2026 NHL Draft Thread

[Monahammer]

I would take the players ranked 7-9 on his list before any dman in this draft, personally.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

He's not always wrong. Here's his final 2019 rankings with Cole Caufield (who went 15) and Matt Boldy (who went 12) in his top 5.

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/draftcentre/c...ings-1.1317702

As an aside, it would really be nice if all the outlets that do draft coverage had an archive page somewhere to click through their draft ranking articles over the last couple of decades.

I think you'll find that people in the prognostication business typically try to focus on their current prognostications only and not what they may have said in the past.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Reid is a worse defender than Parekh, too.

BUT, I am not sure I really disagree with Button. I think Verhoeff's upside is limited personally, and Button is always going off of future potential not where he thinks people will be drafted.

Me too, and add Malhotra to that list

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

I think you'll find that people in the prognostication business typically try to focus on their current prognostications only and not what they may have said in the past.

If people actually tracked prognosticators' records, there would be no prognosticators.

[Naitix]

Good video on McKenna vs Stenberg. I would take Stenberg first.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytZkJI6zOvE

[D as in David]

Maybe it's PTSD talking, but I get Huberdeau vibes from McKenna's play style.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Naitix

Good video on McKenna vs Stenberg. I would take Stenberg first.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytZkJI6zOvE

This video is fantastic. His conclusion feels perfect. McKenna is the guy you build a starting-from-scratch team around as his game will change the way a team plays. Stenberg can slot in and go with whatever team system is in place.

But both are incredibly elite prospects who will have big, probably superstar careers.

If Calgary is picking 1, I don't think they can go wrong with either. But after watching this, a few things I'd be really debating:

• Is McKenna's game too similar to Parekh's? (Lean Stenberg)
• Who's going to be more marketable? (Lean McKenna)
• Who's less risky but still has superstar potential? (Lean Stenberg)
• Who has the highest ceiling? (Lean McKenna)

Fascinating.

[Monahammer]

The video captures almost the same points that I made in response to Jiri a few days ago, and I agree with a lot of what is said. But, I take the opposite view of Naitix and think it means we should draft McKenna.

[Tbull8]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

This video is fantastic. His conclusion feels perfect. McKenna is the guy you build a starting-from-scratch team around as his game will change the way a team plays. Stenberg can slot in and go with whatever team system is in place.

But both are incredibly elite prospects who will have big, probably superstar careers.

If Calgary is picking 1, I don't think they can go wrong with either. But after watching this, a few things I'd be really debating:

• Is McKenna's game too similar to Parekh's? (Lean Stenberg)
• Who's going to be more marketable? (Lean McKenna)
• Who's less risky but still has superstar potential? (Lean Stenberg)
• Who has the highest ceiling? (Lean McKenna)

Fascinating.

Mckenna
Floor = Drouin
Ceiling = Kucherov

Stenberg
Floor = Ehlers (but maybe a bit less soft...)
Ceiling = Zetterberg

Is sort of how I see them

[Jiri Hrdina]

Drouin is a good comparison. If things go wrong that's what you end up with. Yuck.

Again I have Mckenna as #1 but I see it as a virtual coin toss between him and Stenberg.

[PeteMoss]

I'm not sure what else Stenberg could do to be considered a #1 pick. He's putting up the best draft eligible season ever in Swedish league - over the Sedins. He screams star player.

[Arsenal14]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

I’m very surprised that elite prospects or whatever doesn’t have that as a subscirber feature or etc. i don’t think anyone keeps track of the old rankings.

There is a site called mynhldraft.com that has first round rankings going back to about 2013: http://www.mynhldraft.com/2013-nhl-d...spect-rankings

[GioforPM]

Turning into a bit of Wright v Slafovsky v Cooley; Tavares v Hedman; or Taylor v. Tyler. And in each of those no one really went wrong.

[bdubbs]

Over time, I've begun to lean Stenberg on this debate myself... Lots of time between now and the draft though, and McKenna could adjust to NCAA and go on a tear.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Drouin is a good comparison. If things go wrong that's what you end up with. Yuck.

Again I have Mckenna as #1 but I see it as a virtual coin toss between him and Stenberg.

Is it though?

Drouin was second fiddle to Mackinnon (maybe third depending on your thoughts about Ehlers) in a weaker league than the dub, and still didn't sniff McKenna's 16 year old WHL season offensively even in his D+1 year.

Style wise, maybe, but McKenna is much more potent than Drouin.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

This video is fantastic. His conclusion feels perfect. McKenna is the guy you build a starting-from-scratch team around as his game will change the way a team plays. Stenberg can slot in and go with whatever team system is in place.

But both are incredibly elite prospects who will have big, probably superstar careers.

If Calgary is picking 1, I don't think they can go wrong with either. But after watching this, a few things I'd be really debating:

• Is McKenna's game too similar to Parekh's? (Lean Stenberg)
• Who's going to be more marketable? (Lean McKenna)
• Who's less risky but still has superstar potential? (Lean Stenberg)
• Who has the highest ceiling? (Lean McKenna)

Fascinating.

For Calgary, it makes a ton of sense to grab the Western Canadian kid and hope you have him for the entirety of his career. I also value Stenberg, immensely. 2nd OA has got to be the easiest draft choice, in my eyes.

If we can finish worst in the league, we can at least add the lottery odds of finishing either 1st or 2nd and hope we land either spot.

[Mitch]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Is it though?

Drouin was second fiddle to Mackinnon (maybe third depending on your thoughts about Ehlers) in a weaker league than the dub, and still didn't sniff McKenna's 16 year old WHL season offensively even in his D+1 year.

Style wise, maybe, but McKenna is much more potent than Drouin.

I wouldn't say he was second fiddle - Drouin was more productive than Mackinnon in their draft year, by a decent margin. There were people that had him ahead of Mackinnon in their rankings IIRC (I want to say Pronman?).

Tbh, Drouin is a 'floor' comparable I've thought about for McKenna as well. I do think he'll turn out better though.

[stemit14]

I posted last week the trend in drafts that have wingers go 1st overall in the last 20 years. It’s actually really interesting how much it is an indication of the quality of the other players in the draft. Kane (2007), Hall (2010), Yakupov (2012), Lafreniere (2020) and Slafkovsky (2022) are the wingers that went 1st overall. Of those players, Kane is the only one that I would consider a superstar throughout the prime of his career. It’s probably too early to judge Slafkovsky though. Hall has been a top line winger for most of his career though and he did have an MVP season.

The bigger point is that those drafts seem to have the following qualities:
1. Few (in most cases no) legit #1 centers can be found in any of those drafts. The exceptions I would say are Seguin (2010) and Stutzle (2020).
2. It’s the same case with defencemen. There are some decent defencemen in those drafts (eg. Cam Fowler) but very few instances of a legit Norris-level defenceman from these drafts.
3. Usually, taking the top-ranked winger at the top of the draft in these cases was the right decision (2012 was the exception but it was the oilers and it was the worst draft class of the past 20 years).

So, ultimately, I think it’s best to temper expectations for whoever the flames get in this draft… even if it’s Stenberg or McKenna. If it’s a defenceman, expect their ceiling to be a good top pairing defenceman but more likely a top 4. If it’s a center, I will assume their ceiling is a 2nd line center.

Keep in mind, this is just using the winger drafts from the last 20 years as the basis of this opinion. This year could be completely different - Stenberg and McKenna could both end up as the best wingers in the league in 4-5 years - after all, before the start of this season, I think most scouts would have said McKenna is going to be the best winger to go 1st overall since Patrick Kane. Malhotra could turn into a #1 center.

I’m excited for this draft especially if they get to pick top 2… but I think next year’s draft that is currently loaded with centers at the top of the rankings will be the most important draft for the flames to pick high in. Probably the most important draft for the flames in decades will be in 2027.

[traptor]

Yeah Drouin didn't do what McKenna has done up to this point. It's hard to find a player whose produced at the level he has in different leagues and then gone on to bust.

[Robbob]

It was during the WJC, but they mentioned that if he had stayed in the WHL and slept walked while putting up 150 points, he would be the consensus 1st overall. McKenna is kind of being scrutinized for taking the harder route to better himself.