Alexander Karmanov, selected in the seventh round by the San Jose Sharks, is the tallest player ever drafted to the NHL
Hockey Wemby is here.
Alexander Karmanov, selected in the seventh round by the San Jose Sharks, is the tallest player ever drafted, measuring in at 7-foot-1.
In skates, he’s 7-foot-4 — as tall as Victor Wembanyama, the NBA’s tallest active player.
Karmanov spent the 2025-26 season split between the GOJHL and the OHL, playing 15 games for the Brantford Titans and 20 games with the North Bay Battalion. In his 20 OHL games for the Battalion, he recorded two assists, and in the lesser GOJHL, he recorded seven points (3g, 4a).
Hailing from Moldova, Karmanov started playing hockey at age 5. However, Moldova’s rinks were only open a few months a year, so he would drive six-plus hours to other countries to play on weekends. He revealed during his predraft NHL Prospect Profile that his family would even drive 20 hours so that he could attend summer camps.
Karmanov has to get gear that’s fully customized or special-ordered to accommodate his size, with additional alterations done by his grandfather or team equipment staff. At the beginning of this past season, he ran into some stick trouble, as the extensions he added to the top of the stick kept breaking off.
The hulking defender is committed to play at Penn State starting during the 2027-28 campaign. Before then, he is expected to return to North Bay for the upcoming season.
Karmanov has obviously drawn many comparisons to the legendary Zdeno Chara, who has long held the title as the tallest player in NHL history, standing 6-foot-9. Just like Chara, Karmanov’s main attribute is his size, which allowed a team like the Sharks to look past his below-average skating.
“When I asked a couple of scouts who were the worst skaters in the drafters, they said Alexander Karmanov, Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis said ahead of the draft. “And on a scale of 1-10, I was given the number somewhere between 1.5 and 2 at best — he is not a good skater, but he is 7-foot-one, 280 pounds.”
As a defender, Karmanov can take away most of the ice simply with his tremendous reach. He’s also aware of his strength and uses his size to stick up for his teammates, especially his netminder. “If a goalie, if they took the puck, make a save, I’m right away in front of my goalie, and nobody comes to us,” he said.
While he is aware of his unique advantages on the ice, Karmanov also knows the improvements he needs to make and that he still has a lot of work to do before breaking onto an NHL roster.
“I think what Alex is trying to show is that there’s a foundation there for a guy who can help an NHL team,” NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman said. “He’s trying to show that the foundation is there, and now it’s putting another level on, and then continuing to level up.”
“Every practice I’m learning what the coach is telling me, and almost all this year, I just was thinking get better every day, every week, 1 percent better,” Karmanov said.
