NHL Central Scouting released its preliminary players to watch list for the 2026 NHL Draft class on Monday.
The list includes 469 players from across North America and Europe divided by five ratings using the following criteria:
- A Rating — Indicates a 1st round candidate
- B Rating — Indicates a 2nd/3rd round candidate
- C Rating — Indicates a 4th/5th round candidate
- W Rating — Indicates a 6th/7th round candidate
- LV (Limited Viewing) — Injured players who have not had sufficient viewings to be categorized
A total of 27 players were given an ‘A’ rating. That list is highlighted by Penn State star Gavin McKenna (who was notably given a 5-foot-11, 170-pound listing after previously being listed at 6-foot), North Dakota defenseman Keaton Verhoeff, Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg, Muskegon Lumberjacks center Tynan Lawrence and Windsor Spitfires winger Ethan Belchetz.
Early-season risers
Kamloops forward J.P. Hurlbert, Brantford center Caleb Malhotra and Victoriaville center Egor Shilov have played their way to ‘A’ ratings with their play over the last few weeks. They were each viewed a B-grade prospects coming into the year.
Hurlbert, a Michigan commit who left USA Hockey’s NTDP to play his draft year with the Blazers, wears a letter there and leads the WHL in scoring by six points at the moment.
Malhotra, a BU commit who left the BCHL to join the Bulldogs, has slotted onto their loaded first-unit power play and driven a middle-six line for them at five-on-five with fellow draft-eligible Aiden O’Donnell (who received a ‘B’ rating) and diminutive Michigan commit Cooper Dennis.
Shilov is one of the Q’s leading scorers early on as well and has made a lot of plays inside the offensive zone as a first-year player there.
Latvian defenseman Alberts Smits (‘A’ rating) has turned some heads with some of the plays he has made in Finland over the last couple of months, too.
A note on Viggo Bjorck
Center Viggo Bjorck, who started the year in the SHL and holds junior scoring records in Sweden, has been given a ‘B’ rating. This may come as a surprise to fans because of his notoriety (he’s going to be on Sweden’s World Junior team in December) and production, but some scouts view him similarly as a late-first/early-second type and his 5-foot-9 listing works against him.
Surprises
There were only two ‘A’ ratings that I disagree with: Oshawa’s Brooks Rogowski and NTDP defenseman Luke Schairer.
Rogowski is a Michigan State commit that I view as more of a late-second/third-rounder. He’s a towering 6-foot-7 forward that I’ve seen a ton of with the Generals and has never convinced me that he has the disposition to play the way teams will want him to play at the pro level. I’m not the only one who feels that way, either. He’s got some doubters in hockey circles, too, despite decent skill for a player his size.
Schairer has felt to me like his status continues to be carried by his U17s a full year ago now. He’s a decent prospect, but I don’t see a first-rounder there and haven’t for a while.
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