2026 NHL Draft Thread

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by Bonded

If McKenna doesn’t pick up his production he could be one of the biggest fallers in recent memory.

It would be similar to Wright in his draft year. I remember him being described as the next Tavares and was a slam dunk to go 1st overall going into his draft year but ended up falling outside the top 3. There was speculation that he would still go 1st based on how dominant he looked up until his draft but come draft day, it was a bit of a surprise to see him drop.

[Fire]

If McKenna didn't chase the money and go to Penn State and stayed in Medicine Hat he would be racking up the points and be a surefire #1 pick. Though going to college will probably be better for him long term.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Fire

If McKenna didn't chase the money and go to Penn State and stayed in Medicine Hat he would be racking up the points and be a surefire #1 pick. Though going to college will probably be better for him long term.

If he stayed in Medicine Hat people would question why he didn’t jump to the NCAA like other peers on the Tigers and in the CHL.

He shouldn’t have gone for the biggest payday and perhaps gone to the better program in Michigan?

[Sandman]

With only 21 games under his belt, Stenberg already has put up good enough numbers to tie for the 22nd-most points by a player 18 years-old and under in the SHL (his 20 points in 21 games match William Nylander's production at the same age).

His 0.95 ppg is tied for 3rd all-time amongst players 18-and-under, with 10 or more SHL games in a season, behind only Sandstrom (1.03 ppg), and Naslund (1.00 ppg). He has performed better than Daniel Sedin (0.84), Thomas Steen (0.74), Peter Forsberg (0.72), Henrik Sedin (0.69), Elias Lindholm (0.63), Anton Frondell (0.62), Mikael Renberg (0.59), William Eklund (0.58), Nicklas Backstrom (0.57), and Leo Carlsson (0.57). All of these players were 18 at the time.

He could threaten for 1st-overall.

[Sandman]

For U-18 defensemen in the NCAA, Keaton Verhoeff currently holds the 14th-best ppg ALL-TIME (0.67 ppg), just behind Zach Werenski (0.71 ppg).

That mark is is the third-best ppg for a U-18 defenseman since the 1988-89 season. Of course, there's plenty of hockey remaining in the season, and he could still drop in production...

[Sandman]

Tynan Lawrence owns the 9th-best season by a U-17 player in USHL history, with 54 points in 56 games in 2024-25.

His ppg of 0.96 that season is tied for the 23rd-most by a U-17 player in USHL history, with 10 games or more, comparable to Auston Matthews (1.00).

[Royle9]

I don’t think I’d be mad with any of McKenna, Stenberg or Verhoeff.

But I really think we need the top 3 pick to start and hopefully another top 10 pick.