2026 NHL Draft SLEEPERS

[LeProspector]

I want to hear who some of your favourite sleepers are for the 2026 NHL draft? Guys who aren’t poised to go in the first 3 or so rounds but guys who you do have an appreciation for whatever reason. Unfortunately for me a few of my favourite sleepers thoughout the year have finally gained his much deserved traction in Maksim Sokolovskii and Tommy Bleyl as of late but here are a few others I really like:



D Eric Frossard - Guelph
Big, plus skater and good at moving pucks. Like his projectability to the NHL game even if offence doesn’t improve.

D Tim Runtso
Good defence, good offensive game and a good frame.

D Benjamin Cossette-Ayotte
Like his physicality and willingness to do the hard work. Skating is coming along.

RW Caden Harvey
Buried on a deep Windsor team, showed flashes when given time. Will see role skyrocket going forward. Love his effort level and skating.

C Max Isaksson
Two way pivot that has hidden offensive potential.

C Liam Lefebvre
Overager but is the best in this class. Love his effort level and passion.

D Brek Liske
Offensive production should improve as his role increases with the departures of the Silvertips top guys.

F Ulysses Lombardi
Brother of Amadeus really thrived under a larger role in Erie. Following a similar career trajectory as his brother in the OHL.

F Spencer Bowes
Massive growth spurt and a jump in production as a result. Late bloomer.

 

[weems]

Myles Brosnan.
RHD that can skate, make plays, good upside with this player.
Could be a strong pick at the end of the second or third round.

 

[macbowes]

These are all guys I would be happy taking anywhere in the 3rd round, but it's possible some of them would be available in the 4th.

Adam Valentini
Mikey Berchild
Blake Zielinski

Callum Croskery
Landon Nycz
Giorgos Pantelas

I'm a big fan of Liske as well.

 

[dcherryjr]

Im not sold on berchild and Valentini. Little guys and that doesn’t work in nhl playoffs at all! I’d go with size all day.

 

[LeProspector]

Im not sold on berchild and Valentini. Little guys and that doesn’t work in nhl playoffs at all! I’d go with size all day.

Agree. Though if Valentini is there after round 5 I’d probably change my opinion

 

[dcherryjr]

The game has gone back to size unless you are super elite. Neither are. Valentini benefited from being on pp this year with a loaded line. Berchild matured at a young age and can’t drive play with the big boys. Just the facts.

 

[frontsfan67]

Im not sold on berchild and Valentini. Little guys and that doesn’t work in nhl playoffs at all! I’d go with size all day.

Yeah who’s that Logan stankoven guy anyways?

 

[LeProspector]

The game has gone back to size unless you are super elite. Neither are. Valentini benefited from being on pp this year with a loaded line. Berchild matured at a young age and can’t drive play with the big boys. Just the facts.

With you 100% on Berchild. Don’t see a future there.

There is something there with Valentini though, and i think after round 5 the upside gamble would be worth it.

 

[emptyNedder]

Jakob Floris--not as highly touted as his countryman Goljer, but another RHD with good size However, he was productive against his age group and in the U-18s. Steps up in the playoffs.

 

[My3Sons]

Yeah who’s that Logan stankoven guy anyways?

The game is only getting faster and where there is a will there is a way. Stankoven isn’t the only good smaller player. Guys like Jarvis and Caufield etc. You don’t have to be big if you are skilled and smart and tough and play with purpose and good pace. I’d rather have a smaller skilled fast guy who plays bigger than his size over a big and tough but slow and low IQ guy even if thr bigger guy also has some skill. These things are subjective and teams view them differently. Some will err on the side of bigger guys and some look primarily at skill.

 

[dcherryjr]

And that’s why Montreal is sitting at home watching Vegas. Over the entire playoffs, the little guys can’t take the pounding. You mention stankoven and he’s a stud. But look up and down every lineup and they may have 1 little guy. I’ll play the odds of bigger guys. Vegas gets it.

 

[frontsfan67]

From the OHL JC Lemieux and Pierce Mbuyi but not sure if you’d call a likely top 3 round pick Mbuyi a sleeper.

Should be a good middle 6 guy if it all goes well. Lemieux same thing both may end up on PK

 

[LeProspector]

Yeah who’s that Logan stankoven guy anyways?

Valentini doesn’t have the skating, nor effort level of some of the best small players in the NHL, that’s the main difference.

You need to play beyond your size, and Berchild especially doesn’t do that and Valentini isn’t much better.

Bjorck is the small guy who does do that and look at where a lot of people have him in their rankings.

 

[dcherryjr]

I think some of these kids get some hype at a young age and it stick with them. Like berchild. Mbuyi scored most his points on pp. show me 5 on 5 stats. That’s what matters to me. Some kids don’t play pp given them lower numbers. Im not knocking any of these players, but I look At transferable skills. Have to pass the eye test.

 

[theTDC]

D Brek Liske
Offensive production should improve as his role increases with the departures of the Silvertips top guys.

I like Liske too, but I've seen him as a top 60 projection on at least one list, so I'm not sure he qualifies.

Jonas Woo - D - 5'10, 180lbs (allegedly)
What on Earth was the NHL thinking not drafting him last year? Normally I skew against the undersized offensive defenseman archetype. There are too few PP1QB spots, and most guys just aren't good enough. I also usually laugh at people who draft by looking at the stats sheet. However, Woo legitimately has that elite quickness and elite stickhandling combination that says he has a chance of being the next Hughes/Hutson type, even if it's still a longshot. Utterly embarrassed some of the forwards trying to check him.

I remember watching the Ruck twins on two separate occasions, and my takeaway both times was "holy **** this Woo kid is really good." I saw a list that ranked the top 100 prospects, including overagers, and he was in the unranked, sub-100 section. If you're telling me I can take a chance on this guy with a fourth round pick I'm doing that in a heartbeat. I'd spend a late second on him, that's how much I loved the tape.

Adam Nomme - F - 5'11, 168lbs
Noticed him while watching a game of Niklas Aaram-Olsen. Had a great shift where he picked the puck up in the neutral zone, dangled a d-man, and then beat another guy with a crisp turnback. That one game was my entire exposure to him, and it was a prospect cut up thing, so I only saw a few shifts. Even still, thought I saw a good enough speed skill combination that I found him worth drafting. He's currently rated the 142nd international skater, yet I'd be excited to have him as a prospect.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Yevgeni Dubrovtsev

Late round pick

 

[GrandLarseny]

This might be the first mention of Ulysses Lombardi in the draft portion of this forum. The late season boxcars surge looks good, any thoughts on his playstyle and ultimate upside? He might really follow in his brother's footsteps and get drafted in his D+1 rather than this year given just how hard he's flown under the radar.

 

[Castle8130]

Hawks are looking at defensemen with their 4 picks in the 34-65 range.

Here are a few names that are sleepers

Brek Liske
Yaroslav Fedoseyev
Landon Nycz
Samu Alalauri
Jakub Vanecek

I really like Nycz. Loved what he did last season and this year he played NCAA to challenge himself.

Forwards:

Jaxon Cover
Ryder Cali

Not sure if they count as sleepers but id take them both in round 1

 

[BeranekAndNeck]

Louis-Felix Bourque. 6’2 winger was almost PPG this year but missed almost 20 games. Great throwback PF, going to make some teams mad they passed on him 3-4 times.

 

[dr1234]

Some names I haven’t seen mentioned yet:

-Rian Chudzinski : likely fringe of 3rd or 4th rounds

-Lucian Bernat: Serious upside; huge frame.

-Colin Feeley: defensive D on a real stinker of a team; should have a better year

-Ben Wilmott: double overager who keeps getting stronger. A team is going to let him marinate at Ohio State for 4 years and will come out with a reliable bottom 6 pitbull.

-Torkel Jennersjo: nasty little wrecking ball headed to UMass

-Alisher Sarkenov: is going to explode next year offensively

 

[Penncakes]

A few names that have stood out to me:

-Alisher Sarkenov
-Lukas Sawchyn (Overager)
-Andrei Molgachev
-Niko Tournas (2nd year as overager)
-Wiggo Sörensson
-Cooper Dennis (Overager)

I understand the knocks on some of these guys, but to me they seem like good candidates to outperform their draft position in the coming years

 

[brrt]

I liked what I saw from Felix Carell at the WJC. I think he has a chance to make it.