2026 NHL Combine: Top Things to Watch, Key Prospects & Fitness Tests

Welcome to June. In other words, welcome to the month in the hockey calendar where the offseason starts heading into overdrive.

The Kitchener Rangers have won their third Memorial Cup. The Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes starts Tuesday night in Raleigh.

Meanwhile, for everyone else in the NHL, it’s Combine Week. The annual week-long event is underway at Buffalo’s Harborcenter that sees 90 of the top prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft interview with teams as well as go through their fitness testing.

The Combine has its own unique set of storylines every year. It’s no different in 2026. Here are three things to watch for this week as we will finally start to get a little bit of a clearer picture of what the draft and this offseason could look like.

Chaos at the Top?

Some years, it’s easy to see who the number-one pick in the NHL Draft will be. In other years, it’s a little more difficult to figure out. This year seems to lean towards the latter, but that depends on who you ask.

While most in the industry believe that Penn State forward Gavin McKenna is the favorite to be drafted number one by the Toronto Maple Leafs, there is still a possibility they go in a different direction. That’s because the separation between him and the other top contenders isn’t as wide.

Then we need to consider the position the Maple Leafs are in. While winning the draft lottery was a massive boost for them, they still have pressure to find a way to win now and return to the playoffs. While that certainly points to them drafting a player like McKenna who could help them immediately, the question they must consider is if he’s the best player available. Then they must consider if taking a winger here would be better for them than taking a top center or defenseman.

The Maple Leafs’ decision isn’t a 100% slam dunk. While it’s still expected McKenna will go first overall, this week will prove pivotal in who they eventually take. That leads us to the chaos that could happen underneath them.

The San Jose Sharks overcame the odds and won the second-overall pick. They have a ton of offensive prospects. They need defense. But they also want to compete now.

Could we finally see a scenario where a top-three pick is traded? It hasn’t happened in over 20 years. That just shows how close the guys at the top are.

The Sharks absolutely want to listen to offers given their strong position organizationally. While they’ll happily add an elite talent if no viable offers come in, their pick will be in high demand. A trade package could come across their table they’d have to consider. It will be interesting to hear what prospects said about their meeting with the Sharks.

Then there’s the Vancouver Canucks and the possibility of Caleb Malhotra third overall. With his father Manny potentially up for the head coaching role, is this inevitable or just a bunch of smoke?

The Chicago Blackhawks are waiting at four to see who may fall to them. If the top-three go as chaotic as some think, Ivar Stenberg might just fall into their lap.

With players as close as they are, interviews and fitness testing could be a factor in making some last-minute adjustments on a team’s master list. But the top of the draft is not the only place there could be chaos.

There are teams with first-round picks open for business. The biggest example of this is perhaps the Florida Panthers. Aleksander Barkov is back and healthy winning World Championships. They’ll be back in the hunt for the Stanley Cup next season. With a top-10 pick at their disposal, what do they have up their sleeves.

The 2026 NHL Draft has the potential, although we’ve said this a lot in the past, that we could see some fireworks on night one. This week in Buffalo, we’ll start to get the sense of which teams are active and which tidbits are nothing more than pure speculation.

New Fitness Testing Introduced

New in 2026, there will be two additional fitness tests added to the list that prospects will need to complete. Those being the isokinetic squat test and the 10-meter sprint.

Teams will be looking to see how prospects do with their lower-body strength and their explosiveness, two key elements in today’s game. These will be added to the usual sets of tests including the Wingate Bike test.

These new tests represent a shift in what teams are looking for from prospects. In year’s past, overall strength was the key measure. While that still has its place, teams now want to see other important aspects. This includes movement, agility and explosiveness.

With today’s game being the fastest it’s ever been, teams felt it was important to have additional data points available to them. Being able to flag possible concerns earlier they hope will ultimately help them make better decisions at the draft table.

Key Prospects & Trends

The 2026 NHL Draft has its share of higher-end defensive prospects available. Don’t be surprised to see a run of them go in the top-10.

What teams will need to determine is what order to put them in. Chase Reid just won a Memorial Cup on Sunday. But there are others vying for positioning that could easily go early.

Some names to watch for here are Carson Carels, Keaton Verhoeff, Daxon Rudolph and Albert Smits. Other players like Xavier Villeneuve, Ryan Lin and Malte Gustafsson could be in the lottery discussion.

At forward, some interesting names to watch are the likes of Oliver Suvanto, Viggo Bjorck, Tynan Lawrence, Ethan Belchetz and Nikita Klepov.

The trends to watch are how does the top of the draft shake out? When does the run of defensive prospects take place? Then at what point is the drop off to the next tier of prospect? Depending who you ask, the top tier is anywhere from 12-16. After that, boards could vary wildly. That could lead to some trade action later in the first round if certain guys start to fall.

Prospects will interview with teams and go through some fitness testing earlier in the week. They’ll then go through the most rigorous part of the testing on Saturday.

We will be on site in Buffalo starting Friday afternoon when we speak to the top prospects. Then we’ll speak to many of the prospects on Saturday after their fitness testing is completed. Heights and Weights will drop Sunday and our full recap will drop on Monday.

With a heightened desire to win and more salary cap dollars available, this 2026 offseason has a chance to be explosive. The 2026 NHL Combine is where we’ll start getting some answers to things will be heading this offseason and beyond.