As we have done in years past, our Sound Of Hockey NHL Draft Scouting Video Hub is a compilation of shift-by-shift gameplay videos for hundreds of draft-eligible prospects. With the 2026 NHL Draft just a week away, there is no better time to actually put eyes on the prospects you have heard so much about.
Bookmark this page and come back to it throughout the next week. We will be unveiling 32 additional prospects each day in the countdown to the 2026 NHL Draft, which begins on Friday, June 26, at 4:00 p.m. PT. The videos will be published roughly in the order of the forthcoming 2026 Sound Of Hockey Big Board. (I say “roughly” because final public draft boards are still coming out, so the final Big Board is still being built.) Then come back early and often after the draft results start rolling in to get a look at your team’s new players.
Sound Of Hockey patrons will have immediate access to the full list, including additional videos for top prospects. We have seven games compiled for Gavin McKenna, for example.
If you’d like to track future draft videos as they come out, subscribe to the DeepSeaHockey YouTube channel here.
The Scouting Video Hub
Below you will find shift-by-shift videos for the top five 2026 NHL Draft prospects on the Sound Of Hockey Big Board. For all other prospects, click the video link in the table embedded below.
Gavin McKenna | Left Wing | Penn State Univ. (NCAA)
Ivar Stenberg | Left Wing | Frölunda HC (SHL)
Chase Reid | Right Defense | Soo Greyhounds (OHL)
Caleb Malhotra | Center | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)
Carsen Carels | Left Defense | Prince George Cougars (WHL)
The full video hub (sorted alphabetically to facilitate searching for specific players):
Concluding thoughts
Looking for more 2026 NHL Draft content? We have you covered here at Sound Of Hockey. Check out our recently published final 2026 NHL Draft Data-Only Watchlist. As explained in that post, we used publicly available, quantifiable measures to identify top players of interest in the draft. We also had a top-10 mock draft shortly after the draft lottery.
We will soon be publishing our annual Sound Of Hockey Big Board, which compiles the opinions of a score of public analysts and scouting services into a single consensus 2026 NHL Draft ranking. We also plan to have a notebook column and a 2026 Seattle Kraken mock draft posted before the draft clock starts ticking next Friday.
In the meantime, we hope you find this Scouting Video Hub to be a useful resource in preparing for and reviewing the NHL Draft. I explained my desire to increase public access to the draft in the first version of this Scouting Video Hub. If you’re curious to learn more about what started this annual project, check that out here.
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Who stands out to you? Any technical issues with the videos? Do you have a question you’d like to see addressed in our pre-draft notebook?
Leave your comments or questions below, or find us on X (@deepseahockey and @sound_hockey) or Bluesky (@deepseahockey and @soundofhockey.com).
Header photo of Brek Liske taken by Evan Morud, courtesy of the Everett Silvertips.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
Call me when Belchetz is up.
id put Verhoeff ahead of Belchetz but otherwise i agree
Björck or Smits are the targets for me. Björck may be short, but he is stocky and his IQ is perhaps best in class. I don’t care that the org already has it’s fair share of smallish forwards, Björck’s talent level is higher and at pick #7 he is tremendous value. His Swedish stats as a junior are record-breaking showing his innate talent level.
Smits is very raw, but far from finished player. He will train with Prentiss this summer and get an NHL level physical program for the first time in his life. To me he is the wild horse of the top D men in this class and could end up a defensively solid version of Heiskanen if he hits his full stride.
Verhoeff to me has weaknesses in exactly the areas I don’t like to see weaknesses in D men (small area skating and puck decisions). I think hockey will develop like soccer has over the last few decades, quicker more technical players will dominate bigger players slower in mind and body. Verhoeff seems like a kid who got his adult body very early compared to his peers.
Belchetz is a fine prospect but not at #7 in this draft.
Going off of what I’ve been reading and listening to… I completely agree with all of this.
Seems like the pre-draft talk lines up with D comprising most of the 4-9 picks. Given the Kraken needs that lines up well for them to take another Center.
Just kidding, I just hope they pick the best available player when they are up.
It seems possible the best available player could be Viggo Bjork.
Welcome to Seattle Mackie Samoskevich! Seattle sends the 25th pick and a conditional 2027 2nd rounder to Florida.
Mixed feelings. I like the trade, Samoskevich is young, has NHL experience and was buried on a deep vet team and has untapped upside. He shoud be a good signing down the line.
At the same time, he is the archetype the Seattle Kraken love and can’t have enough of… 5’11 180 pound middle six wingers. Sigh. Botterill sure has more work to do.
Curtis – thanks as always for your hard work. I’ve got a lot of homework to do. 😉