Welcome to my anonymous 2026 NHL Draft scouts poll.This year-end annual project surveys NHL scouts with a different set of questions each year, granting them anonymity to encourage honest — and hopefully candid — answers.This time around, 13 scouts (including multiple directors) participated, answering the same three questions on hot-button topics in the 2026 class. This year’s poll focused on the 2026 defenders, asking the scouts which of the big five they rank first and last, whether a sixth D belonged in that top group, and what to make of the diminutive Xavier Villeneuve and the hulking Maksim Sokolovskii.Here are the full results, plus some of the back-and-forths I had with them on their answers.Is Chase Reid the next Drew Doughty?Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and moreWho would rank first and last among the top five D (Chase Reid, Carson Carels, Keaton Verhoeff, Alberts Šmits and Daxon Rudolph)?This format for a question — asking for a first and last from a grouping in the draft, instead of a ranking — has become a regular of mine in my scout’s surveys because I find it’s more likely to produce willing respondents and creates for a good opportunity for a back-and-forth while still giving valuable insight into who the favorites are, who the least favorites are, and consequently, who sits in the middle of the pack. There’s also a natural group in this class to ask the question about with the big five D.Notably, Keaton Verhoeff, who began the year as the consensus top D prospect in the class, was no longer viewed as such by any of the scouts. Only three of the five received first-place votes: Reid (8), Carels (4) and Rudolph (1). Rudolph was also close to first for another voter, which speaks to the belief in his offense and the way he won some people over in Prince Albert’s run to the WHL final.Rudolph also got the most last-place votes, though, speaking to a wider range of opinions on him. Here’s the last-place count, which you’ll notice included at least one vote for all five: Rudolph (6), Šmits (3), Verhoeff (2), Carels (1), Reid (1).On the whole, it’s fair to say that Reid and Carels are the two consensus top D in the class (in that order).Scout 1: 1. Reid