NHL Entry Draft: - 2026 NHL Draft, June 26 7pm ET: Rangers with 5th pick after Lottery | Page 149 | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League
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NHL Entry Draft: 2026 NHL Draft, June 26 7pm ET: Rangers with 5th pick after Lottery

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The one pole: He was named to the CHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2023-24 after he registered 43 points in 54 games as a young 16-year-old in the Q (his late-September birthday makes him old for this year’s draft but made him one of the league’s youngest players that year) and the QMJHL’s Defenceman of the Year in 2024-25 after he registered 62 points in 61 games. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2025 U18 worlds, where he led all D in the tournament with four goals. To start his draft year, he registered 22 points in his first 14 games of this season and was one of the first three players named to Team CHL’s roster for the CHL USA Prospects Challenge. There, he was also named an alternate captain.

The other pole: He’s a 5-foot-10.75, 164-pound D who draws criticism from scouts for how hard he defends. He also dealt with hip issues this season, which he told The Athletic aren’t major and were “nothing that anybody would operate on,” but that some teams do wonder about and kept him off the ice to start his offseason as he continued his rehab. And he didn’t have the season many expected he would, finishing with 30 points in his final 40 regular-season and playoff games after that hot start and missing all of January, February and most of March due to the injury.
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And Villeneuve is quick to point out that his dad is tall, so he thinks he has an inch or two coming as well.

“A lot of people can say this, but my dad grew at 19 years old from 5-11 to 6-2, so I’m not worried about that,” he said.

He’s not shy to make the Hutson comparable, either. Though he didn’t grow up a Canadiens fan (Villeneuve was a Bruins fan), he’s a Lane fan and has watched him closely in Montreal. The Hutsons were the driving force behind his decision to commit to Boston University for next season. (Though he was sold when, on a winter recruiting trip, the Terriers’ staff ended up in a ditch, pulled themselves out, and kept on their way to see him.)
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“He reminds me a lot of guys we’ve had here the last couple of years, one being in Montreal and one now in Washington,” Pandolfo said on a recent phone call, chuckling. “He’s got a lot of offensive tools. He can really skate. He’s creative. His hockey IQ is very high. His competitiveness is very high. He’s got quite the package.”

Both Pandolfo and Kim Brandvold, who runs BU’s defense, felt in particular that his competitiveness and passion for the game were similar to the Hutsons and both things that actually separate Villeneuve.
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www.mckeenshockey.com

2026 NHL DRAFT: DETAILED SCOUTING REPORT – Xavier Villeneuve, D, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)

McKeen's Jeremi Plourde provides a detailed scouting report on 2026 NHL Draft prospect Xavier Villeneuve including video and skill grades.
www.mckeenshockey.com

His skating also has roots in his early development. Villeneuve began with figure skating at the age of four before turning to hockey, and that background likely helped him build balance, edge control, and sharp turns.

Villeneuve uses his quick turns, agility, and acceleration to create space in order to threaten offensively. His skating is therefore more than a tool. It is the foundation of his identity as an impactful offensive defenseman, and as previously said, the most impressive and high level part of his game.

That said, Villeneuve’s pure straight line skating is not as exceptional as his lateral movement and deceptive moves. While he is very far from a slow skater, his top speed is not necessarily at the absolute top of this year’s class, like his agility would be. This is not necessarily a huge problem, as he has enough acceleration and evasiveness to escape tricky situations, especially in the defensive zone. His playstyle doesn’t require his top speed to be absolutely game breaking.
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Villeneuve’s pure skill is obvious the moment he touches the puck. He has impressively quick hands, a wide arsenal of creative dekes, and the confidence to attack defenders in motion, which makes him one of the most entertaining and dangerous defencemen in this draft class. He has shown this year that he can chain together deceptive moves, sudden cuts, and precise puck touches that open passing or shooting lanes almost instantly. That is what makes him dangerous: he is not just fast and evasive, he is inventive and can make you look like a fool.

Villeneuve is not simply a highlight-reel player who tries to be flashy all the time and fails very often. His puck manipulation and problem solving are strengths in all three zones. He can carry the puck through traffic, escape pressure on the breakout, and keep control of the puck as long as needed to find a better play.

The Laval native is a truly gifted offensive defenseman with a very high ceiling, but his talent comes with a lot of swing factor. If everything clicks, he can drive offense at a high level, quarterback a powerplay, and log north of 20 minutes a night. Defenceman with that level of skill are rare and are always vital to a team’s success.
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In order to be elite at the NHL level, a shifty, uber talented offensive defenceman needs to simultaneously be a very smart thinker with great vision and quick processing. Thankfully, Villeneuve possesses these skills at a fairly high level. He is not one of these junior players who capitalize off of weak patterns and a slow pace of play to simply be better than their opponents. He truly creates opportunities out of nothing with great creativity and sees complex passing plays in split seconds, while understanding his role as a defenceman. Villeneuve also perfectly reads opportunities to sneak behind a forward on the breakout, force a turnover and look for a scoring chance.

As he has progressed over the last few years, Villeneuve has learned to pick his spots more efficiently. A defenceman of his profile will always make bold choices from time to time and occasionally cause costly turnovers, even in the NHL. This happens to Lane Hutson, an often brought up stylistic comparison to Villeneuve. The goal is to limit these instances as much as possible, which Villeneuve has been able to do. He shows to be aware of when he has the time, space and coverage to attempt risky but rewarding plays, or when to utilize a rather simple play, like a dump or a D to D pass.

Villeneuve also often successfully completes impressively passes across the ice for a fast break. This type of play is an excellent tool to have in your back pocket, as it often catches the opposing defencemen off guard, even at the NHL level.

While his intelligence is advanced for his age, it is still developing. Villeneuve needs to confirm that his success is not a product of his junior environment, and that he will be smart enough to continuously adapt his game going forward, while still remaining a tremendously skilled offensive defenceman. The true test will be whether that same brain can allow him to find solutions offensively and to keep in mind his defensive responsibilities against faster and stronger opponents.
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Should vs could vs will happen:

We should draft whomever they see as the best player long term. If they think that Smits is the better player long-term over Carels , Bjorck, or anyone else, then fine.

If they draft him because he is closer to the NHL and not necessarily the best prospect long-term, then that is another Drury-agenda driven decision. Drury has shown very little ability to build an organization (we can't even get the AHL team in the right direction). He's probably working towards what should happen to save his job (a 7th-8th playoff spot in a bad conference).

We should be making the best long-term decisions for the organization. It's not that NY fans don't have the patience to rebuild.

We don't know what's happening behind the scenes with Dolan and Drury. Does Drury have carte blanche to do whatever he wants? Does he have a mandate to get to the playoffs as soon as possible? Who knows, but unfortunately, the decision to re-tool over rebuild makes me question the decision-making process.

Let's see what happens on Friday and with Trocheck whenever that happens (or doesn't).
 
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RangersFan1994 said:
If Drury decided to package Trocheck Schneider and 5 together or a package of
Lafréniere Schneider and 5, what could a realistic trade be?? 2ed or 3rd overall??
Drury needs to make a big splash for elite youth. Other organizations have it
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This is not a McDavid type draft. I think Toronto may rather have Laf, Schneider, and #5 than #1.
 
Riche16 said:
I thought his nickname was "Smittens"
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" Smittens" was the name that our breeder gave to one of our Aussie puppies pre pick up.

She has grown up to be VERY athletic, super agile, very fast, (especially her first few steps and side to side), and is an amazing protector of our homestead.

No brainer now.

Smits it is.
 
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Friday will be exciting.

Lots of scenarios of where the top 5-10 players will fall. We could be surprised with who’s there at 5.

I have Reid as my top choice. Would be happy with Carels or Šmits. Wouldn’t be against one of the forwards if they dropped either.

With all the picks and buzz surrounding some players I’d like to see them become aggressive and move up to bring in several talented players

In the end the Rangers need to be one of the teams that are noted as the winners of the draft. That’s really what I want to see, quality over quantity
 
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KirkAlbuquerque said:
we're taking Smits.

Drury will see "most nhl ready" and cream himself
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With the Carels news, this is fine. They just have to be careful and ensure he doesn't get lonely being so far away from home whether while with Prentiss or in Europe during the season.

I see a lot of Kovalev in him; an ultra talented young impressionable energetic kid who when he's on the ice, there's this buzz. Those type of guys usually need the "right kind" of guidance which is something in between tough love and the converse of not paying attention to them away from the rink.

A guy like Kovalev had all kinds of problems off the ice whether Super Nintendo addiction or being distracted by the Brighton Beach Night Life. Josh Ho-Sang from the Islanders is another guy but they tried to be tough love with him and it backfired.

You need a very John Cooper or Spencer Carrbery approach with the Gen Zers or Gen AAers.

Tanner Glass went to Dartmouth. Hopefully there's some emotional intelligence in him and it's not just "I can write a mean paper or solve complex math problems".
 
I'm with HockeyBasedNYC

If Stenberg or Reid fall to us I'll throw a party.

I like Smits a lot but if that their guy I'd sooner trade down to 7 or 8, but I understand the risks involved.

The guy I really want in the second half is Command, but that would be a pretty costly trade up. We had to move the Grabner 2nd just to go up a few spots to get Miller in 2018.
 
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Captain Jellico said:
With the Carels news, this is fine. They just have to be careful and ensure he doesn't get lonely being so far away from home whether while with Prentiss or in Europe during the season.

I see a lot of Kovalev in him; an ultra talented young impressionable energetic kid who when he's on the ice, there's this buzz. Those type of guys usually need the "right kind" of guidance which is something in between tough love and the converse of not paying attention to them away from the rink.

A guy like Kovalev had all kinds of problems off the ice whether Super Nintendo addiction or being distracted by the Brighton Beach Night Life. Josh Ho-Sang from the Islanders is another guy but they tried to be tough love with him and it backfired.

You need a very John Cooper or Spencer Carrbery approach with the Gen Zers or Gen AAers.

Tanner Glass went to Dartmouth. Hopefully there's some emotional intelligence in him and it's not just "I can write a mean paper or solve complex math problems".
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Smits already moved to a new country away from home as a kid to play hockey, he's been playing in Finland since 2022
 
EdJovanovski said:
Smits already moved to a new country away from home as a kid to play hockey, he's been playing in Finland since 2022
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Still a problem. Finland is not Greenwich, Connecticut or Yonkers, New York.

How many Finns have the Rangers succesfully developed or had around long term in the history of their organization? Reijo Ruotsalainen who left 40 years ago after five seasons when a coach pissed him off and treated his best friend like shit.

That's it. For veterans Tikkanen was around for three short stints, and they had Ville Neimannen for most of one season before they basically three way traded him for Sandis Ozolinsh. And I'm sure someone is going to use the "yeah, but...." argument.

There haven't been any young Ranger Finns besides Kakko who have been around here more than a year or two. And Kakko was in no way successfully developed.

As far as being from Latvia, I love White Plains, New York as much as the next guy. I don't want to see Smits get pulled over by the cops blitzed out of his mind at 3 AM like the last one who played here.

This is a sensitive issue and New York is a different beast. Like the look of the dude in my avatar (played by the great Ronnie Cox) "Do not mess this up".
 
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Captain Jellico said:
Still a problem. Finland is not Greenwich, Connecticut or Yonkers, New York.

How many Finns have the Rangers succesfully developed or had around long term in the history of their organization? Reijo Ruotsalainen who left 40 years ago after five seasons when a coach pissed him off and treated his best friend like shit.

That's it. For veterans Tikkanen was around for three short stints, and they had Ville Neimannen for most of one season before they basically three way traded him for Sandis Ozolinsh. And I'm sure someone is going to use the "yeah, but...." argument.

There haven't been any young Ranger Finns besides Kakko who have been around here more than a year or two. And Kakko was in no way successfully developed.

As far as being from Latvia, I love White Plains, New York as much as the next guy. I don't want to see Smits get pulled over by the cops blitzed out of his mind at 3 AM like the last one who played here.

This is a sensitive issue and New York is a different beast. Like the look of the dude in my avatar (played by the great Ronnie Cox) "Do not mess this up".
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… what?
 
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