The 2026 NHL draft was very stacked, and a lot of those players are migrating to the NCAA this season, so which first-rounders are in college hockey this season, and which team swooped up the most of these elite players?
14 of the 32 first-round picks in 2026 will be in the NCAA next season; four will be sophomores, and the rest are freshmen. Although some of these players were drafted by the same franchise, they’ll be forced to be enemies for now. There are so many different storylines heading into this season, and the battle of the 2026 draft class has to be one of, if not the highest, on the list.
These players aren’t just going to be compared this season, but for the rest of their careers, so who are these players and how do they stand in the battle of the class of 2026?
The sophomores are all on different teams: North Dakota’s Keaton Verhoeff was selected ninth overall by the San Jose Sharks and will be expected to be the team’s No.1 defenseman this season, Tynan Lawrence was taken 11th by the St.Louis Blues, and although he only joined the team halfway throughout the year, he had a great end to the year and will have a large role with the Boston University Terriers this season, Oscar Hemming also joined the NCAA late as he was with Boston College and with a full year with the program, the 14th pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets is set to be a big piece in BC’s run this season, and lastly there’s Ilya Morozov who became the highest drafted player from the Univertsity of Miami (Ohio), he was taken 20th overall by the Buffalo Sabres and will be the face of the program for the foreseeable future.
The freshmen in this class are extremely elite, including four players taken in the top 10 of the draft. Denver has two first-rounders, led by Sabres fourth overall pick Daxon Rudolph, who will be the engine of the Pioneers’ offense next season and likely the quarterback of the top power-play unit; they also have Sharks prospect Ryan Lin, who’s a do-it-all kind of player and will complement the high-end talent at Denver and be able to play in all situations.
Michigan State takes the cake for the most players with four, led by the seventh pick, and Seattle Kraken prospect Chase Reid, who, similar to Rudolph, will be the offensive engine from the blueline and the powerplay quarterback on day one. Then there’s six-foot-five winger Ethan Belchetz, who fell to the Utah Mammoth at pick 17 after being hyped up as a top five prospect at the start of the year. Then towards the end of the first round there’s Jack Hextall, a Calgary Flames draft pick, and for Hextall, he will likely play a bottom-six role, and he will excel at it; he’s a very smart and detailed player who can shut down lines and still provide secondary scoring. Lastly for the Spartans, there’s Tommy Bleyl, who moved his commitment from 2027 to 2026 and will be another high-end offensive producer behind Reid on the blueline. Bleyl tore up the QMJHL and will be a great second option for their power play.
Boston University will have one of, if not the best, center duo next season with Lawrence and Vancouver Canucks third overall pick Caleb Malhotra, who was extremely elite in the playoffs for the Brantford Bulldogs and will challenge Lawrence for a spot on the team’s top line.
North Dakota is adding Flames sixth-overall pick Carson Carels, who was paired with Verhoeff at the World Juniors this past year and will likely be with him this coming season. He can provide offensive production, but he’s also extremely reliable in his own zone and will play an absurd amount of minutes with the Fighting Hawks next season.
Wyatt Cullen was drafted 10th overall by the Nashville Predators and brings a lot of skill to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who look to bounce back after a rough 2025-26 season. He brings high-end puck skill, scoring, and some two-way ability. And if he stays past this season, he’ll play with his younger brother Joey, who’s a top prospect for the 2028 draft and a 2027 commit for Minnesota.
The University of Michigan is bringing in the highly skilled J.P. Hurlbert, who was taken by the Detroit Red Wings 23rd overall, and when you consider the roster Michigan will have next season, it’s hard to predict his role, but with the talent he has, it’ll be hard to keep him off the ice, especially on the power play.
