking some smaller skill guys with their earlier picks, the Flames take a swing on the big and talented but mercurial Roobroeck. A team with a lot of picks makes a lot of sense for Roobroeck, and this is already the Flames’ sixth selection of the draft. — Wheeler

56. Boston Bruins: Maksim Sokolovskii, LHD, London (OHL)

The Bruins select one of the best athletes in the draft, a massive, highly physical blue liner who can move and intrigued scouts a lot with his play down the stretch. — Pronman

57. Nashville Predators: Egor Barabanov, C, Saginaw (OHL)

The Preds make Barabanov the first overager selected. Barabanov, a UMass commit, was one of the most talented playmakers in the OHL this season. — Wheeler

58. Montreal Canadiens: Adam Nemec, LW, Sudbury (OHL)

Montreal selects the highly versatile Nemec, who projects as a two-way bottom-six winger in the NHL and has performed well at various levels over the last two years. — Pronman

59. Tampa Bay Lightning: Tomas Chrenko, C, Nitra

The Lightning take Chrenko, a standout for Slovakia internationally at the U20 and U18 levels who scored 43 points in 63 combined regular-season and playoff games with HK Nitra’s pro club this season. — Wheeler

60. Dallas Stars: Olivers Murnieks, C, Saint John (QMJHL)

The Stars select the highly competitive Murnieks, who’s been very good in the last few months of the season, elevating his stock. He’s not overly skilled, but he’s a hard two-way center who has enough offense to potentially make it. — Pronman

61. Toronto Maple Leafs: Adam Andersson, C, Leksands

Toronto selects a big center in Andersson, who has played very well for Sweden internationally. He moves well, works hard and has potential secondary skill to score versus men. — Pronman

62. New York Rangers: Zach Olsen, RW, Saskatoon (WHL)

The Rangers take Olsen, one of the draft’s strongest and most competitive forwards. He was a riser this season and projects as a bottom-six checker. — Wheeler

63. San Jose Sharks: Rian Chudzinski, RW, Moncton (QMJHL)

The Sharks draft one of the most tenacious and competitive players in the draft in Chudzinski, who is having a great playoff run with Moncton to close out the second round. — Pronman