Every NHL Draft season has a beginning, and for many prospect followers, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup is it. Held each summer, the tournament brings together many of the world's best under-18 players and provides one of our first opportunities to see the next draft class compete against one another in a best-on-best international environment. The [...]
Held each summer, the World Junior Summer Showcase (WJSS) brings together many of the top under-20 players from Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Finland for a week of practices and exhibition games. More evaluation camp than tournament, it serves as an early audition for the IIHF World Junior Championship, held each December and January. [...]
One of the biggest mistakes dynasty managers make is assuming a prospect's draft-year production represents his offensive ceiling. In reality, context matters just as much as talent. Injuries, deep rosters, limited ice time, league changes, and weak supporting casts can all suppress a player's counting stats during his draft season. The following year often tells [...]
Not every dynasty league values the same skills. Despite what some might say, there is no standard format for fantasy hockey leagues as there are for other sports such as football. If your league counts hits, blocks, and shots (BaSH), players who contribute across multiple categories can become fantasy stars even if they never lead [...]
Every draft season, fantasy managers obsess over offensive upside. We debate who will score 80 points, who will quarterback a power play, and who has the highest ceiling. But for those of us playing in multi-category or BASH leagues, there's another question that deserves just as much attention: who fills the stat sheet even when [...]
Every year, dynasty managers fall into the same trap. We evaluate prospects almost exclusively through a fantasy lens. Goals, assists, power-play deployment, and point projections dominate the conversation. Those things matter for our leagues, but they don't always determine who becomes the better NHL player. NHL organizations value a much broader skill set. Defensive responsibility, [...]
A week has passed since the 2026 NHL Draft, giving us time to move beyond the immediate reactions and begin evaluating the broader themes that emerged. The first round generated most of the headlines, but history has repeatedly shown that some of the most important selections occur on Day Two. Every year NHL teams uncover [...]
The first round of the 2026 NHL Draft is officially in the books, and as always, reality proved quite different from the mock drafts. Some players climbed. Others fell. Several organizations surprised us with their selections, and a few prospects found themselves in dream development situations. Rather than recap all 32 selections individually, here are [...]
While the 2026 class features an impressive collection of defensemen, the forward group is headlined by one of the most exciting offensive prospects in recent memory and backed by a collection of skilled wingers, power centers, and high-upside two-way forwards. Some project as franchise scorers. Others may become matchup centers, power forwards, or complementary offensive [...]
Every draft develops its own identity. Some years are defined by elite centers. Others feature dynamic wingers or franchise goaltending prospects. The 2026 NHL Draft may ultimately be remembered for its deep and diverse collection of defensemen. While there may not be a consensus generational blueliner at the top of the class, there are multiple [...]
