2026 DCHL Prospect Rankings - Scott Wheeler's Top 100 Drafted Prospects

Ranking DCHL teams per Wheeler's 2026 top 100 list
4/19/2026 • Gage Westerik

Scott Wheeler recently released his top 100 drafted NHL prospects list. This article will serve as the rankings of the teams in the DCHL based on that list. Before I get to the ranking, here are Wheeler's parameters for what is considered a prospect. Feel free to skip past this paragraph. 

 

"To be considered a prospect, a skater must be under 23 and not fully established with his NHL club. The latter qualifier is arbitrary. There, I trust my judgement for whether a player should be considered fully graduated more than I trust any predetermined games-played cutoff. Preference for inclusion as an NHL prospect is more likely to be given to teenagers than 21- or 22- year-olds. Since the summer 2025 edition of this ranking, the following players are now considered graduated: 

  • Matthew Schaefer (EDM)

  • Ivan Demidov (TBL)

  • Zeev Buium (WSH)

  • Beckett Senecke (LAK)

  • Artyom Levshunov (NYR)

  • Ryan Leonard (DET)

  • Simon Nemec (LAK)

  • Jimmy Snuggerud (MIN)

  • Danila Yurov (TBL)

  • Ben Kindel (PIT)

  • Matt Savoie (DET)”

 

Wheeler’s article is sorted into 6 tiers. For this ranking, each tier will be given the following amount of points:

  1. 30 points (1-2)

  2. 25 points (3-12)

  3. 20 points (13-18)

  4. 15 points (19-37)

  5. 10 points (38-77)

  6. 5 points (78-100)

 

Lastly, there are 6 teams with 0 points: Buffalo, Carolina, Edmonton, Minnesota, Montreal, Seattle. With all that in mind, here is the ranking:

 

t-24. New York Rangers - 5 points (-7 spots from last year’s ranking)

  • 100. Adam Benak - 5

 

t-24. Utah Mammoth - 5 points (=)

  • 86. Tristan Luneau - 5

 

t-24. Vancouver Canucks - 5 points (+8)

  • 88. Brad Lambert - 5

 

t-21. Boston Bruins!! - 10 points (+11)

  • 53. Conor Geekie - 10

 

t-21. Ottawa Senators - 10 points (+3)

  • 68. Braeden Cootes - 10

 

t-21. San Jose Sharks - 10 points (=)

  • 47. Cole Eiserman - 10

 

20. New Jersey Devils - 15 points (+4)

  • 62. Ike Howard - 10

  • 87. Isak Rosen - 5

 

19. Colorado Avalanche - 20 points (=)

  • 41. Nick Lardis - 10

  • 64. Cameron Reid - 10

 

t-17. Dallas Stars - 25 points (-6)

  • 56. Harrison Brunicke - 10

  • 63. Tanner Molendyk - 10

  • 82. David Jiricek - 5

 

t-17. New York Islanders - 25 points (+2)

  • 67. Dean Letourneau - 10

  • 75. Max Plante - 10

  • 81. Jett Luchanko - 5

 

t-15. Columbus Blue Jackets - 30 points (+2)

  • 20. Axel Sandin-Pellikka - 15

  • 60. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard - 10

  • 95. Zachary L’Heureux - 5

 

t-15. Detroit Red Wings - 30 points (-7)

  • 15. Ilya Protas - 20

  • 38. Noah Ostlund - 10

 

t-13. Philadelphia Flyers - 35 points (+8)

  • 9. Berkly Catton - 25

  • 80. Jack Nesbitt - 5

  • 83. Eric Pohlkamp - 5

 

t-13. Tampa Bay Lightning - 35 points (-8)

  • 18. Carter Yakemchuk - 20

  • 21. Dmitri Simashev - 15

 

12. Pittsburgh Penguins - 40 points (-4)

  • 35. David Reinbacher - 15

  • 43. Carter Bear - 10

  • 45. Jonathan Lekkerimaki - 10

  • 79. Brayden Yager - 5

 

11. Chicago Blackhawks - 45 points (+10)

  • 10. Gabe Perreault - 25

  • 26. Calum Ritchie - 15

  • 90. Kieron Walton - 5

 

t-9. Anaheim Ducks - 55 points (-1)

  • 13. Jake O’Brien - 20

  • 52. Daniil But - 10

  • 55. Logan Mailloux - 10

  • 73. Charlie Stramel - 10

  • 98. Bryce Pickford - 5

 

t-9. St. Louis Blues - 55 points (+2)

  • 25. Justin Carbonneau - 15

  • 46. Matthew Wood - 10

  • 49. Easton Cowan - 10

  • 50. Tom Willander - 10

  • 70. Will Horcoff - 10

 

8. Vegas Golden Knights - 60 points (+7)

  • 23. Jackson Smith - 15

  • 37. Trevor Connelly - 15

  • 48. Oliver Moore - 10

  • 54. Kevin Korchinski - 10

  • 78. Ryan Ufko - 5

  • 99. Benjamin Rautiainen - 5

 

7. Winnipeg Jets - 65 points (+4)

  • 1. Michael Misa - 30

  • 16. Roman Kantserov - 20

  • 57. Rutger McGroarty - 10

  • 94. Marek Vanacker - 5

 

6. Washington Capitals - 75 points (-2)

  • 31. Igor Chernyshov - 15

  • 34. Sam Rinzel - 15

  • 39. Andrew Cristall - 10

  • 58. Lynden Lakovic - 10

  • 69. Cullen Potter - 10

  • 74. Emmitt Finnie - 10

  • 84. Fedor Svechkov - 5

 

5. Calgary Flames - 85 points (+27)

  • 3. Zayne Parekh - 25

  • 4. Tij Iginla - 25

  • 22. Radim Mrtka - 15

  • 40. Bradly Nadeau - 10

  • 77. Hunter Brzustewicz - 10

 

4. Toronto Maple Leafs - 95 points (+2)

  • 2. Porter Martone - 30

  • 8. Cole Hutson - 25

  • 44. Elias Salomonsson - 10

  • 61. Liam Greentree - 10

  • 76. Ethan Wyttenbach - 10

  • 89. Sascha Boumedienne - 5

  • 92. Sam O’Reilly - 5

 

3. Nashville Predators - 105 points (+8)

  • 28. Cole Reschny - 15

  • 29. Matvei Gridin - 15

  • 30. Victor Eklund - 15

  • 32. Konsta Helenius - 15

  • 36. Ryker Lee - 15

  • 66. Adam Jiricek - 10

  • 91. Denver Barkey - 5

  • 93. Felix Unger Sorum - 5

  • 96. Logan Hensler - 5

  • 97. Ivan Ryabkin - 5

 

2. Los Angeles Kings - 145 points (+1)

  • 5. James Hagens - 25

  • 6. Anton Frondell - 25

  • 14. Roger McQueen - 20

  • 19. Brady Martin - 15

  • 27. Dalibor Dvorsky - 15

  • 33. Kashawn Aitcheson - 15

  • 59. Nate Danielson - 10

  • 65. Oliver Bonk - 10

  • 72. Cayden Lindstrom - 10

 

1. Florida Panthers - 160 points (=)

 

  • 7. Sam Dickinson - 25

  • 11. Michael Hage - 25

  • 12. Caleb Desnoyers - 25

  • 17. Alexander Zharovsky - 20

  • 24. Anton Silayev - 15

  • 26. Calum Ritchie - 15

  • 42. Yegor Surin - 10

  • 51. Liam Ohgren - 10

  • 71. Vaclav Nestrasil - 10

  • 86. Stian Solberg - 5

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