- Gavin McKenna tops Daily Faceoff’s top 75 NHL-affiliated skaters for 2026-27
- Calgary landed two of the top six with Carson Carels and Zayne Parekh
- Read below for the full top 10, the biggest risers and the steepest falls
Gavin McKenna is the No. 1 prospect in hockey, and it was not especially close.
Steven Ellis released Daily Faceoff’s top 75 NHL-affiliated skaters on Monday morning, and the Maple Leafs winger sits at the top. That makes four straight years a first overall pick has claimed the spot, following Connor Bedard in 2023, Macklin Celebrini in 2024 and Matthew Schaefer in 2025.
McKenna took plenty of heat for a quiet first half at Penn State. He answered with 33 points in his final 19 games and finished fifth in the country at 51 points in 35 contests. Ellis likened his skill set to Nikita Kucherov and Patrick Kane and called him the smartest forward in his draft class.
Porter Martone climbed four spots to second after his 25 goals led every NHL prospect in college hockey. Ivar Stenberg holds third, and Ellis expects the Sharks winger to skate out of camp in a middle-six role.
| # | Player | Pos | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gavin McKenna | LW | Maple Leafs |
| 2 | Porter Martone | RW | Flyers |
| 3 | Ivar Stenberg | LW | Sharks |
| 4 | Chase Reid | RHD | Kraken |
| 5 | Carson Carels | LHD | Flames |
| 6 | Zayne Parekh | RHD | Flames |
| 7 | Tij Iginla | LW | Mammoth |
| 8 | Caleb Malhotra | C | Canucks |
| 9 | Anton Frondell | C/LW | Blackhawks |
| 10 | James Hagens | C/LW | Bruins |
Calgary owns two of the top six. Carson Carels went fifth and Zayne Parekh sixth, and Ellis explained why he put a defender with zero NHL games ahead of one who already has some:
“I like his defensive game a bit more than Zayne Parekh’s right now, which is why I have him one spot ahead.”
Ilya Protas made the biggest leap on the board. The Capitals winger jumped from 64th to 11th after leading all AHL rookies with 66 points in Hershey. Tij Iginla moved up 14 spots to seventh, and Cole Hutson climbed 20 to 13th.
Ellis ran through all 32 pipelines earlier this summer, a series that ended with the Blackhawks ranked No. 1. Watch him break down the systems here:
Some drops were just as steep. Cole Eiserman slid 35 places to 60th, Jonathan Lekkerimaki fell 28 to 74th after a season-ending injury, and Roger McQueen dropped 25 to 53rd.
Every player in the top 15 is 20 or younger, and Ellis tagged both Martone and Stenberg as Calder Trophy challengers before either has played a full NHL season.
