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Prospect Info: 2026 NHL Draft Thread

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Brodeur

Brodeur

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
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San Diego
www.tsn.ca

McKenna the unanimous No. 1 in TSN’s Pre-Season NHL Draft Ranking

Two weeks shy of his highly anticipated NCAA debut with the Penn State Nittany Lions, Gavin McKenna is No. 1 in the TSN Pre-Season NHL Draft Ranking.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca

For me, hockey season always felt like it was around the corner when Bob McKenzie would post his initial draft rankings. Now that's he retired, it looks like TSN is partnering with FloHockey to conduct the survey/ranking. It's supposed to be an above average year although a little light in centers but deep with wingers.
 
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this is looking like a rebound year for a number of countries
  • FIN saw zero high picks last year and now has multiple potential top 2 round talents with the likes of Hemming, Piiparinen, and Suvanto
  • LAT has an abnormally strong year coming up, not just in comparison to 2025 but in general. Murnieks and Smits should be solid prospects
  • NOR and SUI should both see significantly earlier picks than last year with Aaram-Olsen and Steiner, respectively, although not much in the realm of depth
  • RUS doesn't quite have anyone at the level of d-1 Ryabkin, but this class looks much deeper with Fyodorov, Gashilov, Ilyin, Pugachyov, and so on
  • SWE should have another super high pick in Stenberg and then even more 1st round candidates in Bjorck, Gustafsson, Hermansson, Nordmark, etc.
  • SVK has a couple bigger names at the top in Chrenko, Nemec (yes, his little brother), and Tomik, just to be determined how high at the top
and then for everyone else...
  • CAN is looking lighter down the middle but they're bringing a super impressive crop of wingers and defenders in particular
  • CZE has a chance to match last year's 1st round success, definitely with Novotny and probably with Katolicky, but might not have a ton of depth
  • USA class is looking dull. Not to say they don't have anyone, but it's not particularly strong or deep. The bigger names will again likely not be coming out of the NTDP either, with Reid (in the OHL) being the standout
 
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thehockeynews.com

Gavin McKenna's Penn State Debut to be Featured on NHL Network & YouTube

The National Hockey League announced a partnership with Arizona State University and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference that will make NHL Top Prospect Gavin McKenna’s NCAA debut on October 3rd available to be streamed live on the official <a href="http://youtube.com/nhl">NHL YouTube</a>...
thehockeynews.com thehockeynews.com

The National Hockey League announced a partnership with Arizona State University and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference that will make NHL Top Prospect Gavin McKenna’s NCAA debut on October 3rd available to be streamed live on the official NHL YouTube and on TV broadcasted on NHL Network in the United States.
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I'm flying out to Phoenix tomorrow and dragging a friend to the PSU/ASU game to catch McKenna. Had I known the game was going to be televised, I might have stayed home.

WHL is streaming for free on Victory+ (they also have the Ducks/Stars) in case anybody had nothing else to watch.
 
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Brodeur said:
thehockeynews.com

Gavin McKenna's Penn State Debut to be Featured on NHL Network & YouTube

The National Hockey League announced a partnership with Arizona State University and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference that will make NHL Top Prospect Gavin McKenna’s NCAA debut on October 3rd available to be streamed live on the official <a href="http://youtube.com/nhl">NHL YouTube</a>...
thehockeynews.com thehockeynews.com



I'm flying out to Phoenix tomorrow and dragging a friend to the PSU/ASU game to catch McKenna. Had I known the game was going to be televised, I might have stayed home.

WHL is streaming for free on Victory+ (they also have the Ducks/Stars) in case anybody had nothing else to watch.
Click to expand...
have fun and keep an eye on the real star of the show ;)
1759443369701.png
 
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My3Sons said:
NJ preparing to pick first?
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I counted about ten scouts sitting by Castron. I didn’t get to do a lap around the arena since my buddy and I were protecting unreserved standing room spots. ASU did a relatively good job keeping McKenna bottled up all game then he wired a one timer for the gwg. Student section was booing McKenna every time he touched the puck and chanted “overrated” a few times.



1759675817206.jpeg
 
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I never thought I'd see the day where the best prospect in the world would be playing at Penn State....in a game vs Arizona State....

As a long time lover of NCAA hockey, seeing some of these more traditional football schools attract major hockey talent is just weird to me.
 
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JimEIV said:
I never thought I'd see the day where the best prospect in the world would be playing at Penn State....in a game vs Arizona State....

As a long time lover of NCAA hockey, seeing some of these more traditional football schools attract major hockey talent is just weird to me.
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You don't remember NJ Devils great Greg Adams from Northern Arizona University? The loin cloth must be on too tight today and cutting off the blood to your head.
 
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JimEIV said:
I never thought I'd see the day where the best prospect in the world would be playing at Penn State....in a game vs Arizona State....

As a long time lover of NCAA hockey, seeing some of these more traditional football schools attract major hockey talent is just weird to me.
Click to expand...

Former Devils legend Eddie Lack worked for ASU for a few years and apparently still lives in the area. After USC/UCLA decided to bolt for the Big 10, I was holding out hope that they might start up D1 hockey programs. I'm cautiously optimistic that California is going to be produce a steady stream of D1 talent going forward as the number of rinks and overall organization is much better than 20+ years ago.

There had been talk of a west coast version of the USHL a couple years back but that seems to have cooled down.
 
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To be fair the Big Ten is a traditional college hockey power conference. Penn State just didn't have the facilities to field a proper team until they received donation$. Arizona State... well... that's weird. :)
 
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forceten said:
To be fair the Big Ten is a traditional college hockey power conference. Penn State just didn't have the facilities to field a proper team until they received donation$. Arizona State... well... that's weird. :)
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College hockey to me in the 80's and 90's was Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan....with a sprinkling of some others ...but even the sprinkles where also still in the general orbit of Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan.

Edit: Denver was always good and they're not really in any of the 3 M orbit.
 
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JimEIV said:
College hockey to me in the 80's and 90's was Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan....with a sprinkling of some others ...but even the sprinkles where also still in the general orbit of Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan.

Edit: Denver was always good and they're not really in any of the 3 M orbit.
Click to expand...

It totally was. For sure.
 
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JimEIV said:
College hockey to me in the 80's and 90's was Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan....with a sprinkling of some others ...but even the sprinkles where also still in the general orbit of Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan.

Edit: Denver was always good and they're not really in any of the 3 M orbit.
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Don't forget North Dakota.
 
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Not that we'd be in the market for a smaller offensive minded D, but Xavier Villeneuve was the D who stood out for me when I caught Canada at the U18s last year. Naturally it was just one game but their blue line featured a couple guys (Verhoeff/Lin) who might go top 5.
 
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Captain3rdLine said:
Really hoping we keep our 1st this year (unless its part of a trade for an impactful longterm addition).
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They have a bit of a logjam up front once everyone is healthy. On defense they will have a logjam once Casey and Kovacevic are healthy although they could use another lefty who is better than Cholwoski. It's early. Hopefully they can stay healthy and won't need much reinforcement added.
 
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