NHL Draft 2026
- Thread starter herman
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dappleganger
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McKenna above Marner.
dappleganger
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herman
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Offensive skillset-wise, yeah. But his production will be limited if he does not prove himself to be reliable to coaches.
Like if Matthews is still your shutdown C, McKenna will have a hard time riding shotgun in that deployment. Sheltered fun times line with Tavares would be more suitable to start.
I was thinking this. Willy is Willy, so I find that a difficult comparable. With Mats there I don't think McKenna will get off the hook by being a defensive black hole, but it will take time. I think you take the highest upside, highest IQ, and so far that seems like McKenna.
herman
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MJ’s radio bit that is referenced by GT
It’s pretty funny to me that Guilt Trip is pulling for the more Nylandery pick (imo) and I kind of lean towards the better rounded one.
herman
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Midseason 2026 NHL Draft Rankings
Discover Smaht Scouting’s 2026 NHL Draft Midseason Top 64 — detailed player evaluations, updated rankings, and analysis of the draft’s top prospects.
smahtscouting.com
MyNHLDraft does nice little round ups of scouting summaries for most of the top 50 prospects
McKenna
Stenberg
herman
Well-known member
Where does likelihood of reaching that ceiling factor in for you? And fall back role if the ceiling is covered in layers of glass? Because a lot of McKenna’s scouting reports also show the stuff that several people here harp on Nylander and Domi about.
Some of it is going to be environment, and structure, and opportunity-driven. And the cushy opportunities are doled out to the players that aren’t saucing turnovers at the blueline and gliding back to watch.
If Cooper is fired and immediately hired by the Leafs, then it’s an easy sell to pick up McKenna and just buzzsaw through the East. Stenberg is more plug and play to elevate a line, in my opinion, and also controls the offense similar to Kucherov.
What’s preferred? 90% of Kucherov 65% of the time? Or 80% of Kucherov 87% of the time?
These aren’t exact numbers, but my feel of what I’m reading and seeing. If the Leafs can develop his consistency, I have no problem picking McKenna.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
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Are we in Furnace Vs. Snowmobile territory again?
herman
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I thought it was a jet ski?
Guru Tugginmypuddah
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It was some sort of crotch rocket.
herman
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I recall voting for said crotch rocket.
Edit: yeah this is what I’m getting at
If we were picking 2 after McKenna I'd probably lean a little towards Reid and Malhotra over Stenberg anyway. I don't think this is even a debate at 1.
mr grieves
Well-known member
He might be a Kucherov, but Zach Werenski (or whoever) is Zach Werenski. If someone McKenna makes expendable (Knies, Cowan) can’t bring back a top-20 D, then I think they should get creative. Or give it a season then rebuild around McKenna.
Guilt Trip
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Funny thing Herman, we saw glimpses of Nylander playing very good D from time to time. We and others commented on it so it shows he can do it. Said if 88 always played that way, he's a top 10 player in the world. That's the frustrating thing about him. We all know he can do it but chooses not to. Anyway, I think McKenna is young enough that they can teach him the 200 foot game and he will do it. I remember the Leafs when they sent Marner and Cowan back, they told both to work on their games away from the puck.