2026 NHL Draft Profiles: Late Round Forwards

Here's an introduction!

MATVEI KOTKOV

• Position: Left-shot winger
• League(s): MHL
• Height: 6'1"
• Weight: 175 lbs
• Birthdate: Aug 27, 2008

Kotkov has been a bit of a late surger. He's the last guy I've added to this list after I didn't know anything about him until June, but he quickly became my favourite and why I added him to the top of this list. He played all year in the MHL for Loko, the team that won the league championship. Kotkov, a very young 17 year old for this draft class, was named the playoff MVP for leading his team in points for that run. He missed some time due to an injury, but finished with 14 goals and 31 points in 36 games in the regular season, then 9 goals and 15 points in 18 playoff games.

Kotkov is a guy who literally grew as a player all year. He started the season listed as 5'11" and 154 lbs, but finished listed as 6'1" and 175 lbs. By the end of the regular season he was a top line winger for the best team in the league. He was a bit insulated as the Matthew Knies of the line to their Matthews and Marner who did some of the heavy lifting, but he played his role well. He was on the bumper on the top powerplay, his aggressive and relentless forechecking and defense made him a maintstay on the penalty kill – and he had about 5-6 short handed points this year. In fact, you'll notice watching his goals and assists in the video below how much offense came after or during his forechecking, defense, puck pursuit, and other hard working plays where just makes things happen even if he doesn't have the puck.

As a player, he really took off as he physically grew into more of the player that he already was stylistically, which is being a two way power winger/goal scorer. There are some conflicting reports from scouts, but I support those who consider him to be a guy who plays a structured, pro-ready 200-foot game. He has boundless energy – and I consider this to be the highest praise – his level of relentless pressuring of puck carriers on the forecheck and penalty kill reminds me of Vaclav Nestrasil. He has an impressive level of off-puck intelligence, and since his growth spurt where he grew taller and filled out with some real weight his physical game became that much more effective on both sides of the puck.

The issues with Kotkov's game are of a similar nature to other power winger goal scorers. He could stand to get better as a puck handler and a passer, though he has flashes of some neat moments with both. His skating is very north-south focused in terms of straight line speed, but he could also improve both his east-west agility and his acceleration. I think he could also use more time, seasoning, and dedicated practice to learn how to leverage more of his physical gifts in terms of the power element. Things like unlocking more skill and playmaking around the net, short-area passes and handling, things like that.

JONAH SIVERTSON

• Position: Right-shot winger
• League(s): WHL
• Height: 6'3"
• Weight: 194 lbs
• Birthdate: Aug 27, 2008

Sivertson is a prototypical power forward type. He's got a young birthday and good size already with a bit of room to still add more muscle and power. He had a decent 24 goals and 53 points in 66 games this season, but showed some improvements in the second half of the season – in the first half, he had 21 points in 33 games; in the second half, he had 32 points. It's noteworthy that he was never getting top usage on a deep Prince Albert team, especially as they loaded up ahead of the WHL playoffs. He only had 8 points on the powerplay, the rest were all at even strength.

Sivertson is a beast along the boards when protecting the puck, and has the ability to take it off the boards and into the middle of the ice where there are more dangerous scoring chances to be had. He uses his physical advantages where he can, throwing big hits or getting into the occasional fight if that's your thing. Without the puck he goes to the front of the net and parks his ass there where most defensemen in junior can't move him. You can also see he's very strong in the segment of tracking data I call the "little things king" section. The issues with his game are mostly down to his mobility. He doesn't have good top speed, foot speed, or explosiveness. He's not very agile in terms of lateral movement or pivots, and it takes him longer to recover when he needs to change direction. He also cooled down right before the end of the regular season and it continued into the playoffs, where facing nothing but good competition who are locked in has been something he's not been able to break through as much. But if Toronto thinks they can improve that mobility to an impactful extent, he could be good value if he's available in the later rounds.

PARKER TROTTIER

• Position: Left-shot winger
• League(s): USHL / US NTDP
• Height: 6'1"
• Weight: 183 lbs
• Birthdate: Feb 13, 2008

Parker is the grandson of NHL legend Bryan Trottier. He was part of the US NTDP program the past couple of years, with a commitment to join Notre Dame in the NCAA in a year or two. With the US NTDP he was not one of the top offensive contributors, but he played more of a supporting role and I think he did it pretty well from what I saw. He's a physical, workhorse/energy kind of winger, who'd probably be considered a top power forward in this draft if he wasn't somewhere between 6'0" and 6'1". In a combined 85 games for the NTDP, he had 19 goals and 41 points. Playing for Team USA at the recent World U18s, he had one single point in 5 games. What he does do is provide a lot of support, provide effective gruntman work on the cycle and forecheck, and pitch in with some goals around the net.

Despite his average size, Trottier is a beast along the boards, on cycles and back checks hard to help out the defense. He may not be the biggest but has some tricks to escape defenders along the wall while shielding the puck, like spinning off of checks, initiating contact to get them off balance, and then attacking the middle of the ice. His passing and playmaking never seemed to be strengths of his game, but I've seen some scouts recently say they thought he's improved on his dynamic elements for playmaking late this year. His weaknesses are around the lack of any high end skill, like puck handling, shooting, passing, anything like that. If he wants to be better than a bottom six depth guy, he'll have to be able to incorporate more than a straight line energy style. But on a late round pick? I like him.

OSCAR HOLMERTZ

• Position: Left-shot centre
• League(s): U20 Nationell
• Height: 6'0"
• Weight: 192 lbs
• Birthdate: Mar 21, 2008

Holmertz can be very fun. He played most of the season in Sweden's U20 junior league, where he had 36 points in 34 games and added 5 points in 5 regular season games. He did have some stints called up to the SHL, but of the 11 games he dressed for he only saw the ice for 7 of them... and only two of them were above 5 minutes. He got into various tournaments for Sweden as well – He had 7 points in 5 games at the Hlinka, then 2 points in 5 games at the U19 WJAC, and then 10 points in 11 various mini tournaments or exhibitions. So he can put up points.

Holmertz is considered to be one of the best skaters and playmakers coming out of Europe this year, but he's also one of the more polarizing players. He has an incredibly smooth skating stride that helps him zip around the ice looking effortless. He has a deep bag of tricks when making passes, using deceptive head movements, look offs, and being able to fire hard and accurate passes through defenders. It helps that he's a very capable puck handler. His defensive game gets mixed reviews, some good some bad depending on the scout and the games they caught. His issues are that he's not that big and typically shies away from contact, and is incredibly inconsistent where he goes from looking intense and focused to passive and casual. These issues were much more stark when he played in the SHL, so he definitely has some adjustments to make. He has promise but those issues I think will frustrating most teams, so while he's ranked higher than the late rounds I wouldn't be surprised if he slips.

LARS STEINER

• Position: Right-shot winger
• League(s): QMJHL
• Height: 5'10"
• Weight: 176 lbs
• Birthdate: Nov 12, 2007

I've known of and watched Steiner for 2-3 years now, because he's been playing above his age group for Switzerland for various tournaments I've seen since then. He's played in two World Juniors against U20 competition despite not even being drafted yet. Outside of international play, Steiner has played the last two seasons in the QMJHL where he's been a top player. Last year, he had 60 points in 57 games as a 16-17 year old. This year, he had 30 goals and 55 points in 44 games while adding 5 goals and 9 points in 17 playoff games. I've seen some scouts call him a playmaker-power forward hybrid, despite leading the league in goals per game. He also finished top 10 in the league in points per game – 3rd in terms of players in his age group. If he didn't miss some time this season due to injury and the World Juniors, he'd have been at the top of the league in multiple stats.

The most exciting part for me is that Steiner's production isn't what I like the most about him. He's one of those "has that dog in him" players. He has a very high end motor that will battle, and win, at any given chance. His physical play is very effective and helps him win those battles more often than not despite being 5'10". He is an elite forechecker, a dual-threat with the puck as a shooter and playmaker, and can play effective, stifling defense as a smaller winger. The issues with his game have to do with his consistency, his lack of transition impact, and some concerns about how projectable his skills are to the NHL given his smaller size. To that I say: have you seen Logan Stankoven or Denver Barkey lately? He may not wind up as good as them, but I was tempted to include him in one of the full player profiles in the 4th or even 3rd round. But I think he could wind up slipping because of those concerns. Even if he doesn't get past the Marlies, he'd be a fan favourite.

Here's a great film room breakdown of the various parts of his game: https://www.eliteprospects.com/news/2026-nhl-draft/film-room-how-lars-steiners-motor-and-physical-skills-could-win-him-an-nhl-role

JOE IGINLA

• Position: Right-shot winger
• League(s): WHL
• Height: 5'10"
• Weight: 174 lbs
• Birthdate: Aug 13, 2008

Another year, another Iggy in the NHL draft. Joe, younger brother of Tij and son of the legendary Jerome, has not shown the same level of skill as those other two. But he still shows some interesting skills and abilities, and has one of the younger birthdays in this draft. I saw him a good deal in the first half of the season, because he was teammates and sometimes linemate of Miroslav Holinka, before he was traded to Vancouver. In this season, he finished with 31 points in 59 games – but only 7 on the powerplay. Despite not getting top minutes at either even strength or on the powerplay, he has a good shot rate from mostly good locations.

Iginla has a very familiar play style if you've seen either of the other Iggies. He's a small but compact and dense winger who has a never ending motor, and to quote one scout he has "an intrinsic passion for pissing defenders off". He plays aggressive and heavy on the forecheck and, like Steiner, wins battles in the tougher areas of the ice despite being 5'10". You can see he has an advanced hockey brain and the little details that I'm just gonna guess came from being raised by a hall of fame NHLer. His issues are that he doesn't have very good hands as a puck handler, isn't as fast as you'd like him to be considering his size and play style, and has the same concerns about his size as Steiner while also not being as good or refined in his skills. If you want to use a later round pick on him, it's because you're hoping he has a big leap in his development like his brother Tij did in his draft year... but a bit later. He very likely won't become a top prospect like Tij, but still could be a useful depth guy with his mind and skill set.

CASPER JUUSTOVAARA KARLSSON

• Position: Left-shot centre/winger
• League(s): U20 Nationell / SHL
• Height: 5'9"
• Weight: 168 lbs
• Birthdate: Oct 25, 2007

I got onto little Casper early in the year after I heard him describe the little Swede, summarizing his game as something like "he's a rambunctious piece of garbage". He's 5'8" or 5'9", but he spent the vast majority of the season in the SHL because of his play style. While in the SHL, he had 6 points in 31 games and added 9 points in 7 junior games. He played for Sweden at the World Juniors this year and pitched in two goals, including a short handed goal to open the scoring in the gold medal game. It's worth noting that he is doing this as a draft eligible prospect, where only 3 players in this age group played more games in the SHL than he did – Ivar Stenberg, who could be a first overall pick this year for the Leafs; Viggo Björck, who is a definite first rounder and likely top 15 guy; and Morgan Anderberg, who played 39 games but had half the points Karlsson did.

Karlsson is another elite motor, high work ethic, fearless husky in a terrier's body kind of player. He is smart at using his low center of gravity to get leverage against bigger and stronger opponents. Unlike some of the other smaller guys mentioned above, Karlsson is a very good skater, but does have the same intensity in his aggressiveness. He's one of the best penalty killers in this age group, using that speed, work ethic, a good stick and smart anticipation to cause turnovers. And despite being so small, on the offensive side of the puck he is not a perimeter guy. 41% of his shot attempts tracked game in the home plate area in front of the net. The weaknesses... well, it would be great if he was even 5'10" or 5'11", or if he had more high level offensive skill to go with his skating and bulldog mentality. That combination is likely going to lead him to being available in the later rounds, and honestly he could go undrafted. I just love him, and I hope he gets picked by someone even if Toronto doesn't do it.

RYAN BROWN

• Position: Left-shot winger
• League(s): OHL
• Height: 5'11"
• Weight: 176 lbs
• Birthdate: Oct 27, 2007

Brown is another smaller forward with a late 2007 birthday who was traded halfway through this season and saw a big second half surge as a result. He started the year with Sarnia, who was a very not good team. He had 23 points in 34 games, before he was dealt to London and nearly doubled his production with 16 goals and 40 points in 33 games. His 63 points actually led the Knights, who were pretty good but mostly young and rebuilding, and also traded away some of their top players like Sam O'Reilly. As one of their leading players after all the trades, he wound up being an all situations guy which is a testament to how he was trusted by Hunter.

Brown's game is characterized by his energy and pace. He skates and works hard, getting to loose pucks first a lot of the time. He chases defensemen on the forecheck like a beast chasing down prey, and harasses them heavily to force a turnover. And despite his size, which at 5'11" is only a bit below average, he will absolutely throw himself into checks to initiate contact and battle in front of the net or along the boards. For his offense and play driving skills, he has flashes of some higher level transition and playmaking skills, but his biggest strength in that regard is a ridiculous shot. The concern with him is the usual for his archetype... if he was only two inches taller he'd be a top two round pick for sure. But the fact that he plays a fearless physical game, doesn't have elite speed or skating, and relies on his intelligence and work ethic to out work junior competition is – and stop me if you've heard this before – not an archetype that NHL teams think has good odds at working out. But since we're talking about late round picks where the odds are already long, I say what the hell! See if the Hunters can turn him into Easton Cowan-lite.

TYUS SPARKS

• Position: Right-shot winger
• League(s): WHL
• Height: 6'0"
• Weight: 180 lbs
• Birthdate: Jan 4, 2008

How about a third straight average-ish sized forward who was traded halfway through the season?? Sparks played the first 40 games for Vancouver in the WHL, where he had 16 goals and 37 points. He was traded to Spokane, where he finished with 12 goals and 28 points in the final 29 games. He also pitched in 2 goals and 3 points in their 5 playoff games. He was pretty good on the powerplay, but it wasn't the major source of his offense – 22 of his 65 points came with the man advantage.

Like the last two players, Sparks is known for being a hard working winger. Unlike them, he doesn't have any concern about his skating, explosiveness and mobility. He plays at a very high pace, making him a nightmare on the forecheck and backcheck to create turnovers. He is a smart off-puck support forward, with good playmaking and a potentially elite shot. His offense lacks consistency in his execution at times, and I'd say that's mostly because he needs to learn to slow down when the situation calls for it. He doesn't have to go all out for every play. Another issue is that he doesn't have a lot of dynamic skill to be a game breaker. But I can see him with decently average size, good bulk and muscle, and then his speed and work ethic making him a decent swing to turn into a bottom six energy winger who can kill penalties.

LUDVIG ANDERSSON

• Position: Right-shot centre/winger
• League(s): U20 Nationell
• Height: 5'11"
• Weight: 190 lbs
• Birthdate: May 24, 2008

The second Swedish Andersson mentioned in this year's draft profiles, Ludvig is another guy I'm surprised I don't see more hype about. He's a bit small at 5'11", but he already weighs anywhere between 190 to 202 lbs so he's no pushover. He played most of the year in Sweden's junior league, where he finished 3rd in points for U18 players with 20 goals and 42 points in 31 games. He also added 18 points in 14 playoff games. He was a staple for Sweden's U18 international tournaments as well, wearing an "A" at the Hlinka and had 4 points in 5 games, then wearing the "C" for them at the World U18s where he had 2 points in 5 games.

Andersson has a high work ethic and offers all the kinds of smart defense and "leadership"-like intangibles that scouts love. He has the reputation for being more of a grinder forward than being a skilled two-way kind of guy, but he has some underrated skill – especially his scoring touch. With his bulk, he throws his weight around and gets low to gain leverage in physical battles. His issues are... and I feel like I'm just repeating myself at this point... his play style being seen as not projecting well with his size, and not having elite or elite enough offensive skill or skating. There are some split opinions on if he'll top out as a European/AHL star or if he can actually be an NHL regular. Of the players who seem more likely to be in this range, I like him more than most of them.

ALISHER SARKENOV

• Position: Right-shot winger
• League(s): WHL
• Height: 6'0"
• Weight: 192 lbs
• Birthdate: Dec 15, 2007

Sarkenov will be an interesting test case for me, because he will perhaps best represent my latest theory on scouting players which is that being good without the puck is way undervalued for non-elite prospects. The reason why I think he is a great test case is because he has a huge discrepancy in his abilities where his off pick game is arguably elite while he doesn't have a high level of abilities in any of the more 'traditional' skills you'd talk about when analyzing a player.

He's from Kazakhstan and played in his country until this year, when he had a rookie season in the WHL playing for Prince Albert. They were one of the better teams who lost in the WHL finals to Everett. He played mostly on the third line all year, though that third line also got boosted when they acquired first round pick Braeden Cootes as the center. Despite adjusting to North America and a whole new league and playing third line minutes with a secondary powerplay role, he had 21 goals and 40 points in 47 games. That's pretty good in my books.

As I said above, Sarekenov's biggest strength is his intelligent play off the puck. He has great spatial and situational awareness, has excellent timing with his routes and very good positioning on offense and defense. He plays a very defensibly responsible game and was trusted in that kind of role often by his coaches, and he showed a high level of physicality and a very active motor in initiating contact on the boards, protecting the puck, fighting through checks, and not stopping his feet after making a play. His best traditional skill is his playmaking, though that's mostly because he makes a lot of short-range passes from his play along the boards or around the net. He uses things like give-and-go sequences, where after making the first pass he'll drive hard to the net or the middle of the ice to get the puck back. His goal scoring came from being good without the puck, in that sense.

The issues with his game are a combination of skating (acceleration and top speed) due to some chaotic mechanics and a relative lack of strength in his legs. Both are things that can be improved to some degree, at least. The other issue is that when he does have the puck, he seems to lose a lot of the quick processing pace he has when playing without it. Combine that with his skating issues and his small-ish size (NHL Central Scouting measured him at 5'10" not 6'0") and there's a reason why a small-ish sized guy who doesn't have a good amount of skill with the puck or good skating is very hyped.

One thing to note is he has an older brother who is 6'4", and like I said his skating issues and (to some extent) his skills can be refined. He's just a very raw player who hasn't played in higher level leagues until this season. Some refinement is expected and necessary. But I think he would make for a great late round swing because of the off-puck foundation and the potential that can come from refinement and working with high level development coaches for the first time.

JULIEN MAZE

• Position: Left-shot winger
• League(s): WHL
• Height: 5'10"
• Weight: 170 lbs
• Birthdate: Dec 07, 2007

Changing gears, I want to talk about a smaller forward prospect who is different from the smaller guys I talked about above. Julien Maze is a smaller winger who played for Regina in the WHL for the first 30 games of the season, where he had a respectable 31 points in 30 games. After that, he was traded to Calgary and his point production took off, finishing with 24 goals and 47 points in 38 games. Funnily enough, his tracking data for just his time with Regina was actually better than it was with Calgary. His 38 goals and 78 points led a young Calgary as a draft eligible forward, and was 5th in the WHL for his age group in points and 3rd in goals. He followed it with 9 points in 7 playoff games while averaging over 4.5 shots per game.

So Maze is an offensive force in junior, and yet I'm talking about him as a late round pick? He is an elite transition driver, arguably better than his point production. He is a very shifty and elusive skater and can carry it well through the neutral zone. He is fearless too, and is surprisingly adept at getting pucks off the boards into the middle of the ice despite being smaller. He will battle and adapt to the situation as needed more often than not, and has a wicked shot to finish off plays. His problem is that he lacks high end speed to go with his skill, and his playmaking skill in particular isn't elite either. He may just wind up as an AHL all star rather than a regular NHLer, but I'd love to see if Toronto's development team can add a few extra horsepower to his engine and help his skill play up more.

So... one caveat I'm adding well after I first wrote this, is I heard from some people who are connected with people who would know this, but there's apparently a good reason why Maze a) wasn't drafted in the WHL as highly as his play in his junior draft year would usually indicate, b) was traded three times in junior before his draft season was over, and c) is almost not ranked very high if at all by anyone, and none of it has to do with his play on the ice. He is apparently an enormous asshole. So unless you're the kind of team who thinks "I can fix him" while only using a later round pick on him, I wouldn't be so surprised if he goes undrafted this year until he shows some more maturity.

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!