2026 NHL Draft Thread

[Blues7]

 

[bluesfan3109]

Bjorck 5’9” flat. Wow. He may fall to us after all.

I'm in whatever size he is, but his brother is 6'2" and he just turned 18 so I wouldn't' put it past him still growing a few inches.

 

[Mike Liut]

I'm in whatever size he is, but his brother is 6'2" and he just turned 18 so I wouldn't' put it past him still growing a few inches.

He’d challenge for #1 if he was 6’1

 

[STL fan in MN]

I'm in whatever size he is, but his brother is 6'2" and he just turned 18 so I wouldn't' put it past him still growing a few inches.

Idk about a few inches but a little growth would be nice.

But still, the kid’s a gamer. And already 180 lbs at 5’9”. Will probably end up with Marty St. Louis/Crosby tree trunk legs. That will allow for a very low center of gravity and thus hard to knock him off the puck.

And even if the height does end up making C not the best option for him, he’d still project as a very good 1st line RW.

 

[Brian39]

I'm very surprised the Bjorck came in at 5'9" flat. Kid must have incredible posture because he looks taller than that next to people whose heights we know. Thought for sure he'd get measured to at least 5'9.5" with a possibility to hit 5'10".

He's my #1 rated prospect of the guys who have any slim possibility of falling to 11, so I'm happy with the news. Fingers crossed the measurement scares a couple teams off.

 

[Mike Liut]

Command is starting to get my attention

 

[blueper]

Bjorck, Command, Rudolph. Trade up a couple spots if possible to grab Bjorck ... I'd be good with it.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Alexander C. is starting to Command my attention

FIFY

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Whoever in Montreal wrote these questions needs a mental evaluation.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

My semi-realistic draft of choice if the Blues stay at 11 and 15 is Rudolph at 11 and Command at 15.

I hope Bjorck slips to 11 after he registered at 5'9" but I feel like he's still a player the Blues will have to trade up to get if they want him. At least a couple spots.

 

[STL fan in MN]

That is impressive, especially since they’re both pretty big boys around 200 lbs.

Less impressive when a toothpick like Jack Hughes does it.

Bjorck got 16 so he was the leader most of the day until these 2 guys bested it.

McKenna had 14.

 

[ExtremeColdWeather]

My ideal semi-realistic draft: Intriguing center in Lawrence, Strong defensive defenseman in Gustaffson, wildcard defenseman in Bleyl.

 

[Mike Liut]

My ideal semi-realistic draft: Intriguing center in Lawrence, Strong defensive defenseman in Gustaffson, wildcard defenseman in Bleyl.

Gus wont make it to 15. He’s a stud

 

[LogosBlue]

The Hockey Guy with just about a perfect draft for us
11.) Bjorck
15.) Klepov
29.) Bleyl

 

[simon IC]

My ideal semi-realistic draft: Intriguing center in Lawrence, Strong defensive defenseman in Gustaffson, wildcard defenseman in Bleyl.

I could live with that.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Shane Malloy asked
Has the evolution of Lane Hutson or Quinn Hughes changed your opinion at all? (Talking about a focus on Big mobile defenseman that take away time and space)

Absolutely no I went back and did a bunch of research on defense in the salary cap era from 2006 to 2018, only 8 or 9 defenseman 5'11" or smaller have played 200 games.

Can you defend like Jared Spurgeon? 5% pull it off.

Interesting.

 

[542365]

Shane Malloy asked
Has the evolution of Lane Hutson or Quinn Hughes changed your opinion at all? (Talking about a focus on Big mobile defenseman that take away time and space)

Absolutely no I went back and did a bunch of research on defense in the salary cap era from 2006 to 2018, only 8 or 9 defenseman 5'11" or smaller have played 200 games.

Can you defend like Jared Spurgeon? 5% pull it off.

Interesting.

Does that really answer the question though? He’s being asked about how guys like Hutson and Hughes(two undeniably, high-impact Dmen) have played the position differently than the past and have seen a lot of success in doing that and then he cites data from before either guy played a single professional game, which just ignores the original question. “Has how they’ve played and seen such success caused you to reevaluate what you look for?” No because guys who played a decade before them didn’t have success”(or weren’t given an opportunity to have success). That doesn’t really say anything in my opinion.

 

[ExJbeck]

Shane Malloy asked
Has the evolution of Lane Hutson or Quinn Hughes changed your opinion at all? (Talking about a focus on Big mobile defenseman that take away time and space)

Absolutely no I went back and did a bunch of research on defense in the salary cap era from 2006 to 2018, only 8 or 9 defenseman 5'11" or smaller have played 200 games.

Can you defend like Jared Spurgeon? 5% pull it off.

Interesting.

Also goes on to say Lin is a small guy he has rated high. Lin is 13th on his list. Right behind Gustafsson and only has one consensus surprise ahead of that which is Command at 10.

 

[ExJbeck]

Also should be noted that Malloy think Gustafsson and Lin are both #3 guys. But still rated higher then everyone else we had available at 15 in the HF mock.

2026 NHL Draft List - Top 85

2026 NHL Entry Draft ListShane MalloyWhen constructing a list for the NHL entry draft, it becomes an interesting blend of live views, video, analytics, background information, and a bit of luck thrown in for good measure. The General Manager usually receives praise for a team's fortunes at the...

www.hockeyprospectradio.com

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Also goes on to say Lin is a small guy he has rated high. Lin is 13th on his list. Right behind Gustafsson and only has one consensus surprise ahead of that which is Command at 10.

He did, I agree. He has boxes that have to be checked and Lin seems to check them.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Does that really answer the question though? He’s being asked about how guys like Hutson and Hughes(two undeniably, high-impact Dmen) have played the position differently than the past and have seen a lot of success in doing that and then he cites data from before either guy played a single professional game, which just ignores the original question. “Has how they’ve played and seen such success caused you to reevaluate what you look for?” No because guys who played a decade before them didn’t have success”(or weren’t given an opportunity to have success). That doesn’t really say anything in my opinion.

What it tells me is if my job depends on it, then I’m going to go with what most likely has the probability of working.

 

[542365]

What it tells me is if my job depends on it, then I’m going to go with what most likely has the probability of working.

Bigger players are obviously safer bets to play 200+ games because coaches will play them in a variety of roles. So if your goal is to pick the player most likely to play 200 games or more then I agree picking the bigger guy is the smarter choice. This makes sense for perennial playoff teams who have their stars and are looking for cheap depth for upcoming seasons. For a team like the Blues whose depth is reasonably good but have very few impact players, I think it makes more sense to take a swing on an undersized guy who might be a home run over a safe depth guy. If your scouts think Villeneuve, Lin, Bleyl etc. have real home run potential, I wouldn’t shy away from them just because they’re undersized because we have seen undersized admen succeed at a higher rate than they used to.