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Welcome back to yet another draft ranking! If you’re a SJHN YouTube/Discord member, you got some of this article early. I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts, clips and plays of the players with you all in the Discord as I’ve put this list together

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Top-64 2026 Draft Prospects

This year we have a top-64 and a whole lot of honorable mentions that I am excited to show you all.

I have two reference points next to each prospect: EliteProspects Ranking (EP) and the EPconsolidated ranking from multiple sources (Cons.) The consensus ranking is from June 19th, so some may be off by a few spaces as they update that frequently. Each player’s top line shows where they are ranked, with the gap to my own rank in parentheses. A plus means I’m higher on the player than that source; a minus means I’m lower.

Some players carry a Perfect Fit flag. These are the players I’m more confident have a place in an NHL lineup, even if that ceiling isn’t necessarily very high. They carry certain NHL qualities in their pace, processing, or compete that I think they fit different NHL archetypes at the next level despite size or other limitations.

Now certainly lots of other players on this list have a place in the NHL. The flag is mostly to highlight why I have them in a given tier, to showcase them a bit more, and explain why I might be higher than some on these players.

Deep Draft?

This draft in my eyes isn’t as deep as others. The last full writeup I did in 2023 was 100+ players because that draft felt so deep throughout the second round and into the third. This draft it seems like the high-end skill might run out a bit faster.

I think there are interesting picks on Day 2, and a lot of re-entries that have made real good cases for being higher picks than I think people are expecting.

Additionally, there aren’t a lot of high-end goalscorers up front. There are lots of good playmakers, big project forwards and high motor guys, but pure snipers seemed hard to come by.

Defensively the top of this class is excellent, and better than I remember from recent drafts for sure. It does drop off pretty heavily after that top few tiers in my opinion.

Finally there are quite a few goalie options that I think will start going the beginning of round 2, like they seem to do over the past few drafts. While there may not be a true star in net, the ones I’ve highlighted here have stood out as good bets to me

Tier 1, Future Stars

It’s a small tier at the top. Luckily, this is where the San Jose Sharks sit with the No. 2 pick.

I think these two players are the headliners of this class and have been for the majority of the year. These are the two players that I think have the best ceiling and certainty to being stars at the next level.

1. Gavin McKenna, LW/L · 5’11”, 170 · Penn State (NCAA) · EP 1 (even) · Cons. 1 (even)

There may not be a ton to say about McKenna that hasn’t already been written, but I’ll certainly try to give my thoughts. When people use the work dynamic, they often misattribute the word to a single attribute. A player is fast = a player is dynamic. A player is a great puck-handler = a player is dynamic. To me, I try to avoid the word unless I’m talking about a specific combination of things happening on the ice with a player.

Gavin McKenna is dynamic. He shifts the play with his vision, his hands and his feet that then changes the flow of the game. That’s dynamism. It’s not rushing up the wing really fast or putting a puck through a defender’s legs. It’s manipulating the play so that the actions you take with the puck open up options. McKenna is the best in the class at this. He’ll use his excellent awareness to shift play, move a defender, then connect where a teammate will be after he’s moved. When I saw future San Jose Sharks star Will Smith in 2023, I wrote:

“His handling skills are so impressive. He’s one of the few forwards on this list, or in any draft that can see how the ice will look like 2 plays ahead before he makes his move. Not, makes move, then sees teammate for pass. No. He makes his moves because the teammate will become open after he makes said move.”

That’s dynamism. That’s Gavin McKenna…but he’s even more advanced at this stage. He’s more deceptive, faster and quicker with his thinking at the NCAA level than Will Smith was in his draft year. We’ve seen how good Smith is becoming at the NHL level next to Celebrini, and whoever drafts McKenna is going to be over the moon with his playmaking in a few years time.

Sure there are concerns about his physicality, but I don’t think it’s nearly as important as some make it out to be for a player like him. He’s going to push play through other means, even if he does probably need a primary forechecker and puck-retriever on his line.

For a very brief time I moved Stenberg ahead of McKenna, but after he settled into the NCAA and started putting on highlight reel games again, playing with the confidence and swagger that he’s had his entire career, I realized that it simply will not matter soon what league he’s playing in. Gavin McKenna is a star in the making.

2. Ivar Stenberg, LW/L · 5’11”, 183 · Frölunda HC (SHL) · EP 2 (even) · Cons. 2 (even)

Stenberg had a brief stent at #1 overall for me after the World Juniors, where I found him to be just a bit more impactful than McKenna on a game to game basis. Admittedly he’s a player that I think isn’t as high of a producer as McKenna at the next level, but it may simply not matter. When you need a player to give you that consistent offense and transition play, with solid two-way play up and down the ice, Stenberg is going to be the guy. His best asset is his ability to continually move the puck into better positions. If you distill Stenberg’s success down to a single thing, it’s that. He’s constantly looking for the next play to move the puck into a higher danger area than it currently is. If he’s got the puck in the highest danger area, he’s shooting, and he’s got a hell of a shot to go with an impressive playmaking toolkit. Off-puck he’s opening himself up to receive the pass and sneak into scoring areas. In the same way people love to have 12 definitions of dynamism, they also love to have 12 definitions of hockey IQ. To me, Stenberg, to me, is hockey IQ.

While Leo Carlsson might have a higher ceiling and overall impact on the game at the NHL level because of his size and position, I can honestly say Stenberg has looked more impressive than he did at the SHL level. More impressive than William Eklund, Anton Frondell this year, and just about every Swedish prospect in the past 20 years.

So while I think he’s going to be a star at the next level, I think McKenna has just a SMALL edge offensively that’ll make him slightly more valuable to a team in the future. It’s close, and it has been all year. Picking either first overall in a normal draft year would be absolutely justified.

Tier 2, Blue-Chips

This tier is the blue-chips. High-end prospects that have the potential to be first-line, first pairing players, but may not hit that ceiling. They’ll be the best prospects for a lot of teams drafting them and help shape teams going forward. The certainty of stardom may not be there, but they have certainly separated themselves enough from the lower tiers. A star, possibly multiple may come out of this group for sure. They’re top-10 quality prospects in most drafts.

3. Chase Reid, D/R · 6’2.5″, 190 · Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) · EP 3 (even) · Cons. 3 (even)

To start: Chase Reid has the chance to be the most valuable player from this draft. The debate has raged online between scouting services, fans and the media about the top end of this draft with so many high-value defenders available vs. the smaller skilled wingers occupying the top two spots. What does an NHL team need if they all hit their ceiling? Chase Reid is the ceiling pick, but with risk.

Reid has been typecast as a purely offensive D with high speed, transition play and a lethal shot. While that’s true, I think his defense gets overlooked. He’s ahead of guys like Rudolph, Parekh and Yakemchuk from recent drafts defensively in my mind. He can be physical when he needs to be and at times it even looks like he enjoys a physical playstyle, throwing his body around to get the puck back. He can throw himself out of position this way by looking for a physical play instead of a simple steal, but I’d prefer seeing that he can use his frame rather than not. It’s a bit of a balancing act defensively for him. There are times when, like mentioned he’s too aggressive, but also times when he’s a bit lackadaisical, waiting for the play to break down so he can pick the puck up and transition. This will need to improve. He’s at his best defensively when he’s involved, but trusting his D partner to pick up the puck after he makes a stop. Right now he was doing just far too much at both ends of the ice for the Greyhounds. Everything ran through Reid, which is somewhat encouraging. Once he’s in a better system with a better D partner, more involved forwards in transition, I really see him flourishing. A place like Michigan State, which has accumulated some of the best talent for the upcoming NCAA season is going to allow Reid to thrive.

Offensively, when he’s moving, he’s a force. His hands are exceptional for a defenseman. He moves and transitions the puck so effectively at the junior level. The comp has been Zach Werenski for him, both used by himself and by public scouts, and that seems right. He’s got a mind for getting the puck in deep by himself, making a play, retreating back and continuing to keep the puck in the zone to pressure defenses. He’s an excellent shooter from the point, although his accuracy is a bit all over the map. Needs to improve on keeping the puck on net.

He’s not in the same tier as McKenna and Stenberg simply because he doesn’t have as long of a history as them at producing at a high-high level, and he wasn’t always consistent with his play this year. To me though, he’s the best defense prospect in this class, possessing the potential to be a true #1D on a team.

Read Keegan’s Full Top-64 at Halfwall Hockey

The post Keegan’s Top-64 2026 Draft Prospects appeared first on San Jose Hockey Now.