My May 2026 NHL Draft rankings are out, U18 worlds and the lottery are in the rearview. All of that makes for a perfect time for a mailbag.
You submitted nearly 100 questions. Here, I’ve answered a bunch of the big ones, touching on high-upside second-rounders, Caleb Malhotra’s comparables, Ivar Stenberg versus Leo Carlsson and Anton Frondell, Viggo Bjorck’s projection, ranking Gavin McKenna versus the last 10 No. 1 picks and more.
Note: Questions may be lightly edited for clarity and length. Similar questions are grouped together.
Rank Caleb Malhotra among the centers drafted in the previous three draft classes (2025, 2024, 2023). — Anonymous U.
What are the ceiling and floor comparison players for Caleb Malhotra? — Aidan D.
To answer the first question, based on where I was at on the players around the draft:
T1. Connor Bedard/Macklin Celebrini
T3. Adam Fantilli/Leo Carlsson/Michael Misa
T6. Will Smith/James Hagens
8. Caleb Malhotra
T9. Anton Frondell/Caleb Desnoyers/Berkly Catton
12. Jake O’Brien
T13. Brady Martin/Roger McQueen/Cayden Lindstrom/Dalibor Dvorsky
Who are the biggest upside swings teams could take with picks 20-64? — Tyrone R.
Who are the second-round players that you could see outperforming expectations in the league? The high upside guys, if you will. — Gavin D.
This is always a tricky question because skill/point production upside and actual impact upside aren’t always the same thing. From a pure talent standpoint, guys like Marcus Nordmark, Ryan Roobroeck, Xavier Villeneuve, Mathis Preston and Egor Shilov get the highest grades among the late-first/second-round types. Still, those players are all flawed, and that’s why they’ll be available there even with their skills. There’s also a very real chance that quote-unquote safer bets like Ryder Cali and Gleb Pugachyov could have higher upside in terms of NHL impact, even if they don’t have PP1/point upside. I’m assuming these questions are looking at the skill guys and who, if they hit, could potentially play in a top-six/offensive role, in which case those five names come to mind — but also come with some risk.
How does Ivar Stenberg rank compared to Anton Frondell and Leo Carlsson in recent drafts? — Jared C.
I’m higher on Stenberg than Frondell. Frankly, I’m a fair amount higher. Stenberg versus Carlsson is more interesting to me. Evaluators in the NHL would tell you Carlsson pretty quickly. I’d probably have it a little closer. Both were on the older side in their class. Stenberg was more productive (0.79 points per game in the SHL versus Carlsson’s 0.57 points per game) and had a better World Juniors (10 points in seven games on a gold medal-winning team versus six points in seven games on a fourth-place finisher). However, Carlsson is a better skater, bigger and a center, which wins out in a projection. It’s Carlsson, but I don’t think he’s lightyears ahead per se.
How do you rate Viggo Björck’s chances of becoming an NHL centre? And do you think he is capable of surpassing 60 points per season? — Rowdy V.
I think he sticks at center. He’s got the smarts and competitiveness that you look for in all centers, and I think he’s strong enough on pucks that he’s going to be able to stay in battles and in the mix with that competitiveness and still drive play even at his size. He was being used against the top lines of SHL teams late in his draft year as a teenager, and that helps me feel better about him sticking down the middle.
Yes, I think he can be a 60-point player with continued development. That determination probably comes down to whether you view him as a PP1 or PP2 guy, and I think he’s got the skill and offensive IQ to be the former.
Can you rank the last 10 No. 1 picks and Gavin McKenna based on how they were rated pre-draft? — Tyler N.
It probably looks something like this, though Celebrini might have been viewed more in the Dahlin/Hughes tier, and this may be what’s happened since playing tricks on my memory.
1. Connor Bedard
2. Macklin Celebrini
T3. Rasmus Dahlin/Jack Hughes
T5. Gavin McKenna/Alexis Lafrenière
7. Matthew Schaefer
T8. Owen Power/Nico Hischier
10. Juraj Slafkovský
Of the players you included in the honorable mentions group of your May ranking, which ones were the most difficult to cut from the top 64 and why? — Shane B.
My final 10 cuts were NTDP forwards Dayne Beuker and Victor Plante, Green Bay speedster Landon Hafele, Spokane’s heavyset Chase Harrington, Sarnia’s Beckham Edwards (who can really shoot it and I liked last year but had a disappointing season), Saskatoon’s projectable fourth-liner Zach Olsen, Latvian center Olivers Murnieks, Swedish D Mans Gudmundson, UMass D Landon Nycz and overage D Ethan Mackenzie.
If I were to pick one forward and one D out of that group, it’d probably be Hafele and Mackenzie because of their skating.
Could you compare the top five of the last four drafts? — Simon E.
Using the top five picks in the previous three drafts and the top five players on my current list, based on where I was at on them all at the time of the draft:
1. Connor Bedard
2. Macklin Celebrini
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3. Matthew Schaefer
4. Adam Fantilli
5. Gavin McKenna (2026)
6. Michael Misa
7. Ivan Demidov
8. Leo Carlsson
9. Ivar Stenberg (2026)
10. Will Smith
11. Arty Levshunov
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12. Chase Reid (2026)
13. Caleb Malhotra (2026)
14. Alberts Smits (2026)
15. Caleb Desnoyers
16. Anton Frondell
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17. Brady Martin
18. David Reinbacher
19. Beckett Sennecke
20. Cayden Lindstrom
In hindsight, I was too low on Sennecke. I would also lower Levshunov into that third tier now.
