2026 NHL Draft: Final Rankings and Mock Drafts

As I've mentioned, when I start writing my draft profiles it is well before people's final rankings come out. Those typically don't come out until a week or two before the draft, and I can't wait that long to predict who might be available where.

So, with everyone's final rankings out by now and, more importantly, mock drafts published by people who write them after feedback from NHL team scouts and executives being out, I wanted to make a quick post that talks about what has changed from when I finalized my lists and now.

Players That May Be Out of Toronto's Range Now

This year, Toronto actually has a lot of picks and at least one in every round but the seventh. So it was almost impossible for there to be a range that would be out of reach for the Leafs to potentially pick.

The one exception to much of the first and second rounds, since Toronto's first round pick is first overall and there's basically only one player they're seriously looking at taking by all reports. Their second round pick is also at the very end, so there's effectively a two round gap.

There are some players I profiled thinking they might have their final rankings slip, and others who were potentially available around the late second round who's hype have taken them out of that range. Those players are:

• Mathis Preston
• Ryder Cali
• Jonas Lagerberg Hoen
• Jaxon Cover
• Måns Gudmundsson

The first two especially, I don't see a single mock draft from those who talk with NHL teams who have them even in the 50's. Cali especially I haven't seem him taken in these mock drafts later than the 30's.

Hoen, Cover, and Gudmundson are more rare to be available at the upper edge of Toronto's range, but there are one or two I've seen. So I'd consider them potentially available on the off chance that things go more towards that one or two prediction than the majority.

Players Whose Available Ranges Have Changed

There are also a bunch of players who are still in Toronto's range, but either in an earlier or later round than I initially predicted.

• Brek Liske – I had him as a 4th rounder, but he looks like a late 2nd/early 3rd round guy now
• Wiggo Sörensson – I had him as a 3rd rounder but it looks like he could wind up as a 4th rounder at the earliest
• Giorgos Pantelas – Same thing as Sörensson
• Alofa Tunoa (Noa) Ta'amu – Same thing as Sörensson with an even greater likelihood of being a later round pick
• Yelisei Ryabykin – Same thing as Sörensson

Then there are a bunch of guys I included in the list of later round targets who look like they will not be available by then.

• Jonah Sivertson – Mocked as high as the 3rd round
• Tyus Sparks – Mocked as high as the 3rd round
• Matvei Kotkov – Mocked as high as 3rd/4th round
• Lars Steiner – Mocked as high as the 4th round
• Jayden Kurtz – Mocked as high as the 3rd round
• Alexander Ivanov – Mocked as high as the 4th round
• Ola Palme – Mocked as high as 3rd/4th round

I am not advocating to take any of these players earlier or later than when I previously included them. My stance with this is very much: take the player you like the most/think is best when your pick comes up, even if they're ranked a lot lower by all other teams. Don't get cute trying to take your guy just before anyone else wants him, that's a good way to lose out on your guy.

This is also known as the Koblar Method(TM).

Aside from that, there are a group of players who I didn't write profiles on because I didn't think they'd be available when Toronto picks who are slipping in the latest mock drafts and juuuuuuuuuuust into range.

Niklas Aaram-Olsen

• Position: Left-shot defenseman
• League(s): U20 Nationell / SHL
• Height: 6'1"
• Weight: 187 lbs
• Birthdate: Apr 19, 2008

I've liked Aaram-Olsen all year. He plays a power winger game with flashes of playing a very NHL-ready 200-foot game. He has an elite, NHL-calibre shot, with a quick and deceptive release that easily deceives goaltenders from anywhere on the ice. He has good size at 6'1" has smooth, agile skating. He shows glimpses of high-end puck skills with a willingness to drop his shoulder and drive the net, score off the rush, or finish dirty plays in the crease. He played 16 games in the SHL and looked good in limited minutes, and most importantly he showed some good chemistry with Koblar on Team Norway as they dominated the U20 junior tournaments they played in.

Despite his high ceiling, the reason I think his final rankings and mock draft position has been slipping is, I think, because he has shown some consistency issues in his execution. Meanwhile, others who were considered below him are maybe perceived to have better certainty as prospects and stronger finishes in the season got the bump over him. His playmaking amd vision seem just okay as of now, which raises questions on if he can consistently drive play and create offensive chances for his linemates rather than needing them to set him up so he can finish plays. He may have some risk as a boom-or-bust kind of profile, but I like his potential even as a bottom six energy/power guy with a good shot and some powerplay utility.

Simas Ignatavicius

• Position: Right-shot center/winger
• League(s): NL (Switzerland's top pro league)
• Height: 6'3"
• Weight: 201 lbs
• Birthdate: Oct 22, 2007

Ignatavičius is an interesting one. He's from Lithuania, born to parents who were both professional athletes – his dad was a basketball player, his mother a handball player. He was always encouraged to play whatever sport he liked, so when he was a kid getting pizza in a mall and saw a hockey practice he asked to try it and fellin love. Now he is a highly athletic and projectable prospect with a very high floor, coming off a season playing in Switzerland's top professional league against the likes of Jesse Puljujarvi, Theo Rochette, Denis Malgin, Dominik Kubalik, Markus Granlund, Erik Brannstrom, and other former or future NHLers.

Ignatavičius plays a hard and physical style and is known to be highly competitive – reminds me of what was said about Koblar, honestly. He is a very effective forechecker who combines great attention to detail (e.g., precise stick placement) with punishing body checks to disrupt defensemen on their retrievals and breakouts. And once he gets possession he is a puck protection nightmare along the boards. He gets top grades for having an elite hockey sense and very intelligent understanding of the game. He has a quick set of hands, very good hand-eye coordination, and drives offense and defense by just being an enticing combination of smart and physically imposing.

The primary concerns limiting Ignatavičius's ceiling are his pure offensive skill level and a somewhat unexciting, basic profile that lacks a dynamic, high-end element. While some scouts praised his edge work, others noted he lacks the natural foot speed and agility required to be a primary play-driver or a dynamic creator from range, giving him one of the weaker wheelhouses among top prospects. Because he projects more as a quick-touch, complementary piece rather than a flashy transition star, he faces skepticism about his ability to produce top-six numbers in the NHL, leaving him heavily reliant on adapting his straight-line physical game to a lower-line, checking role.

Xavier Villeneuve

• Position: Left-shot defenseman
• League(s): QMJHL
• Height: 5'11"
• Weight: 163 lbs
• Birthdate: Sep 29, 2007

You can consider Villeneuve to be the next line of smaller, elite offensive defensemen to come up in the draft with a lot of divisive opinions. On the one hand, a lot of people consider Villeneuve to be the nest Lane or Cole Hutson with that level of skill and mobility to more than balance out the concern around his size and defensive projection. One thing I'll say straight away is that Villeneuve was said to have played through a nagging hip injury down the stretch and through his playoff run in the QMJHL. A lot of the more critical opinions on him began around that time, but before his injury was known. I do think that colours things, but not all of it.

Villeneuve has one of the highest offensive ceilings in the entire draft class, even among forwards. His game is driven by an elite, effortless skating profile that features among the highest levels of agility, edge work, speed, and the knowledge of how to use his change in speed and tempo and shifting balance to manipulate defenders. He is an elite, dynamic, and high-impact playmaker and projects as a prototypical modern power-play quarterback. He has lightning-quick hands and with his deceptive skating can freeze multiple defenders, free up passing lanes for his teammates and create odd-man rush opportunities from nothing. And for all the concern about his size he is actually bigger than Lane Hutson and just as big as his younger brother Cole – and even with a smaller size of 5'11" and 162 lbs, he is a battler who doesn't quit on plays, and shows both a high motor and a chip on his shoulder.

The issues or concerns around Villeneuve as a projectable prospect come back to that age old size question, and how much that may limit his ability to be effective in the NHL. It may seem like a tired concern given the success of guys like the Hutsons, Adam Fox, or Quinn Hughes. But for each one of them, there are dozens of zippy skilled defensemen who never make it because they just don't have the skill, skating, or hockey sense to make it work in the NHL. His development this year was definitely hampered by that nagging hip injury, and that's not exactly the kind of injury you would be comfortable with for a small mobile defenseman like him. Furthermore, his lack of physical mass and reach makes him easier to push around during sustained cycles in his own end, even if you can commend him for his willingness to battle and not quit. So there is some doubts among some scouts about whether his defensive awareness and physical limitations will make him into a 5-on-5 liability at higher levels. Those are the same concerns that still exist for the Hutsons and, honestly, probably for Fox and Hughes too whenever they go through a period of struggle.

Personally, I don't fully buy into those concerns but I don't completely ignore them either. However, I'm talking about him maybe slipping to Toronto in the late second round pick, and considering his potential I have zero concerns about whatever risk he may carry in that spot. If he does fall that far I hope Chayka's love of Andrae manifests and he grabs Villeneuve and runs to the podium with him under his arm.

Adam Goljer

• Position: Right-shot defenseman
• League(s): Slovakia
• Height: 6'2"
• Weight: 194 lbs
• Birthdate: Jun 7, 2008

Goljer is a guy I wrote about during the year on one of my watch lists. His ranking seems to have slipped because he's seen as more of a developmental project than being more of a sure thing. But he's got a solid foundation to build off of – he's a right-shot, he's 6'2" and 194 lbs, he has projectable mobility with a smooth stride, and he's on the younger side with a June birthday. Playing in Slovakia's top men's league, he was already used as a minutes-eating (18+ minutes per game) workhorse thanks to playing a more mature, pro-ready style. He was also the captain for Slovakia as they won a silver medal at the World U18s a couple of months ago. His strengths are playing a calm and poised game with an above average hockey sense. He is very good at generating breakouts of of the defensive zone with accurate passe. He has a decent level of offensive activity rate by aggressively activating off the blueline but making good decisions on when to go and when to back off, and by jumping into the rush as a late trailer.

The biggest issue with Goljer's game that I think has caused his position in mock drafts to slip relative to his rankings is that he's one of those jack of all trades but master of none guys. He doesn't have a major standout skill. He can have a good impact on his team's offense but won't be a top powerplay quarterback or point generator. He's solid defensively but he's not an elite shutdown defender. Without any real elite or specialized tools, plus some inconsistency issues there's less certainty with him than there may be with others who have leapfrogged him.

Against pro-level competition, Goljer's decision-making can break down under pressure, and his passing overall can get wild at times and led to him being bumped off Slovakia's power play at the World Juniors (U20, not U18s). Defensively, he can look too calm at times, or rather he seems to have a lack of urgency. It's one of those things that looks great when you still make a play and frustrating when you don't. Personally, I give more credit to being able to play that many minutes on a pro-league team. I'm sure he could have racked up more points and looked more consistent if he played against juniors, so I don't hold the issues exposed by playing in a tougher league against him.

Thanks for reading!

I put a lot of work into my prospect articles here, both for the draft and Toronto's prospects. I do it as a fun hobby for me, and I'd probably do it in some capacity even if PPP completely ceased to exist. But if you like reading my work, some support would go a long way! I pay for a few streaming services (CHL, NCAA, USHL, the occasional TSN options for international tournaments that are broadcast) to be able to reliably watch these prospects in good quality streams. I also pay for some prospect-specific resources, such as tracking data and scouting reports from outlets like Elite Prospects, Future Considerations, McKeen's Hockey, The Athletic, and more.

Being able to get paid for this helps me dedicate more time and resources to it, rather than to second/third jobs. And whatever money I make here, a lot of I reinvest back into my prospect work through in those streaming and scouting services. Like I said, I'd be doing whatever I can afford for this anyway, so any financial help I get through this is greatly appreciated!