Welcome to the summer 2026 edition of my ranking of the NHL’s best prospects at The Athletic.This two-part, twice-a-year project ranks the league’s top 100 drafted skaters and top 20 drafted goalies, which will be released tomorrow.This edition of my top 100 drafted prospects ranking includes 24 players from the 2026 draft, 25 from 2025, 23 from 2024, 18 from 2023 and 10 from 2022. It’s made up of 70 forwards and 30 defensemen (13 lefties and 17 righties).To be considered a prospect, a skater must be under 23 and not fully established with his NHL club. The latter qualifier is arbitrary. There, I trust my judgment for whether a player should be considered fully graduated more than any predetermined games-played cutoff. Preference for inclusion as an NHL prospect is more likely to be given to teenagers than 21- or 22-year-olds.
The Blackhawks lead this edition with eight prospects in the top 100, followed by the Flames and Predators with seven each, and the Sharks and Canucks with six apiece. Three teams don’t have a ranked prospect: the Avalanche, Stars and Panthers.As always, the list is also broken down into tiers and presented within our fully sortable user interface. There are six tiers for this edition of the list: 1-4, 5-28, 29-54, 55-71, 72-88 and 89+.Final cuts included forwards Benjamin Rautiainen, Felix Unger Sörum, Alex Bump, Jett Luchanko, Jack Nesbitt, Brayden Yager, Kieron Walton, Matt Poitras, Cole Beaudoin, Marek Vanacker, Gavin Brindley, Ilia Morozov, Liam Ruck, Lenni Hameenaho, Otto Stenberg, Felix Nilsson, Will Zellers, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Cooper Simpson, Filip Bystedt, Jagger Firkus, Quentin Musty, Jani Nyman, Malcolm Spence, Lucas Pettersson, Sascha Boisvert and Adam Benak; and defensemen Bryce Pickford, Oliver Bonk, Tristan Luneau, Logan Hensler, Maveric Lamoureux, Theo Lindstein, Leo Sahlin Wallenius, Ty Nelson, Henry Mews, Seamus Casey, Luca Cagnoni, Tanner Molendyk, Sascha Boumedienne and Eric Pohlkamp. I consider each of them a Tier 6 prospect.Expand allCollapse allTier 1McKenna is a captivating and supremely gifted winger. His lean build and some bad habits (notably, a need to be more physically engaged and show more effort off-puck/detail) can lessen his shift-to-shift five-on-five impact at times, but the talent and upside are undeniable and unique among the game's prospects.He's a flowing skater with corner speed more than straight-line speed (he lacks explosiveness in straight bursts), great edges and an ability to make plays at whatever pace is required — with a preference for slowing things down, at times to a fault. He’s impressive at carrying and dodging sticks through neutral ice to create entries. He has a first touch like glue, where the puck just lands and sticks to his blade when he’s catching it, even when it’s coming in hot or into compromising positions. He’s an excellent puck transporter and get-out-of-jail-free card who can skate pucks out of the zone himself and relieve pressure, though I’d like to see him be lower for that more often instead of cheating up ice. McKenna is extremely shifty with the puck, blending shoulder fakes into his playmaking. He has impressive maneuverability and adjustability from his hips down. He plays pucks into space and leads guys at an advanced level. He shields pucks well from defenders’ sticks when he can play in open ice and they try to close on him. He’s constantly changing directions and keeping defenders off him. He pre-scans and sees and reads the game at an elite level. The elements of a brilliant perimeter playmaker are all there.While he’s a playmaker first, he also has scoring elements, has tons of pre-shot deception in his movements and can attack the middle as a passer — though he can also stray to the perimeter against tougher competition. While he’s going to have to fill out and get stronger and be more engaged in battles, working harder on the backcheck and in races to pucks in the D-zone, he does have a good stick defensively when he uses it. Still, despite some of the flaws in his game, McKenna projects as a first-line star winger and dynamic power-play tactician. Improvement in his five-on-five play and the consistency of his competitiveness will determine his ultimate impact beyond the counting stats he should rack up.Photo:Chris Coduto / Getty ImagesTOR2026Tier 1LWStenberg is a dynamic left-shot winger whose statistical track record, skill set and play across levels have made him the second-best prospect in the 2026 draft for me.His puck skill, offensive instincts, hockey IQ and combo scoring-playmaking package are all high-end. He makes guys miss with the puck on his stick, beats goalies one-on-one with his handles regularly and has both a lethal wrister release and a confident one-timer that give him quick-strike ability and power-play pop alongside his control and vision on the half wall. He’s not an explosive skater, but he’s a good one who beats guys wide with speed, escapes pressure and is agile on cuts and changes of direction, building through his crossovers or forward strides to play to challenge the opposition. He’s also a heady passer and facilitator who sees the ice at a very advanced level, is creative, puts pucks into space and can pick teams apart on the power play when they focus too much on him. Off the puck, he has good offensive and defensive instincts to get open or cut off passes. He'll also make effort plays and hustle, and has worked to do both more consistently.Stenberg’s biggest standout tool for me, though, has repeatedly been his wall play and strength on his stick. He’s not big, but he’s very, very strong in hockey terms. He stays over pucks, wins a ton of battles along the boards with strong stick lifts and just finds pucks along the wall with his blade. He has an uncanny ability to hold and protect pucks against and through contact in the offensive zone. That ability also helps him draw a lot of penalties. He’s also fearlessly poised under pressure and makes plays under tight coverage in difficult spots, including one-on-one as the last man back at the offensive zone blue line. He’ll turn over the odd puck playing that game, but can also create something out of nothing, and because of his ability in protection, he usually finds a way to delay until something opens up. He can take play to the inside or pick coverage apart on the perimeter, too. He always seems to handle bad passes into his first touch.Stenberg projects as a first-line winger.Photo:Michael Miller / Getty ImagesSJS2026Tier 1RWMartone is a modern powered forward who blends size with skill, poise, physicality and scoring ability.He has a pro build, battles for pucks when he’s on them, goes to the net, finishes his checks and will drop the gloves. He handles the puck extremely smoothly for his size and can be quite noticeable in possession when he’s playing with confidence and intention. I’ve seen him make a ton of individual skill plays one-on-one, cleanly beat goalies from mid-range with his strong shot and release and execute low-to-high plays from below the goal line or off the cycle. He has a nifty toe-drag, both in release and one-on-one handles, and slick handles, regularly making individual skill plays on the puck. He has a deceptive release point and is an excellent passer.There have been games in which I’ve wanted to see him keep his feet moving and take over, and others where his discipline on the puck (in terms of play selection/turning it over) and off it (bad penalties, losing his man to chase, not finding open space) have been an issue. His skating can kick out from the knees a little bit, too, and it will need to improve if he wants the rest of his game to really pop at the NHL level. But he has a lot of attributes: size, strength, power, shot, playmaking, puck skill. He’s going to score goals, make plays and be able to impose himself in the NHL when he really comes into his own. He has the talent to become a high-end point-producing winger. The skill and hockey sense are real, and the consistency of his effort level and toughness have developed over time, too. He’s one of the top forward prospects in the game.I debated ranking him No. 2.Photo:Kyle Ross/ Imagn ImagesPHI2025Tier 1RWMisa has been a name for a long time, and I fully expect that he, Stenberg, Macklin Celebrini and Will will form a four-headed monster up front for the Sharks for the next decade.
