Ryan Ma 📊

🚨 it’s a 7500+ word deep dive on TEN #2026NHLDraft Prospects, this time from 🇷🇺 & 🇺🇸 !!!🚨 Covering names like Valentini, Shaikhlislamov, Fyodorov, Kuehne, Shcherbakov and more! For full in-depth scouting reports check out my substack below 👀 🔗: open.substack.com/pub/ryanmascou…

🚨 it’s a 7500+ word deep dive on TEN #2026NHLDraft Prospects, this time from 🇷🇺 & 🇺🇸 !!!🚨 Covering names like Valentini, Shaikhlislamov, Fyodorov, Kuehne, Shcherbakov and more! For full in-depth scouting reports check out my substack below 👀 🔗: open.substack.com/pub/ryanmascou…

@IceMetrix You and me both man 😭

@RyanMaScouting Ain’t no way I thought I had a hidden gem there 😭

Me seeing everyone hype up Shaikhlislamov the week before I’m about to release my Saturday write up on him for the weekly musings on my Substack #2026NHLDraft

@MD_scouting For what it’s worth he’s going to end up as a Top 20 defenseman on my board this year Lots of stuff to like and he’s super involved but I do have some concerns which is why will keep him lower on my board

@RyanMaScouting That’s probably more reasonable then where I have him lol he’s in my 40s. Love a good skating puck mover

@MD_scouting Very very fun player I like him a good bit I think he’ll just be on the outside of my Top 64

@RyanMaScouting Oooo Ryabykin, he rocks

@NHLFoley Funny enough he is on my short list of guys I’m considering adding to my watch list. Just need to get through the last names on my current list first before I start contemplating adding more 😅

@RyanMaScouting Swap to Vsevolod Matveev #based

Certainly could be the case, I’ve just noticed that their draft strategy has tended towards: Best F available on their board in R1 WHL Defenseman and Euro Forwards in the mid rounds And the CHL guys sprinkled in and Euro Defensemen late Obviously NHL teams will not always follow those near outlines that I just put, but it’s kind of why my gut tells me it’ll be Tynan/Bjorck or Carels/Rudolph

@RyanMaScouting @ColtonBaxter17 They’ve been involved with Europe though for guys like Fisker Molgaard, Kokko, Nyman that I think they’ve been focused on Smits for a while

Who I think each team in the top 6 will be debating over 1. Toronto- Mckenna/Reid 2. San Jose- Stenberg/Reid 3. Vancouver- Stenberg/Malhotra 4. Chicago- Carels/Malhotra/Stenberg 5. New York- Carels/Verhoeff/Smits 6. Calgary- Carels/Verhoeff/Reid(if he falls)

For me it comes down to I think SEA has a weird fixation on WHL defensemen early in the draft Blake Fiddler (R2) Lukas Dragicevic (R2) Caden Price (R3) Ryker Evans (R2) Just feels like the save their Euro defensemen swings for the 4th round onwards Ottavainen (R4) Agafanov (R5) Annborn (R7)

@RyanMaScouting @ColtonBaxter17 I’ll say every report these days is teams looking for centers and I think Seattle could get a kings ransom for some soon. I have a feeling Smits is the pick personally but we’ll see.

I’m a big Tynan Lawrence guy so taking him at #7 could be justified as BPA for me, but I’d have 0 faith in Seattle’s vision at that point. What’s the point of taking all these Cs if you’re gonna have to stick them on the wing cause you’ve got too many lol I do think if they do go DEF that Daxon Rudolph feels like a guy that’s right up their alley which I would hate for them

@RyanMaScouting @ColtonBaxter17 Feels they have to take D eventually. I think Lawrence there is boardline fire able lol. I’d consider Villeneuve although doubt they are lol.

@HawkHockey11 @ColtonBaxter17 If they even take him lol. I’m willing to bet money that if Lawrence/Bjorck is at their pick they’ll take one of them Typical Seattle taking best C available gimmick lol I knew they were taking JOB last year

@ColtonBaxter17 Seattle getting Smits feels like a massive steal for them.

I’ve always been a big Galvas believer. I was far more bullish in his DY than I am now… was a first rounder for me 2 years ago Not sure if he’s ever going to make it but if he’s available in the mid rounds with a 4th or 5th I’d take a flyer on him just to see if there’s something there.

@RyanMaScouting @fvc022 @Senators Galvas with 62 or 69? Do you believe in the overager?

I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank the @Senators for beating us to end the season. None of this would’ve been possible without your support. You all are truly the best little brother an NHL team could ever ask for 🫶 #LeafsForever

@eeewilss @Senators Chill on my boy (microstats and tracking data for defense are hard to come by lol) His 83rd percentile support efficiency and possession stats I think do show those are the weaker aspects of his game though

@RyanMaScouting @Senators Not a single defensive metric to be seen

I think the fact it’s a Canadian Team AND the skillset that Gavin brings given Toronto has Auston Matthews is what tells me he’ll be the pick I think the two are neck in neck personally, but I just don’t see Toronto turning down the chance of 3 runs of McKenna - Matthews with Gavin on an ELC

It really surprises me how many people think it’s a given that Gavin McKenna🇨🇦 goes 1st overall.

I think the fact that you’d be adding that highly skilled forward on an ELC is worth noting though. Malhotra is going to be in the OHL for probably at least another year, who knows if he’s going to college, will he stay longer? McKenna is a guy who for all his warts, I wouldn’t be shocked if he stepped into the Leafs line up next season and maybe put up 70 points next to Auston just off his elite playmaking and puck handling skillset while he tries to figure out the off puck areas of his game

@spezzazini @RyanMaScouting It would definitely give me some pause adding another highly skilled forward to this group that doesn’t provide much else

Never in my wildest dreams did I let myself wonder what the Leafs should do with a top 1-2 pick. Is taking Caleb Malhotra first overall crazy?

Yeah the off puck stuff is certainly a big concern and I’m not going to shy away from it. He’s got to engage better when he doesn’t have the puck and be willing to make the hard plays. However, the offensive skillset as a playmaker and a guy who can just create controlled zone entries is just such a premium skill. The defense might never truly come around, but I think I’d rather teach McKenna the physical details of the game rather than hope that Malhotra’s on puck creation can blossom to the point where he can be a great franchise C

@RyanMaScouting I’m simply a coach potato fan that relies on the good work of others to form an opinion. And there are some red flags out there that would give me some pause as to how his game would translate to the NHL

Honestly Sennecke in hindsight was mostly a factor of me not even watching him until late in the season and being a bit stubborn about adding a guy high on my board so late in the process after only watching him in passing Malhotra is a guy I’ve been tracking throughout the year. I think there’s certainly some parallels and Malhotra has come a long way in terms of the explosiveness in his skating and impact in transition but I think Sennecke’s self creation was just better and he had a more “slippery” on puck game that I severely underrated at the time.

@RyanMaScouting Need to preface this is not a slight: you do amazing work. Looking back now, what do you think you missed on Sennecke about his game could translate to the NHL. Do you see any similarities, not necessarily between the players, but skills that could translate better to the NHL

I think Caleb is very good, he’s grown a ton this year and I think he’s certainly worth Top 8 conversation But frankly I think he’s getting propped up by a few factors 1) All the other Cs this year have one polarizing trait NHL teams could balk at. Bjork is too small. Suvanto too boring. Lawrence struggled in college. 2) His team this year was insane, and he was very good but he had a ton of support and I think he’s a very straight line, off the rush reliant player Basically I think Malhotra is gonna end up becoming an elite 2C, maybe a lower end, fringe 1C at the next level 3) McKenna’s fit and ceiling with AM34 is too good to pass up on in my opinion. You want a guy who’s got slick hands, amazing pace management and an incredible ability to pick up pucks along the boards and through traffic and then get into high danger areas of the ice? That’s McKenna. Is McKenna perfect? Far from it, effort level away from the puck honestly sucks. But we’re talking about putting a potentially Kucherov/Marner level playmaker next to Matthews on an ELC… I just can’t stomach passing that up unless we’re trading down to like 3 and getting an incredible win now piece

@RyanMaScouting Love your work - how come?