Red Wings 2026 Draft Guide: Top 50 Targets, Larkin Impact & More

Heading into the 2026 NHL Draft, the Detroit Red Wings’ amateur scouting team will have their work cut out for them. Detroit’s first-round pick now belongs to the St. Louis Blues, leaving the team with six selections outside of the opening round to bolster their organizational depth:

• No. 47
• No. 79
• No. 143
• No. 175
• No. 196
• No. 207

Detroit already has a deep prospect pipeline – the goal really is to add the best players available and improve the overall talent of the pool. This, of course, might be hard to do without a premium first-round pick, but there’s value to be found, though. Every draft has late-round steals. And an adjusted draft strategy could pay dividends in this regard.

So, with the draft just days away, let’s take a look at draft targets that could improve Detroit’s prospect pipeline.

Red Wings 2026 Draft Board

Instead of focusing on each of Detroit’s draft picks, the focus will be on a larger draft board – 50 prospects who would be great organizational fits. Note that these are not the 50 best prospects. Rather, these players are the best fits relative to Detroit’s draft slots based on research, tracking, live viewings, and tape analysis.

How does this work? When a player is drafted, cross them off the list. And when it’s Detroit’s turn to make a selection, the top player remaining on the list represents the ideal choice.

Of course, most prospects with first round grades are omitted. There’s zero chance Gavin McKenna falls to the Red Wings. Instead, we’re going to start the list with players who are generally in the 25-45 range and could be available when the Red Wings make their first pick at No. 47. Let’s dive in.

1. LW Niklas Aaram-Olsen
2. C/RW Simas Ignatavičius
3. LD William Hakansson
4. LD Xavier Villeneuve 
5. RD Mans Gudmundsson
6. RW Nikita Klepov 
7. RW Matias Preston
8. LW J.P. Hurlbert
9. LW Matias Vanhanen
10. C Adam Valentini 
11. LW Adam Nemec 
12. RW Jonas Lagerberg Hoen
13. LW Pierce Mbuyi
14. C Egor Shilov
15. C Tomas Chrenko
16. LD Ben Macbeath
17. RD Axel Elofsson
18. C Dayne Beuker 
19. RD Brek Liske
20. RW Alex Kostov
21. LW Nikita Ovcharov
22. C Adam Andersson 
23. C Viktor Fedorov 
24. G Martin Psohlavec
25. LD Ola Palme 
26. LW Victor Plante
27. C Cooper Williams 
28. RW Zach Olsen
29. G Michal Orsulak
30. RW Blake Zielinski
31. LW Jean-Christoph Lemieux 
32. C Beckham Edwards 
33. C/RW Ludvig Andersson
34. C Jakub Frolo 
35. RW Nils Bartholdsson
36. LW Evan Jardine
37. LD Landon Nycz
38. C Max Isaksson
39. RD Brian McFadden 
40. C Andrei Bykov
41. LD Axel Brøngel-Larsson 
42. C Joe Erickson 
43. C Landon Hafele
44. G Yegor Rybkin 
45. G Tobias Tvrznik 
46. C William Manchuso 
47. C Kent Sauer
48. LD Jonas Kemps 
49. RD Cole Tuminaro 
50. LW Parker Trottier 

Dylan Larkin Factor

While the Red Wings are currently without a first-round pick, that may change in the coming days. It’s possible the return in a Dylan Larkin trade includes a first rounder, with Seattle (No. 7), New Jersey (No. 12), Columbus (No. 14), Los Angeles (No. 17), and Utah (No. 19) out there as potential destinations.

Given this, here are a few players who would be great additions if the Red Wings got their hands on a first-round pick. And, as with the list above, the top players—McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, Caleb Malhotra, Alberts Smits, Chase Reid, Keaton Verhoeff, and Carson Carels—were omitted. 

1. C Viggo Bjorck
2. C Tynan Lawrence
3. LD Malte Gustafsson
4. RD Daxon Rudolph
5. LW Ethan Belchetz
6. LW Wyatt Cullen
7. C Alex Command

Final Word

The next couple weeks will be the most important of Steve Yzerman’s tenure as Detroit’s GM. Will the franchise pivot quickly following Larkin’s trade request or are the Red Wings in store for more agony in the coming years? The draft, free agency, and potential trades will determine this.

But as for the draft itself, the Red Wings have the opportunity to add intriguing prospects to their pipeline. They may not have first-round pedigree, but there are plenty with exceptional traits that can be developed into NHLers.