2026 NHL Draft Profile: Adam Valentini

At this point, I'm talking about prospects potentially available in the fourth round. Yesterday I talked about Wiggo Sörensson who is a brilliant skater and very skilled, but on the smallish side physically which raises concerns about his projection. Today, I'm going to talk about another forward with some skill but on the smaller side. Aside from that very superficial comparison, Adam Valentini couldn't be more different as a player, but no less interesting.

THE BASICS: STATS AND CONTEXT

• Position: Left-shot winger
• League(s): NCAA
• Height: 5'10"
• Weight: 184 lbs
• Birthdate: Apr 11, 2008

Here are his draft rankings, as of writing this:

• TSN NHL Scout Poll: Not ranked
• Cam Robinson NHL Scout Poll: Not ranked
• Corey Pronman: Not ranked
• Will Scouch: 35th
• Elite Prospects: 51st
• Scott Wheeler: 46th
• McKeen's Hockey: Honourable mention
• Upside Hockey: 78th
• NHL Central Scouting: 46th (North American skaters)

Valentini has had an interesting journey as a prospect the past two years. He was a high draft pick in the OHL, taken 13th overall by Brantford back in 2024. However, this was right before the change to the NCAA-CHL eligibility rules, and he was committed to go the college route with Michigan. That's why he played his D-1 season in the USHL on the Chicago Steel. He finished tied for second in the league for U17 players in points, a good chunk behind Tynan Lawrence who will be a top 15 pick in this year's draft. That same year, he was part of the World U17 Hockey Challenge and tied for the tournament lead in points with 4 goals and 9 points in 5 games.

This year, Valentini started the summer playing for Canada and wearing an "A" at the Hlinka Gretzky tournament. Canada didn't have a great tournament as a whole, but he finished tied for third on the team with 5 points in 5 games. After that, with the whole college eligibility issue sorted out, his original plan was to play this season with Kitchener in the OHL. They were going to be a top contending team, and they did in fact wind up winning the OHL and Memorial Cup championships.

However, right before the season started a roster spot opened up on Michigan, and Valentini pulled out of the OHL to play in college a year early. That wound up making a lot of people mad at him, not just those in Kitchener but apparently the 'betrayal' rubbed a lot of general hockey folk the wrong way. He came into the season with some first round hype, and while I'm not going to say that's the only reason why his rankings dropped I do think it's a small one.

What helped rehabilitate his image was Valentini's play with Michigan, even if he didn't have eye-popping points. Playing mostly a bottom six role on a deep Michigan team, he had the most points in the NCAA for U18 players with 27 in 40 games. More importantly than that is how he looked on the ice. There's a nice profile on him from The Athletic from his coaches in Michigan that's worth a read.

This season, Valentini proved to be a very versatile depth forward for Michigan. He played all three forward positions at times in the bottom six. He played an average of 14:33 per game for the year, getting the occasional bump in time as he was occasionally used on both the top penalty killing and powerplay units. Despite being one of only five U18 players in college this season, he earned his coaches' trust through the season because he played well doing the little things.

Something his coaches called out in that article that I linked above, is how they came to rely on him during late game moments because he was someone they trusted to play hard and play smart. He skated hard on the back check, could kill penalties, and the coaches sang his praises for a big shot block during their playoff tournament run.

THE GOOD: MOTOR, PHYSICAL SKILLS, OFF-PUCK IMPACT, TWO-WAY IMPACT, PASSING

So let's expand on all those things Valentini does well that led to his coaches trusting him so much, despite being on the smaller side and the youngest player on their team.

The thing that gets called out the most by scouts and Valentini's current and former coaches, is his motor and work ethic. He gets described as a dog a lot because he is relentless on puck pursuits, in puck battles along the boards, and has that kind of hustle that coaches, teammates, and fans all love to see. His skating mechanics are reportedly not great, but to steal that expression I used earlier, his output does not seem to show much limitation in his ability to be or get where he needs to on the ice.

Valentini is also fearless in taking or even initiating contact. He will lay guys out even if he isn't the tallest guy, he's strong, smart, and understands leverage and timing. He may be on the smaller side but he doesn't play like it. He isn't chasing hits or getting into a physical battle he can't win – like I said, he uses low stances to gain leverage, times his contact or initiates first when he is planted and strong on his feet, making it harder for bigger players to knock him down or push him off balance. He forechecks hard and can be a menace for defensemen, with him using contact smartly to disrupt their retrievals and make their life difficult rather than trying to crush a dude. He plays a power forward-style game in a 5'10" body.

Valentini will battle in front of the net and win, and he'll fight through contact by keeping his feet moving. In fact, some scouts praise his play in front of/around the net. He will establish a position at the top of the crease to set screens, he'll roll off defensemen trying to hit or shove him and time it well to create more chaos or a chance for deflections, and can generate a good amount of offensive chances because he's a dog on a bone in terms of getting to loose pucks off rebounds. General point being, his offensive game is not perimeter based. I think he may be allergic to the white ice outside of the home plate area, if I'm honest.

Then there's Valentini's defense. His off puck play in general is very high level – I touched on his backchecking, forechecking, board battles and net front game that includes a lot of what he does to help his team without the puck. But that extends also to the defensive side. He has a mature level of defensive play beyond his age, and beyond his size. He is alert, anticipates play well to know where he should be in terms of his positioning and blocking passing lanes, he's a good shot blocker if you like that kind of thing, and he has an annoyingly good stick to strip opponents or knock the puck loose to create a turnover. Being relied upon at all in late in high leverage situations during tightly contested games, considering his age and size, is a genuinely good mark in his favour.

And that's not just because of Valentini's off-puck game, though that helps a lot. He may not be an elite-level guy in terms of pure skill, but he's efficient and reliable with the puck. He does not turn it over very much at all, and he is a highly effective player in close quarters in handling the puck, and coming out of puck battles to make quick, short-range passes and give-and-go exchanges off the wall to create time and space for his team to set something up offensively while he crashes the net.

THE FLAWS: SKATING MECHANICS, SHOT, PHYSICAL PROJECTION

There are two noteworthy issues I see with Valentini's game that he will need to work on (aside from his size which I won't bother diving into) – his skating mechanics and getting more out of his offensive skill.

I mentioned above that despite his mechanical issues, Valentini is able to get around the ice as well as he needs to. His forechecking and backchecking is effective because he's not slow. However, his specific mechanical issues (upright stance, choppy strides, lack of ankle flexion, too much heel kick) are noted issues that affect his acceleration, his top speed and 'separation gear', and his agility in terms of being able to skate laterally with quick cuts. Watching him skate is definitely not the prettiest. It makes him look wild as he chases down a dump in or get back on defense pursuing a puck carrier.

The reason why I view this as an issue is because, despite Valentini 'playing the right way', he has a steeper uphill climb for his kind of play style as a smaller player. He can make it work in college, but the AHL and especially the NHL is a much bigger question. Smaller players who aren't also elite or at least very good skaters are few and far between, especially when considering them for a bottom six role. So to improve his chances of being able to have that same kind of positive impact at the pro level, any little bit he can improve his skating by will increase his chances more and more. It will help him on offense, defense, and on transitions.

The other thing I mentioned was getting more out of Valentini's offensive skill. He has good hands in close and is a very good short-area playmaker, which helps him get the puck off the boards when he wins board battles and move the puck to an open teammate. He has good hand-eye coordination for hunting for deflections in front of the net. He has a sneaky-quick and accurate wrist shot that works well when he's often close to the net already.

However, Valentini is not a dynamic playmaker with the puck. His puck handling is not dynamic either, or at least he doesn't try to do much complicated in this area because of the role he was tasked with. His shot doesn't have a lot of power or velocity to it, which is a smaller concern relative to everything else but it would help him be a more dangerous scorer in college and beyond if he could improve that. And his skating isn't necessarily that dynamic either, in terms of how he uses it offensively. He's more of a straight-line bull, which limits his ability to have a good impact on transitions and to beat defenders when he is carrying the puck.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

As usual, I like noting the things that a player improved on during the season, and by how much they improved overall. I don't tend to like guys who stagnated. Valentini is someone who improved a lot in certain areas, mainly in the ways that are now his strengths, as I described above. His defense especially was something he committed to early in the year and improved through the whole season.

Valentini got a lot better over the season in starting to use more skill into his close-area battles. He was much more able to handle pressure from defenders once he had the puck, and he went from being able to make skilled plays through contact instead of just hanging on. He was able to make subtle little puck handling moves to maintain possessions with defensemen all over him. This is when he started to be even more reliable in late games because he significantly cut down on his turnover rate.

The other area Valentini improved was on the powerplay, where he could use more of his skill game. In this area he got a lot more efficient as well. He cut down on bad passes or turnovers, he stopped holding onto the puck for too long waiting for a perfect shooting or passing lane. He started using more give and go exchanges and making his puck touches quick to keep it moving and the defense having to readjust their positions accordingly.

So now is the question of how good can Valentini actually be, when projecting him into the future? I love the way he plays the game, especially without the puck. He's someone who does all the little things that coaches love at a pretty high level, and he has some skill to go with it. He doesn't quit, he always works hard, he's versatile and will play whatever position in whatever role you want him to. He has the playstyle to work as a bottom six guy, but the question is does he have the tools to make it work in the NHL? Can his size, skating, skill, and his willingness to play with a physical edge hold up at the highest level?

Like with Wiggo Sörensson yesterday, I may not be comfortable making that bet before the third round for Valentini. Depending on who else is available, I'd consider taking him as high as the third round. I'd be very comfortable making that bet in the fourth if he's still available then. I make that bet and I have him constantly talking with my developmental/skills coaches to improve in all those important areas to maximize his play on the ice as much as possible, because I think there is legitimate potential there.

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!