The 2026 NHL Draft has come and gone. The future of the league looks bright, considering the players who were selected, and now, teams shift their focus to the offseason and all the big moves to come in the summer. 

The unique part of this year’s draft is that it comes under new rules. In the past, teams had to either send their prospects back to junior hockey or college for further development or push them to the NHL and use one of their entry-level contract years. Now, teams can send their first round picks to the American Hockey League before they bring them to the NHL. 

This benefits the teams that draft players who are almost ready for the NHL but shouldn’t be rushed to the best league in the world. They can still develop and work on a few things beforehand, a category most prospects fall into. So, who might end up in the AHL from the latest draft? 

Among the top five picks, Albert Smits is the one who can realistically start in the AHL. Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg are projected to join their NHL teams for most of next season while Caleb Malhotra and Daxon Rudolph are heading to college next season. Smits made his mark overseas and is one of the most NHL-ready defensemen, especially with his play in his own end. 

So, why doesn’t Smits join the New York Rangers from day one? It’s certainly what the team is hoping for. While Smits is ready, defensemen take time to develop, and rarely are they high-impact players straight out of the draft (Matthew Schaefer was the exception). There’s a good chance the Rangers start him in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack for the first half of the season before bringing him up to the NHL. 

This move also allows the Rangers to get a pulse on their NHL team before putting their top prospect in a tough situation. If the team is playing well, they’ll want him to be in a winning environment. Otherwise, it’s better to have him playing valuable minutes on a competitive Wolf Pack team (which isn’t a guarantee either but presumably they’ll be better next season). 

The Winnipeg Jets landed one of the best forwards in this draft, arguably the best center, according to some scouts. Many teams hesitated on Viggo Björk because of his size and whether the Swedish center’s skills would translate to the North American game. The Jets saw the upside and hope he becomes the game-changing forward they’ve lacked in their lineup for years. 

Björk will likely spend next season in the AHL, playing with the Manitoba Moose. He’s a center who needs time to learn the position, and more importantly, he must prove he can play in a physical environment. The AHL will test him and force him to adjust. 

The Jets don’t have a great farm system, and there will be hesitation to send him to Manitoba, a place where prospects struggle to improve. That said, Björk is someone who can make an impact from day one at the AHL level, and after a great season with the Moose, he’ll be a centerpiece of the Jets. 

The Nashville Predators took one of the draft risers with the 10th overall pick. Wyatt Cullen has all the qualifications to become a great player with the size and playmaking ability from the wing. However, he’s fresh out of the USA National Development Program and isn’t ready for the NHL. 

A plus to having him on the Milwaukee Admirals is the possibility of playing him on the same line as Brady Martin. This allows the Predators to develop their top two prospects on the same timeline before bringing them up to the NHL together. Martin, like Cullen, is expected to be a great player someday but still has a lot to work on in his game beforehand. 

Like Björk, Command is one of the top overseas centers in this draft. The New Jersey Devils took the most talented player available with the 12th pick and will be patient with him. It’s why they can send Command to the Utica Comets if needed. 

The question with Command is whether he stays in Sweden for another season before joining the Devils organization. He’s shown flashes but he’s further behind compared to other prospects. The Devils missed the playoffs last season but they can be patient with Command and wait a few years before asking him to play a big role in their top six. 

The Anaheim Ducks traded Mason McTavish on draft night to the St. Louis Blues to move into the top half of the first round. One of the players they selected was Nikita Klepov, a winger who impressed in the Ontario Hockey League last season and can become a viable middle-six option soon enough. 

The Ducks will probably wait things out with Klepov. They can send him back to juniors for next season, which is probably the best route for the young winger, or they can develop him with the San Diego Gulls in the AHL. It makes Klepov one of the most intriguing prospects heading into training camp. 

The late first-rounders are the interesting ones to keep an eye on because they aren’t the star players, certainly not yet. That said, they are the ones who, after a year in the AHL, can look like complete players.

Ethan Belchetz fell to the 17th overall pick, which was a surprise to some on draft night. He’s built like a power forward who can impact the game in multiple ways, and the Utah Mammoth hope he becomes one for an otherwise undersized lineup. Belchetz will likely return to the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL but the Mammoth might want him to spend next season in the AHL, where he’ll play among skaters his size who will test him every night. 

The San Jose Sharks took two defensemen in the first round. While Keaton Verhoff will likely spend next season in college, Ryan Lin, who fell into their lap, can be in the AHL for a season before joining a Sharks team built to win for years to come. 

The subplots to the final few picks of the first round were the teams that traded up to add an extra pick in that range. For some teams, it’s to take advantage of the new rule and find a way to add more prospects to their AHL team, and specifically, keep them under their watch. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if any of the picks from 20 or later are in the AHL next season.