Which projected 2026 draft prospects outside the top 10 could make the NHL immediately?
The 2026 NHL Draft is about a month away, and while the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue to capture the attention of most of the hockey world, the draft continues to take shape more and more every day.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks are sitting pretty after moving up to the No. 1 and No. 2 overall spots courtesy of the draft lottery, they will most likely not be the only teams to draft a player capable of providing an instant impact to their NHL lineup.
Just this past season, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected Benjamin Kindel with the No. 11 overall pick, and he turned heads by making the team and staying there all season putting up 35 points in 77 games as an 18-year-old center.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL video coach Steve Peters were joined by Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis to discuss which prospects in this year’s class could be capable of replicating Kindel’s instant impact from outside the top 10.
Steve Peters: We all know the jump from getting to the NHL is an incredibly hard jump, and it’s usually those guys in the top 10, but are there any sneaky picks outside of the top 10 like a Ben Kindel that you could see might be physically ready to play in the NHL right away?
Steven Ellis: I’ll give you a few. Ethan Belchetz, I know he missed the end of the season with the Windsor Spitfires, but this is the chaos conductor, that’s my nickname for him. He’s six-foot-five, terrorizes guys out there. He’s also got a very powerful shot. I think, let’s say New Jersey takes him… I’d say yeah, he could probably make the jump right away… I think Malte Gustafsson out of Sweden. The thing about guys coming out of Europe is they all have contracts, but there are the opportunities to get out of those contracts a little easier than the KHL. There are usually NHL out clauses… But if Malte Gustafsson really impressive U18 World Championships, played a bit in the NHL. Very big, very strong, and I think also the one thing we’re seeing from him is he’s also got a lot more offensive potential than I think a lot of people expected. And then one more, Alexander Command out of Orebro, Sweden. Not a really flashy name. His name does not match the type of attention he probably goes out there and gets, but I could see him going and being a third-line center in the NHL just because he’s very reliable, really smart. Already plays a really high-end pro game for a guy that doesn’t have much pro experience, but I wouldn’t be surprised because it feels like just every level I’ve watched him play, he’s found a way to be one of the best players for Sweden. He’s not flashy, but he gets the job done in a very effective way.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…