Each year, I put together an NHL Draft class superlatives ranking prospects across several different categories: best skaters, best shooters, best hands, most competitive, smartest, strongest, top 200-foot forwards and top offensive defensemen.<\/p>\n
This year-end class project (pun intended) is like the \u201cbest of\u201d or \u201cmost likely to\u201d section of your high school yearbook, except the graduating class is each draft class.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how the 2026 draft class slots across those different categories and traits.<\/p>\n
Is Viggo Bjorck the best center in the NHL Draft?<\/p>\n
Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and more<\/p>\n
Best skaters<\/p>\n
None of the forwards in this class skate like a Cullen Potter or an Oliver Moore, and none of the defensemen skate like a Matthew Schaefer, but there are standout skaters in their own ways. Landon Hafele has natural wheels. Mathis Preston can get out and go and put defenders on their heels with his acceleration. Adam Novotn\u00fd has real power in his stride. And then there are several D whose mobility is central to their profile (Tomas Galvas, Tommy Bleyl) and one who is naturally springy in his changes of direction (Xavier Villeneuve).<\/p>\n
Landon Hafele
\nMathis Preston
\nTomas Galvas
\nCarson Carels
\nTommy Bleyl
\nAdam Novotn\u00fd
\nEthan MacKenzie
\nChase Reid
\nPierce Mbuyi
\nXavier Villeneuve<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Vertti Svensk, Michal Jakubec, Tynan Lawrence, Axel Elofsson, Alexander Bilecki, Wyatt Cullen, Niklas Aaram-Olsen, Beckham Edwards, Cole Zurawski, Juho Piiparainen<\/p>\n
Best shots<\/p>\n
This draft class doesn\u2019t have a Cole Eiserman or a Cole Caufield. It doesn\u2019t even really have an Arthur Kaliyev. But there\u2019s still a diverse group of finishers. Preston does it with accuracy, routinely placing shots with precision (including at times from bad angles). Ryan Roobroeck\u2019s shot is probably the most lethal. Niklas Aaram-Olsen and Jonas Lagerberg Hoen have great releases and can score off the flank on the power play. Marcus Nordmark, Novotn\u00fd and Lars Steiner each have some pop. And there are several D who can score, led by Daxon Rudolph and Chase Reid, but also including Carson Carels and Alberts \u0160mits.<\/p>\n
Ryan Roobroeck
\nNiklas Aaram-Olsen
\nJonas Lagerberg Hoen
\nMarcus Nordmark
\nMathis Preston
\nDaxon Rudolph
\nAdam Novotn\u00fd
\nLars Steiner
\nChase Reid
\nEthan Belchetz<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Ivar Stenberg, Elton Hermansson, Niko Tournas, Liam Lefebvre, Carson Carels, Alberts \u0160mits, Keaton Verhoeff, Jakub Vanecek, Tomas Chrenko, Beckham Edwards, JP Hurlbert, Liam Ruck<\/p>\n
Best hands<\/p>\n
While there isn\u2019t a truly world-class skater or shooter in this class, there are a handful of handlers who meet that standard. All of Gavin McKenna, Wyatt Cullen, Ivar Stenberg, Elton Hermansson and Villeneuve have dynamic puck skill. Cullen\u2019s and Hermansson\u2019s is very one-on-one. Stenberg\u2019s is about puck protection. McKenna\u2019s is about touch, feel and inventiveness. Increasingly, draft classes are chock full of guys who can play with the puck on a string.<\/p>\n
Gavin McKenna
\nWyatt Cullen
\nIvar Stenberg
\nElton Hermansson
\nXavier Villeneuve
\nMathis Preston
\nNikita Klepov
\nMarcus Nordmark
\nViggo Bj\u00f6rck
\nCaleb Malhotra<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Egor Shilov, Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, Jaxon Cover, Egor Barabanov, Axel Elofsson, Zach Lansard, Evan Jardine, Tomas Chrenko, Vladimir Draveck\u00fd, Braidy Wassilyn, Beckett Hamilton, Cooper Williams, Matias Vanhanen<\/p>\n
Smartest<\/p>\n
The top seven here in particular think the game at a higher plane than their peers, whether that\u2019s seeing things others don\u2019t (McKenna, the Rucks), or understanding the way the game is played and making smart reads all over the ice (Bj\u00f6rck, Malhotra).<\/p>\n
Gavin McKenna
\nViggo Bj\u00f6rck
\nRyan Lin
\nIvar Stenberg
\nCaleb Malhotra
\nMarkus Ruck
\nLiam Ruck
\nJP Hurlbert
\nMatias Vanhanen
\nEgor Barabanov<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Nikita Klepov, Tommy Bleyl, Tomas Galvas, Cooper Williams<\/p>\n
Most competitive<\/p>\n
There are different ways to be competitive and these guys check different boxes. Chase Harrington and Zach Olsen are that combination of sturdy and fiery, which allows them to be on top of you all the time and then outmuscle you for pucks in contact; Harrington does it with a little more piss and vinegar as well, and his opponents commonly talk about not liking playing against him. Carels has some jam and meanness in battles and plays hard every shift, with a firmness to his defending that teams covet. Bj\u00f6rck is the competitive little guy who persists and makes you believe in his ability to stick at center in the NHL because of his combination of work ethic, commitment and strength. Guys like Gleb Pugachyov and Ryder Cali are big boys who play in straight lines. And guys like Tynan Lawrence and Adam Valentini just don\u2019t stop moving their feet, expending energy on every shift.<\/p>\n
Chase Harrington
\nZach Olsen
\nCarson Carels
\nViggo Bj\u00f6rck
\nGleb Pugachyov
\nTynan Lawrence
\nAdam Valentini
\nEvan Jardine
\nMalte Gustafsson
\nRyder Cali<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Rian Chudzinski, Casey Mutryn, Caleb Malhotra, Jean-Cristoph Lemieux, Axel Br\u00f8ngel-Larsson, Liam Lefebvre, Oscar Hemming, Oliver Suvanto, Adam Novotn\u00fd, Ryan Lin, Alberts \u0160mits, Kayden Lemire, Olivers Murnieks, Charlie Morrison<\/p>\n
Strongest<\/p>\n
Maksim Sokolovskii is the physical specimen of this class. But one of my takeaways from the last few combines was just how many bulky, jacked players there are now at 17 and 18, and this class is no exception. Belchetz is massive. Novotn\u00fd and Morozov are thick. Morrison is naturally strong. Some of these prospects are incredibly strong.<\/p>\n
Maksim Sokolovskii
\nAdam Novotn\u00fd
\nRyder Cali
\nEthan Belchetz
\nOliver Suvanto
\nMalte Gustafsson
\nLandon Nycz
\nCharlie Morrison
\nIlia Morozov
\nKeaton Verhoeff<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Colin Fitzgerald, Zach Olsen, Casey Mutryn, Jakub Vanecek, Carson Carels, Luke Schairer, Simon Katolicky, Juho Piiparainen, Oscar Hemming, Giorgos Pantelas, Alberts \u0160mits, Adam Andersson, Viggo Bj\u00f6rck<\/p>\n
Top 200-foot forwards<\/p>\n
I wanted to highlight a reduced list of the true cream of the crop two-way forwards in this class, and I landed on seven players who not only have that as their identity now but could have it as a value-add even within their pro projections.<\/p>\n
Caleb Malhotra
\nViggo Bj\u00f6rck
\nJack Hextall
\nTynan Lawrence
\nAlexander Command
\nIlia Morozov
\nAdam Novotn\u00fd<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Viktor Fedorov, Oliver Suvanto, Thomas Vandenberg, Alessandro Di Iorio<\/p>\n
Top offensive defensemen\u00a0<\/p>\n
I often get asked who the top D are from a pure skill\/point projection standpoint, so this is how that list would look for me. Of note, I think \u0160mits\u2019 skill has been underrated, and his game and NHL projection have been miscast a little. He has legit puck skill.<\/p>\n
Xavier Villeneuve
\nChase Reid
\nDaxon Rudolph
\nTommy Bleyl
\nRyan Lin
\nCarson Carels
\nAlberts \u0160mits<\/p>\n
Honorable mentions: Keaton Verhoeff, Tomas Galvas, Samu Alalauri, Vladimir Draveck\u00fd, Jakub Floris<\/p>\n
For Corey Pronman\u2019s best tools and traits of the 2026 draft class, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Athletic and FloHockey have partnered to bring fans a live 2026 NHL Draft show. Hosted by Max Bultman and featuring experts Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and Chris Peters, \u201cThe Athletic x FloHockey NHL Draft Live\u201d will livestream during the entire first round. Tune in June 26 at 7 p.m. ET on The Athletic Hockey Show<\/a>\u2019s YouTube channel, across FloHockey<\/a>\u2019s platforms, and on Amazon Prime (U.S.) and Fubo (Canada).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each year, I put together an NHL Draft class superlatives ranking prospects across several different categories: best skaters,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-716190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}