Penn State left wing Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick, sounded like someone enjoying the show before becoming the headline.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “Obviously there’s been a lot of big moves and I’m just watching it as a fan right now, so it’s been fun to watch.”
Forward Ivar Stenberg of Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League, who is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of International skaters, referred to the wheeling and dealing, “super-excited to see what happens.” Caleb Malhotra, a center with Brantford (OHL) and No. 6 on Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters, enjoys it.
“As a hockey fan, I’m kind of geeking out over it,” he said. “Talking with my buddies like, ‘Wow, look at this, so-and-so got traded here and these picks got traded.’ It’s just exciting. You see it coming up close to the draft where more and more trades are being made. In the past, watching the draft, seeing trades on draft day is pretty exciting.”
Manny Malhotra, Caleb’s father, was named coach of the Vancouver Canucks on June 1. The Canucks have the No. 3 pick in the 2026 draft.
“I don’t know how I’ll be feeling on draft night when those trades are happening, but it’s just pretty cool and just exciting to see how it’s breaking down right now,” Caleb said.
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman and independent correspondent Heather Engel contributed to this report
