2026 NHL Draft Rankings: Ferrari's Final Cut Has A New No. 1
NHL draft expert Tony Ferrari shares his top 85 prospects with in-depth analysis of the top 32. Although Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg are in a dead heat, there's a new No. 1.
Video Transcript
With the NHL draft coming up this Friday, it is time for my final board for the 2026 NHL entry draft.
It's been such an exciting and interesting year.
There's been debates about so many players right from the top down to the bottom.
Let's start at the top, though.
Ivar Stenberg and Gavin McKenna have formed what seems to be a 1A, 1B.
All year long, I've been the person pushing Ivar Stenberg at number one on my board, but Gavin McKenna's been right there, and every single time I've said it's a 1A, 1B situation.
Whoever you prefer at 1A, you can put them there, in my opinion.
On the final draft board of the year, Gavin McKenna takes that spot, and it's simply because there are certain things he can do that other players just simply can't do, Ivar Stenberg included.
I love both these players.
I think Gavin McKenna's gonna be an incredible offensive presence.
He has the ability to, and the upside, to absolutely change an offense, for any team.
He could be the guy that end up making the power play at one of the top five in the league.
He has the abil- the passing ability, and the vision, and the creativity to truly change how a team looks at things offensively.
With Ivar Stenberg, the number two player on my board this year, but easily could have finished off as the number one, he's a guy that has everything you want.
He's a winner.
He, he does everything you need from a forward.
He plays a good defensive game.
He's a, a good shooter.
He can finish well.
He's great along the walls and in the cycle.
There's just about everything you want from a player.
At the end of the day, he's the much more complete player when it comes to the debate between him and Gavin McKenna.
But simply put, there is an upside difference.
Ivar Stenberg has a much safer floor, and the reality is he could be an 85, 90-point player, and he still could be dwarfed by Gavin McKenna's production.
Gavin McKinne- n- McKenna has the potential to be a 100-point guy, maybe even a little bit more.
It's gonna be interesting to see how both their careers pan out because no matter who gets taken at number one, there's gonna be some really interesting debates going forward, and they're gonna be two really good players in the NHL.
After that, we go to Viggo Bjork, my number three player on the board, and there's a bunch of debate at the center position.
But ultimately, the player who simply plays the hockey the best is the guy that I went with.
Viggo Bjork is the best center in the draft for a variety of reasons.
But simply put, he's the most intelligent, he's incredibly hard-working, and if he were six foot or even close to it, he's probably in the debate for first overall.
And if we're being honest, there's a chance he's taking it.
Down the board as well, there's so many really interesting players, and this draft class has so many s- really strong defensemen.
Starts off with a guy like Albert Smits, Keaton Verhoef, then we have Malte Gustafsson, other players like Chase Reid, and Carson Carril.
There's a number of high-end defensemen in this draft class, and it's gonna be r- an interesting one as we see so many of them go off the board early.
We could see five, six defensemen go in the top 10 alone.
It's gonna be so fun to watch how this draft class shakes down.
It was an outstanding year for the 2026 NHL draft analysis, and if I have to say anything to anyone watching this and reading, it's thank you for reading along.
Thank you for like all the comments and the con- conversations we've had all year.
It's been another fun year at the Hockey News covering the NHL draft, and I look forward to the NHL draft on Friday.
I'll see you there.
