With the 2026 NHL Draft a week away, today I open the mailbag and answer your questions.Note: Submitted questions may be edited for clarity and style.How likely does it seem that Gavin McKenna drops past No. 1, and where would he go if he does? — West P.Ten percent? I think Toronto likes Ivar Stenberg and Chase Reid a lot, but the sense I got at the combine is that McKenna is their guy. It’s 50/50 for the San Jose Sharks to take him at No. 2, and he doesn’t get past the Vancouver Canucks at No. 3.Top 5 prospects after the NHL Draft CombineCorey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and moreIn an alternate universe, Alexander Zharovsky was ignored in last year’s draft. Where do you rank him within the current crop of draft eligibles? — Seb M.Probably mid-first.It’s been noted that the top end of this draft is below average. How does the top 50 stack up against other years? — Patrick N.Very typical. I’ve been doing this so long that I very rarely notice massive differences in classes once you get past 20. Every class seems to have 25 to 35 good players and 8 to 12 really good ones. The biggest variation tends to be whether there are two to four legit stars or maybe just one.How do you evaluate a prospect’s mental makeup, and does that factor into their ranking? There are dimensions to it, I’d think, many of which might be projectable to the NHL. Are they an alpha-type? How do they perform under playoff-like intensity? How do they approach their own development and training regimen? — Kevin H.I’ve found there’s usually a pretty strong relationship between character and how a player looks on the ice. The high-character guys play like it: hard, consistent, trusted. The low-character guys tend to do stuff that makes you shake your head. Not a perfect correlation, obviously, and you do other forms of off-ice research.Do you think the Sabres will continue drafting size, especially in their forward ranks, now that Jarmo Kekäläinen is the GM? — thesudcoachWhen I think of Kekäläinen’s draft record, I’ve always found that hockey sense has been his most leaned-on trait. That said, I do think the Sabres need some size in their prospect pool.If you had to compare this year’s top six expected defensemen in the draft to 2024’s, which class is better, and why? — Rick A.Going into 2024, compared to going into this draft, I probably liked 2024 more. With the benefit of hindsight and how some of those guys have developed the past two years, I would take 2026’s group.1. If McKenna had simply stayed in the WHL and finished with 150-plus points (given his 129 last season), would he be the runaway favorite to be the No. 1 pick with fewer questions about his potential?2. Since he is the first “big name” player to make the jump in his draft year like this, it seems like it’s the start of a new era. Are some of the critiques about his play perhaps due to him being the first to do this? For example, if another player has a very similar development to McKenna in a few years, will their play be questioned as hard? Or will there be a realistic high-tier of performance that draft year players might reach in the NCAA against stronger competition, similar to how Stenberg’s performance in the SHL has been viewed? — Ryan H.1. Probably. But we’d have worse data about his projection to higher levels, and he’d be poorer.2. No, these critiques are not new. I remember going to his U17 Challenge and Hlinka Gretzky, where he laid eggs, and his U18 worlds, where he was as dynamic a player as I’ve seen in years.