2026 NHL Draft Thread

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Pronman latest rankings (paywall). He calls this an average draft class that falls off after a handful of exciting prospects.

Calls McKenna a Jack Hughes type prospect

https://x.com/coreypronman/status/19...628041091?s=12

Interesting list. Roobrooeck and Bjorck listed at 14 and 15 respectively where I have seen them both in the top 10 of a few lists.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Interesting list. Roobrooeck and Bjorck listed at 14 and 15 respectively where I have seen them both in the top 10 of a few lists.

Roobroeck doesn't surprise me at all. Bjorck does, though Eklund slipped to 16 last year, so you never know with smaller guys.

[Matty81]

Yeah I don't think Roobrooeck will drop that low in the actual draft, he did have a bad start to the season but he's picked it up in the last little bit. He doesn't seem as good as that top tier but he scores in buckets and he's got a lot of tools, and the forward crop as far as elite players is pretty thin

For the flames it feels like they need a top 5 or 6 pick to be sure of landing a cornerstone. McKenna, Lawrence and Stenberg all seem like forwards who generate enough offence to build around, and Belchetz will probably be an elite winger if he gets a good center to play with. After that I'd rather they not draft a dman given how bad the high end forward depth is but Verhoeff seems like another cornerstone piece and him with Parekh long run is tantalizing, though they are both right shots.

Not that the other players listed beyond those 5 are bad, but for a team like the flames I don't think adding another forward who projects as a good complimentary player or another small waterbug dman will do a lot for them.

It's going to be a long season of waiting for the draft I get the players will try and no anger on my end there but objectively really hope the flames don't pull their usual moves and go on a meaningless charge and end up in the 10-16 range again

[Vinny01]

Pronman to me has been the most “meh” on this draft than any of the other scouts/insiders. He has never bought into the McKenna hype and calls this an average draft where others state McKenna has near generational talent and this is a very deep draft.

After reading that article a top 3 pick is perfect as Lawrence was ranked 2nd and Verhoeff 3rd. Any of the top 3 would be unreal for the Flames. 32nd place guarantees a pick in the top 3

[Matty81]

For me I think Stenberg is just as good as any of those 3 for the flames too. He's a super creative offensive player which is exactly what they need and a lot of others have him ranked ahead of Verhoeff and Lawrence.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...tober-edition/

But I agree that reviewing the draft class the flames are going to need to be pretty bad to get a top player here.

Going to be really interesting to see how Conroy handles this season, if the flames are still in last place in 10 more games they will effectively be out of it before Christmas and you'd hope he does a bit more of a teardown to make sure we get the most value out of the season through the draft pick and opening up spots for cheaper youngsters in the AHL

[Canada 02]

I think Pronman's ranking of Suvanto is the highest I've seen anyone rank him. Its deserved, IMO, but would prefer Suvanto lay low and stay in the ~20s where the Flames might have a shot at him if they were to acquire pick(s) from contenders

[Vinny01]

Stenberg was 6 for Pronman. Villeneuve and Belchetz ahead of him along with the other top 3

[saillias]

Is Pronman honestly credible? Lately all I've seen is mockery and disrespect towards him and his rankings from other scouting hobbyist and draft ranking types

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by saillias

Is Pronman honestly credible? Lately all I've seen is mockery and disrespect towards him and his rankings from other scouting hobbyist and draft ranking types

I've always found Pronman to be maybe a bit too overly opinionated. It seems like he gets a "feel" for certain players, and will penalize them based on that pretty heavily.

[devo22]

he's okay. Like Button, his rankings often stray a bit from the consensus, so I think some people will naturally be critical of his work. I agree he might be a bit opinionated/biased, but then again, it's just one more ranking that adds to the complete puzzle.

[Jay Random]

The thing is, there is no ‘complete puzzle’. A player isn't the average of X number of statistical models. In particular, all the models have trouble quantifying individual defensive ability, and it doesn't get any better if you average them together: they are not just missing the target in different directions, they don't even agree what the target is or how much it should be weighted in ranking a player.

In circumstances like that, you're better off just ignoring the least accurate model instead of trying to juggle it with all the others.

[devo22]

I think it depends. If 9 out of 10 rankings agree on a player and the 10th falls out of line, it's worth looking at why. If it's just to be different and generate noise, then yeah, it should be ignored. But if there's legitimate reasons to it, it's worth exploring. I feel Pronman generally falls into the latter category, but I will say I also much prefer Wheeler at The Athletic.

[Fan69]

Just aboot everything i have seen or read has this as a good to very good draft. Now some case can be made i think about that a lot of the top players are on the smaller side. Also while their are not a lot of centers i think the top five or so are quite good with lawrence being the standout.

[The Professor]

So, on Pronman's list there is one C in the top 8. Yikes. Do other lists jive with that? Is this a bad year to be looking for our franchise C?

[dissentowner]

If we can't land McKenna or Lawrence I would go Villeneuve. A super skilled LD, can you imagine him and Parekh as the cornerstones of our defence? I'm also still high on Bjork as well if he can project as a C which is debatable.

[Harry Lime]

If Calgary doesn't win 1st, and grab McKenna, what do you do with the pick?

If it's 2nd, I might still take Stenberg...

but it would be a real consideration to trade to the 5th or 6th pick and select Laurence (natural C), as well as picking up some other coveted asset.

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

If we can't land McKenna or Lawrence I would go Villeneuve. A super skilled LD, can you imagine him and Parekh as the cornerstones of our defence? I'm also still high on Bjork as well if he can project as a C which is debatable.

If we can't land McKenna or Lawrence, then we need to go BPA.

Picking by position this high in the draft is how you end up with Juolevi over Tkachuk, or Kotkaniemi over the other Tkachuk, etc.

So what if Verhoff is an RD? Draft him and trade either him or Parekh. Maybe one can play on their off-side? Better to have a game-breaker in the wrong position than a plug in the right one.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

If Calgary doesn't win 1st, and grab McKenna, what do you do with the pick?

If it's 2nd, I might still take Stenberg...

but it would be a real consideration to trade to the 5th or 6th pick and select Laurence (natural C), as well as picking up some other coveted asset.

The lack of top centers in this draft will likely mean he's not there at 5 or 6.
I think he goes top 3.

[Vinny01]

I wouldn’t force the center position.

The Habs forced Kotkaniemi when they could have picked Tkachuk or Hughes.

[Tbull8]

Stenberg or Lawrence and I'd be stoked with either one