NHL mock draft 2026: Experts' picks with the real thing looming

[ASFN Admin]

It's finally here: The 2026 NHL Draft, with some big names from college and around the world learning this weekend where they'll land in the first round (on Friday night) and in Rounds 2 through 7 (on Saturday).

This means the end of mock draft season, in which most folks think Gavin McKenna is going No. 1 overall. And for that, we have the exercise below: As usual, we took all the NHL mock drafts and smushed them into a "consensus" draft, which paints a picture on where the experts think the stars of tomorrow will land.

Here's a list of the mock drafts we used:

• ESPN
• NHL.com
• Bleacher Report
• Sportsnet
• The Athletic

1. Toronto Maple Leafs: LW Gavin McKenna, Penn State​

Average: 1.0

2. San Jose Sharks: LW/RW Ivar Stenberg, Frolunda​

Average: 2.0

3. Vancouver Canucks: C Caleb Malhotra, Brantford​

Average: 3.6

4. Buffalo Sabres: D Chase Reid, Sault Ste. Marie​

Average: 4.4

5. New York Rangers: D Carson Carels, Prince George​

Average: 5.4

6. Calgary Flames: F Viggo Bjorck, Djugardens IF​

Average: 6.4

7. Seattle Kraken: D Alberts Smits, Jukurit​

Average: 7.0

8. Winnipeg Jets: D Keaton Verhoeff, North Dakota​

Average: 7.8

9. San Jose Sharks: D Daxon Rudolph, Prince Albert​

Average: 8.2

10. Nashville Predators: LW Wyatt Cullen, USNTDP​

Average: 10.2

11. St. Louis Blues: D Malte Gustafsson, HV71​

Average: 11.6

12. New Jersey Devils: C Tynan Lawrence, Boston University​

Average: 12.0

13. New York Islanders: LW Ethan Belchetz, Windsor​

Average: 12.8

14. Columbus Blue Jackets: D Ryan Lin, Vancouver​

Average: 14.0

15. St. Louis Blues: C Alexander Command, Orebro​

Average: 16.8

16. St. Louis Blues: LW Oscar Hemming, Boston College​

Average: 17.4

17. Los Angeles Kings: LW Adam Novotny, Peterborough​

Average: 18.4

18. Washington Capitals: C Oliver Suvanto, Tappara​

Average: 18.6

19. Utah Mammoth: C Ilia Morozov, Miami University​

Average: 20.4

20. Buffalo Sabres: RW Nikita Klepov, Saginaw​

Average: 21.4

21. Philadelphia Flyers: LW JP Hurlbert, Kamloops​

Average: 21.4

22. Pittsburgh Penguins: C Maddox Dagenais, Quebec​

Average: 21.8

23. Boston Bruins: W Elton Hermansson, MoDo​

Average: 24.0

24. Vancouver Canucks: RW Mathis Preston, Vancouver​

Average: 24.2

25. Ottawa Senators: D Maksim Sokolovski, London​

Average: 25.6

26. New York Rangers: D Tommy Bleyl, Moncton​

Average: 25.6

27. San Jose Sharks: RW Liam Ruck, Medicine Hat​

Average: 26.6

28. Montreal Canadiens: C Jack Hextall, Youngstown​

Average: 28.8

29. St. Louis Blues: C Brooks Rogowski, Oshawa​

Average: 29.0

30. Calgary Flames: D Xavier Villenuve, Blainville-Boisbriand​

Average: 29.4

31. Carolina Hurricanes: D William Hakansson, Lulea​

Average: 30.0

32. Ottawa Senators: RW Gleb Pugachyov, Nizhny Novgorod​

Average: 31.0

This article originally appeared on For The Win: NHL mock draft 2026: Experts' picks with the real thing looming

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