2026 NHL Draft chat with Mike Morreale

With the NHL Draft now just over a month away, the Winnipeg Jets are preparing to make a major decision with the eighth overall pick. As we continue our coverage leading up to this summer’s draft in Buffalo, I caught up with Mike Morreale of NHL.com — a longtime draft insider who has spent decades covering the NHL’s next generation of stars. Morreale also co-hosts the NHL Draft Class podcast alongside Adam Kimelman, making him one of the most plugged-in voices ahead of draft day.

You and Adam Kimelman released your mock draft immediately after the NHL Draft Lottery, obviously you both have different takes on who is going to go where, can you understand why two scouts would argue about a player and what they see and don’t see?

Morreale: Yeah, I've been involved with NHL Central Scouting, as you know, since I've been with the league since 2008. And it was the late E. J. McGuire, when he was director of Central Scouting, he allowed me and Adam to join the final meetings to be in the meeting room with the scouts. I think that's. I know I think it started actually in 2010. Since Adam is deputy managing editor, he's got other tasks to do on the desk and stuff. So, I've been going every year since then. But it's very, very interesting to hear the debate that goes on in particular, like, for instance, like Gavin McKenna this year there was no debate. It was unanimous, number one pick for the North American skaters, Ivar Stenberg, on the international side, Alberts Smits, the defenseman, gave him a little bit of a run for his money. But Stenberg was number one there. So, it's just the debates on skating, on style, on just the impact that these kids might have on an NHL roster. And there are undersized defensemen in this draft this year like Tommy Bleyl of Moncton, Xavier Villeneuve from Blainville. And it's interesting to hear the scouts say, ‘yeah, they may be undersized, but are you going to make that mistake again? You know, waiting for Lane Hutson in the second round when you can get him in the first round.’ I think we're going to see a lot more undersized defense. This is kind of interesting. There wasn't a defenseman under six-foot drafted last year.

From the beginning of the draft season, who has jumped up your draft board the most? Like who's been a pleasant surprise for you?

Yeah, it would have to be, it would have to be Bleyl, the kid from Moncton. I mean he's broken or set all sorts of records this year at Moncton for what he's done. I mean the thing about him is when he started out the season, no one really knew much about him except the fact that he was maybe a late second round, early third round selection. That's where Central had him at the midterm ranks in January. And then as the season wore on, he just kind of shot up, 81 points. He led all Q skaters in assists this season with 68. He set the Q league records for most points in a single season by a rookie defenseman. The 81 points surpassed Gaston Therrien who had 77 in 77-78. He's just a real pleasant surprise. Produces offense. Despite being 5’11”, maybe 160, he goes north, south, and he goes straight forward and he'll blow by you. And he might be the best skater in the draft, to be honest with you, real fluid. He's just like floating on the ice, doesn't break a sweat. He can quarterback a power play, makes a ton of plays, but can also defend well with his feet if you beat him one on one. He has real good recovery speed, good quickness. He takes the good angle. So, his gaps are real, real good. And a fantastic puck mover. I’ve spoken to a lot of scouts the last two weeks, and this is a guy that's going up the ranks. Some of them even said to me that had didn't have a first-round grade. They were like, ‘we were considering maybe we'd be able to get him early second, but they're like, forget it now, like, he's going first round.’

Teams like the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames have been rebuilding and stocking their prospect cupboards for a while now. With San Jose picking second, Chicago fourth and Calgary sixth, do you think one — or maybe even two — of these teams could trade their first-round picks?

Morreale: I mean, you look at what (Macklin) Celebrini's done, you got Michael Misa, you got Will Smith, William Eklund, I mean, they're stockpiling the forward cupboard. Stenberg to me is the second-best player in this draft. So, if there's a team that's willing to take that chance, like for instance, the Blackhawks might want a guy like Stenberg, right? So maybe the Blackhawks trade up, maybe San Jose trades down. I, I, I'd be, if San Jose wants to grab that elite level defenseman and there are some great defensemen to be had in this draft and there could be five or six taken in the top 10, top 12 picks. So, if San Jose wanted to move down. But it's so difficult to do that too, right? Because you know, the other team, they'll be looking for some type of asset in addition to the draft pick. So, it's a tough thing to do. As far as the Blackhawks go, I could just see them staying put and grabbed one of the defensemen at number four. If a Chase Reid is there or Carson Carels of Prince George is there, two great D guys. Reid from Sault Ste. Marie is a right shot guy, can move pucks, play minutes. He would help future proof the position and reduce pressure on the young players in Chicago. And then the Flames, as you mentioned, at 6, I had them taken Viggo Bjorck from Djurgardens in Sweden. I think their top priority is to add an offensive presence after forward Matt Coronato led them with 45 points last year, so they didn't have a player over 50 points. And Bjorck, despite being undersized, he goes about 5’9”, 177- easily one of the hardest workers in this draft class. And that's one of the things that I've learned over the years when I'm watching prospects and trying to evaluate and writing stuff in my notebook. Like what makes an undersized player like Lane Hutson, a Logan Stankoven, what makes them be able to play the way they play in the NHL? And it's the compete. It's just to compete if you're an undersized player. And I'm just saying that because that's Bjorck here. If you can compete and do it with structure and consistency and a work ethic that just drives the opposing team crazy, you should be in that top mix of players. There are other taller, bigger, stouter centermen in this draft, but I don't think there's one that works as hard as Viggo Bjorck.

Okay, in your mock draft right after the NHL Draft Lottery, you have Daxon Rudolph going to the Jets at eight. What, what do you like about the Prince Albert defenseman?

Morreale: I mean he's got a little bit of everything with the way he's been able to play this year. I think the one thing that really stands out about him is the fact that he makes the game kind of look so easy. He likes to join the rush, just makes things happen, has a real good understanding of the offensive zone, sees the ice well, thinks the game at a high level, can make that great stretch pass, very good, fluid skater, a real heavy shot and he can defend well with his stick. I think the best comparison I got for Daxon is like a Brandon Montour type of player, I think he finished third among Dub defenseman in points this year, 78, finished fourth in power play points, 35. I mean for defenseman, as long as you have the smarts, the IQ and the production on the power play, those are three big things that scouts and GMs want in their defenseman. And this kid's got size too. 6’3”, 206, I know he's a right-handed shot, so I think if he's there for the Jets, I think that'd be a great pick for them.

A couple wild-card names for you, winger Ethan Belchetz from Windsor and Oliver Suvanto, a centreman from Finland.

Morreale: Well, I mean Belchetz, he had that injury in March, ended his season. Yeah. So, I mean all the scouts that I've spoken to have said that this is probably one of the more interesting players in this draft. Obviously, he's a power forward, really high ceiling, he can do a lot of damage, really tough to contain, low in the trenches, comfortable with the puck on his stick. And I think he has a lot more hockey sense than he's given credit for and his skating is very good for a player of his size. He's made a lot of improvement in his agility and his footwork. Real polish for a big kid. And he's a real unicorn because of his high-level skill. Real skilled at the puck, good vision and he's a potential top line guy as a power play contributor. So, all things that you'd want in a prospect and 6’5”, 228, that's fantastic if you're looking for kind of a hybrid of like a Rick Nash or a Todd Bertuzzi type of player. Suvanto, I like this year playing in Liga. He's one of the more complete, a real mature 17-year-old center. I know that J-P Vuorinen (NHL Director of European Scouting) told me that not since Alexander Barkov have we seen a 17-year-old play this well and do this well. Now the scoring isn't there. You look at the numbers too, 2-9-11 and 48 games, you think to yourself, ‘geez, where is that?’ But he's just trusted in a lot of roles for that club and it's a strong team (Tappara), real powerhouse club. So, that’s when you look at the numbers, you got to take into consideration maybe he's not getting the best ice time, maybe he's not playing with the top players there as well. So. But he's highly effective in face-offs, battles, defensive coverage. He's a natural two-way player, real reliable, intelligent. I rarely saw him make mistakes, in support of both ends of the ice. And he can create space for teammates because of his size. That's a 6'3”, 207-pound frame.