Feldman's 2026 Mock Draft: First Edition
Chris's first mock draft ranks the top 32 prospects—and this one's based purely on player merit. See where the top 32 prospects shake out, which names Rangers fans should be quietly rooting to slip to fifth overall, and who could become a late-first-round steal.
With the New York Rangers having such a high draft pick for the first time since 2020, our coverage of the upcoming draft class is going to increase significantly. Roberto and I will have our typical final version of a full round one mock draft in the week leading up to the big day. But in the month and a half leading up to that, we're going to walk you through our thought process on where the prospects in this draft class stand.
About a week prior to the draft lottery, I wrote out my first mock draft based solely on the merit of the players. What that means is, this list is who I feel (as of April 28) are the top 32 prospects in this class and where they should be taken based on their individual assets and talents alone.
Here we go:
1) Gavin McKenna - Left Wing, Penn State University, NCAA
2) Ivar Stenberg - LW/RW, Frolunda HC, SHL
I find it incredibly interesting that Gavin McKenna isn't being spoken about as highly as he was a year or two ago. This is a player who, at age 16, was putting up 97-129 point seasons in the WHL. The CHL-NCAA transition is still a process were learning about, but had McKenna stayed in the CHL, there's a pretty good chance we'd be talking about him like he's the next Connor Bedard or Connor McDavid. Taking the jump to college hockey may have resulted in less point production, but could be even more meaningful for his development. First overall should not be a question. Same goes for second overall in my opinion. Again, paying no mind to the team that holds the pick, Ivar Stenberg is far and away the second best player in this draft class.
