Welcome to The Athletic’s annual NHL draft prospects poll. The goal is an ambitious one: pull off a survey of the top 2026 NHL Draft prospects similar to the player polls our staff conduct in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.This year, I managed to survey 65 of the top prospects for their answers to three questions:
Who is the most talented player in the class that you’ve played against? Not necessarily the best, but the most purely skilled.
Who is the most underrated player in the class? Someone who deserves more attention.
Who is your NHL player comp?
Today, in Part 1 of 2 of this year’s poll, here are the tallies for the first two questions and the best quotes from the prospects.The results were insightful, candid and revealing throughout, pulling back the curtain on how the players view both their peers and themselves.Note: For this question, some players wanted to give two names instead of one, so the actual total number of votes (74) was higher than the total number of players surveyed (65).McKenna edges Stenberg (barely)Gavin McKenna's 9-8 win over Ivar Stenberg here feels as close as they do.Those who answered Stenberg said he had "that X factor" and "can create things out of nothing." Jack Hextall said he "was pretty nasty" when he played against him in the World Jr. A Challenge.Those who answered McKenna felt they didn't need to elaborate or explain it. "Easy," said Xavier Villeneuve. "That one's pretty obvious," said Beckett Hamilton. "He was pretty dominant in my 16-year-old year.""He can do whatever," added Matias Vanhanen.On Mathis PrestonMaybe my biggest takeaway from the survey was how much reverence Mathis Preston's peers have for his skill level.Defenseman Tim Runtso said Preston can go end-to-end and "do it all by himself.""Pure skill is Mathis Preston," Zach Olsen answered quickly. "His overall puck skill is through the roof."Added defenseman Ben Macbeath: "Growing up, he has always been the most elite skill guy. I would expect most guys to say him, he’s just got so much skill."On Braidy WassilynAll but one of the players who received multiple votes are viewed as first-round talents, which makes Braidy Wassilyn's name jump off the page.Wassilyn's two backers were quick and emphatic in their responses, too, which grabbed my attention.Said Ryder Cali of Wassilyn: "He’s definitely the most skilled, I think. Just naturally, he’s just so talented with the puck. I don’t even know how to describe it, you just have to see it.""Playing against him in minor hockey in the GTHL growing up and seeing him there, just a skilled, skilled player," added Alexander Bilecki.On Nikita KlepovIt's not unexpected, but I thought it was still noteworthy that among the OHL's two top rookies, Nikita Klepov got twice as many votes as Caleb Malhotra.Chase Reid actually said Klepov for both most talented and most underrated. "I think he should be a top-10 pick for sure," Reid said. "He brings a different element to the game that I’ve never seen before. He can move side to side. His agility is unbelievable. He can stop and start so quickly. He’s got unbelievable IQ with the puck. And he can score goals."
