Stock Up and Stock Down on Prospects in Latest 2026 NHL Mock Draft

Sometimes players move around in mock drafts or draft boards because they did something stupid (or many somethings stupid). Sometimes they move because of where a particular team spot lands in a mock draft. And sometimes they just move because the person writing—hi, that's me—has watched a lot more game footage since the last go-round.

The hockey season is very long, is what I'm trying to say.

So who's on the rise and who's falling? Depends on who you ask. For me, analyzing players this season has been more about grouping them into tiers rather than specific players I think belong in specific draft slots. Even our prospective first overall pick is still up in the air between Ivar Stenberg and Gavin McKenna, as far as my true feelings are concerned. But there's movement, so let's look at some guys whose stocks are up, and some whose are definitely down.

As a refresher: our latest mock draft.

Stock Up: Caleb Malhotra — C, Brantford Bulldogs

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Center Caleb Malhotra snuck inside our top five in our last mock draft because I found it very easy to believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs would take a swing on him if they stayed at the fifth overall spot. He's probably going to be in our top five on our next draft board entirely on his own merit. The more I watch him, the more convinced I am that this kid is the real deal. 

Any time you can combine the kind of engagement, pace, and work ethic that Malhotra brings to the table with the kind of high-end hockey sense, it makes for an easy drafting decision. He's got such fantastic attention to detail, and he's a true 200-foot player; with some time and consistent development, I can see him being trusted in a similar manner at the NHL level to someone like Macklin Celebrini or Dylan Larkin. (I am not saying he is either one of those players, only that the utility and trustworthiness in all areas of the ice rings similarly. Don't go saying I said he's the next Celebrini.)

He's headed to Boston University in the fall, a step that I feel is going to be excellent for his development. Growing the creation side of his game so that we see more of his play-driving ability shine, as well as refining his skating, are some things I'd like to see him improve at the college level. I'd definitely like to see him add more creation in transition. Building muscle is also going to be beneficial toward preparing him for pro hockey.

Stock Down: Keaton Verhoeff — D, University of North Dakota

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You're probably tired of me talking about Keaton Verhoeff, but such is the job. He fell to fourth overall on our most recent draft board, and he's going to fall even further on the next. I haven't settled on where, exactly, yet but it definitely won't be in the top five. I imagine that makes me an outlier, but I stand by it, and it comes down to what I've been saying for a minute now: the more I watch Verhoeff, the less convinced I am that we are going to see his best-case scenario in the NHL.

At the start of the season I was excited to watch him. I thought, here's a guy who has very real intelligence and combines size and mobility. As the season has progressed, his skating has felt more stiff, less able to keep up with the demands of the current pro game, and I've grown more concerned about whether his skating can support translating the rest of his game to the NHL level. 

You can be an incredibly smart player, but if you can't operate at game speed, that doesn't matter. Add to that his increased tendency to make costly mistakes — which decreased mobility can exacerbate, because you have so much less margin for error — over the year, and you have some valid concerns about engagement and ability to keep up.

I'm more than willing to be proven wrong on this, and I genuinely hope that he comes out next season and shows that my concerns are unfounded. But I wouldn't be doing my job right if I didn't have them.

Stock Up: Maddox Dagenais — C, Quebec Remparts

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No one can actively watch every single player in real time for every single game throughout the course of one season. We do our best to zero in on guys we've identified, and then we step outside that where we can, and then we review, and step further outside. And at some point this season he decided to turbo charge his game and the bell started going off in my head about Quebec Remparts center Maddox Dagenais. Though he didn't make it onto our most recent draft board, he will be on the next (spoiler alert!) and he did end up on our mock draft.

Prospect expert and Penguins writer Jesse Marshall described Dagenais perfectly succinctly when highlighting him for Penguins fans in a pre-draft video:

What caught my eye about Dagenais initially was when the pace to his game seemed to skyrocket. Suddenly this guy was all over the place and involved in everything, where before it was something keeping me from taking him 100 percent seriously as a first-rounder. His increase in engagement was particularly noticeable on the forecheck. 

And because I was watching him more, I started to notice more and more things about his game that I like. He hits with purpose (the opposite being a pet peeve of mine at this level), he's showcasing some fantastic handling skills—including an excellent release—that look projectable to the pro level, and while his utilization of his hockey sense has room to grow, there are clear indicators of creativity, high-end playmaking ability, and processing skills.

Stock Down: Ryan Roobroeck — C, Niagara IceDogs

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If you keep up with draft coverage you may have noticed that I've been lower on center Ryan Roobroeck than others throughout the season. It's not because he doesn't have talent. In our last draft board, I described him as "a forward with elite-level tools, including a shot that is already NHL-caliber, who plays like he's dancing to the tempo of a Jack-in-the-box". It's a descriptor I still stand by, and one that has had me considering dropping him out of the first round entirely—but I don't think I'm going to do it. 

He's in the stock down category in this piece because he's falling in my personal esteem, but I'm leaving him inside the first because his tools, in a vacuum, are elite. There's no denying that fact, and I wouldn't try to. His shot is already NHL quality, to the point that despite losing a significant amount of time to injury he still hit the 30-goal mark.

We also saw his playmaking ability grow sharper this season, with Roobroeck showcasing some impressive passing ability and even a bit of manipulation. And of course you can't forget the physicality; he's 6'4" and 216 pounds, which is a lot of force to be throwing at opponents to separate them from the puck or leveraging to win battles along the wall. 

However: as we discussed with Keaton Verhoeff, engagement level is kind of make or break at this stage. Your tools have to be wildly good for me—and probably most NHL teams—to take the swing when your engagement is nonexistent more than a fraction of the time. He's another one where I hope I'm proven wrong, because when he's got his head in the game, he's really fun to watch.