2026 NHL Draft prospects with the most to prove at the IIHF U18 World Championship
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – It feels like just yesterday that we travelled to Czechia and Slovakia to kick off the 2026 NHL Draft season at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Yet here we are, already back again in Slovakia for the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship, and with that, one final chance for draft-eligible prospects to leave their mark on the ice.
Now, we shouldn’t throw out a season’s worth of scouting work – hundreds of games watched, thousands of reports filed, dozens of hours debating the order of our draft lists. The U18s do, however, still hold significant scouting value.
Players from smaller hockey nations get their first chance to face off against the top dogs from Canada, the USA, or Sweden. Players who’ve spent all year playing in pro leagues, the NCAA, on U20 and men’s national teams get another chance to show what they’ve got against the best in their own age group. And some players simply left our scouts with questions that still want to be answered.
With that, the tournament will be more important for some prospects than others.
Here’s who’s got the most to prove.
Tynan Lawrence, F, Canada
Tynan Lawrence has had one of the more unique and challenging draft seasons. Coming off a strong Hlinka Gretzky Cup performance, where he frequently looked like Team Canada’s most dynamic forward, he suffered an injury at USHL training camp, missing the start of the season in Muskegon. He joined the Lumberjacks late in October, put up a respectable 10 goals and 17 points in 13 games, and clearly established himself as a top-5 candidate in this draft – but then he decided to make a mid-season jump to college hockey.
His start at Boston University was a challenging one. He went pointless in his first five games and picked up just one point (a goal) in his first 10. The motor, speed, and two-way work still gave him a clear NHL projection – but can he be an NHL point producer? A true 2C if not more?
His scoring picked up a bit late in the year, as he finished with a point per game in his last five, saving his first and only multi-point outing for last (a goal and an assist against Connecticut). But the questions around his upside persist. Right now, our scouting staff see Lawrence as a mid-first-round pick rather than a top-five option, but a strong showing at the U18 World Championship, where he is expected to be Canada’s top centre, could change that.
Keaton Verhoeff, D, Canada
Keaton Verhoeff’s situation is somewhat similar to Lawrence’s. He came into the year as a top prospect, having scored 21 goals and 24 assists in 63 regular-season games as a WHL rookie with Victoria – as a 6-foot-4, D-1 right-shot D. He even put up a point per game at the 2025 U18 world championship. Like Lawrence, he had a solid showing captaining Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup before jumping to the NCAA, and had to adjust to the new world of college hockey.
On paper, he had a strong season: Six goals and 20 points in 36 NCAA games as a 17-year-old D-man are impressive, and his year included a four-point World Junior tournament. However, that doesn’t mean his year was without challenges. The adjustment to college hockey was a big one, and Verhoeff frequently left our scouts wanting more – foot speed, mobility, retrievals, and passing have all looked iffy at times, though the high-end flashes continued to be there as well. Overall, our staff feel his development in the second half simply wasn’t as strong as hoped, and Verhoeff looks a bit more like a project rather than a guy who can jump in and make an impact from day one.
In a draft class full of promising defencemen, Verhoeff has ended up on the outside looking in for us. But a strong U18 tournament may convince our scouts to push him higher once again on our final list.
Brady Knowling, G, USA
Brady Knowling started this season with a lot to prove. As a member of the U.S. National U17 Team, Knowling missed a lot of time with injury and only managed a .813 save percentage as a D-1 in the USHL. Moving into his draft year, Knowling started at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup for the Americans, proving he’s fully healthy and ready to play.
As the year went on, Knowling continued to have his highs and lows. He’s a great skater, as many NTDP goaltenders are, and he’s listed at 6-foot-5, which is sure to be valued by NHL clubs. Knowling seemed to show up in big games, but as the season went on, questions around his tracking and hands arose, as he didn’t show the necessary consistency in either.
When Knowling is at his best, which tends to happen in the biggest moments, he looks like he could be the No. 1 goalie prospect available this year. In his weaker moments, however, he has looked a lot more like a mid-round option. If he impresses at the U18s, ideally en route to another American championship title, there’s definitely a world where he becomes a top-50 draft pick. – David Phillips, Goaltending Scout
Casey Mutryn, F, USA
Casey Mutryn is a big power winger. At his best, he’s extremely hard to stop. A bulldozer who blasts through anything in his way as he pursues the puck. He’s excellent along the boards and frequently shows the vision and awareness to deliver pucks into the middle out of battles. Especially in today’s NHL, where heavy forechecking has become increasingly important, a player like Mutryn could be a very high-impact player. That’s why our scouts have frequently referred to him as a first-round prospect in their reports.
However, when it came to actually ranking him against other top prospects in our meetings, our staff had reservations about him. Not enough speed to be a rush creator, forcing his way into traffic instead of finding creative and skilled solutions – and simply disappearing for long stretches of or even entire games. These were factors that have kept him on the outside looking in.
As an NTDP player, Mutryn has had eyes on him everywhere he went all season, from games against USHL and NCAA opponents to international tournaments. Still, the U18 World Championship will offer one final chance to make a push into the first round if he shows he can be a noticeable impact player game by game.
Marcus Nordmark, F, Sweden
Marcus Nordmark scored 14 goals and 38 points in 25 U20 games this season. He added six goals and 23 points in just 11 playoff games. He scored seven goals and 12 points in five Hlinka Gretzky Cup games, five points in five games at the World Jr. A Challenge, and seven points in four games at each of the in-season Five Nations tournaments. So what could he possibly have left to prove at this level?
Well, our scouts have been quite critical of Nordmark all season. It’s not that we don’t see his skill or scoring ability, but we do have significant question marks regarding his ability to translate his game to North America and especially the NHL. The biggest one: his physical game. Nordmark was measured at 6-foot-1.5 and 180 pounds by NHL Central Scouting, so he has a solid frame with some room to add muscle, but he really hasn’t made the most of it in our viewings. He has significant work to do to improve his contact skills and play harder in tight areas, and he’s been a bit too reliant on contributing as an off-puck player who finds space in large European ice.
Our only look at Nordmark on a North American rink was the World Jr. A Challenge, where he struggled a bit more than he has in other tournaments this season. Unfortunately, the U18s will be played in a European rink this year, so he won’t get another chance to prove he can operate with less space. Still, our scouts will keep a close eye on him to evaluate his compete level, physical skill, and willingness to play in tight areas at this tournament. He’s got first-round-level skill, and a strong performance could get him back in the conversation.
Oliver Suvanto, F, Finland
In his D-1 season, Oliver Suvanto was only the fifth-best scorer on Tappara’s U18 team. He wasn’t his team’s top scorer at the World U17 Hockey Challenge or other U17 tournaments either. So when he showed up to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this past August as Finland’s 1C and outplayed everyone not named Hemming, he was an easy player to get excited about. One of the youngest players in this class, a 6-foot-3, 209-pound frame, and clear improvements over the summer – what’s not to like?
When Suvanto established himself with Tappara’s Liiga squad from the start, the answer appeared to be ‘nothing’. But as the year went on, we kept waiting for an offensive breakout. Suvanto was a reliable two-way contributor, strong in battles, and had flashes of offensive upside built around his size, vision, and passing skill – but the points never really came. He finished his Liiga season with just two goals and 11 points in 48 games before joining the U20 team for a playoff push – his team lost in the semi-finals, and Suvanto only contributed five assists in 14 games.
So while his season has certainly been impressive, the scoring never picked up, and that has direct implications for his projection. At this stage, Suvanto looks more like a high-probability bottom-six centre than one who will suddenly start producing points in the NHL. He’s got nothing to prove at the U18 level beyond pure offensive output – if he can lead Finland to U18s success as an offensive contributor, we may re-evaluate and push him back up our list.
Vilho Vanhatalo, F, Finland
Vilho Vanhatalo came into the season as one of Finland’s top goal-scoring prospects. In his D-1 season, he scored 37 goals in 41 regular-season games and added 10 more in 12 playoff games with Tappara’s U18 team. He was a first-liner and top PP option for Finland at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this past August and was poised for a big draft season – except that didn’t really happen.
Despite his massive 6-foot-4, 198-pound frame and a heavy shot, Vanhatalo didn’t quite take the necessary steps to develop into a high-end power forward. He finished the regular season with just 10 goals and 19 points in 38 games in the Finnish U20 league, plus one assist in eight Liiga appearances. In national team play, he saw his ice time decline, lost his spot on the top PP unit, and ended up in a checking and PK role.
On the bright side, he impressed in a checking role in Liiga, so there’s still reason to believe he can at least develop into a similar role as a fourth-liner in the NHL. The U18s, however, will be his chance to prove there’s still more to his game. After putting up seven goals and 12 points in 13 playoff games, heating up right when it mattered most, he’ll look to carry that momentum into international play.
Šimon Katolický, F, Czechia
Šimon Katolický and Vanhatalo are in very similar situations. Like Vanhatalo, Katolický came into the year as one of his country’s top draft prospects. Like Vanhatalo, he is a 6-foot-4, 198-pound goal-scoring winger. Like Vanhatalo, however, he had a disappointing year with Tappara, recording just six goals and 17 points in 29 regular-season games.
It hasn’t been an easy year for Katolický overall. He missed multiple stretches with injuries, forcing him to sit out the Hlinka Gretzky Cup an limiting him to just six international games all season. In some of those games, he was already (or still) banged up, so we don’t know if we ever saw the best version of Katolický in those games.
Katolický didn’t miss any time down the final stretch, so we can assume we’ll see a relatively healthy version at this U18 world championship. It may not be a true best-on-best tournament, but it will still be a great chance to show he can stand out among and make an impact against some of the world’s best prospects.
Jiří Kamas, D, Czechia
Jiří Kamas came into this draft season as one of the top prospects to watch out of Czechia. A right-shot D with good size, he’d spent almost his full D-1 year at the Czech U20 level, was a top performer for the U17 national team, appeared in multiple tournaments with the U18 squad and even joined them for last year’s U18 world championship. He didn’t get into game action then, but it was a good sign to see him included.
His draft year started strong as well – our staff were impressed with his performance at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he was one of Czechia’s best two-way players and finished the tournament with three goals in four games. Unfortunately, his move to North America didn’t quite work out as hoped.
Kamas had some solid early-season performances but couldn’t quite establish himself on WHL Penticton’s D group. A mid-season trade to Red Deer gave him a bigger role (he led the Rebels in TOI per game since his arrival and recorded 30+ minutes in some games), and it didn’t go unnoticed by our staff. He should play a big role for Czechia this week as well – and that could go a long way in restoring his draft stock.
Niklas Aaram-Olsen, F, Norway
Niklas Aaram-Olsen is one of several noteworthy draft-eligibles in the Örebro organization, so he had scouts’ eyes on him all season. He recorded over a point per game in the U20 league and even dressed in 16 SHL games (albeit with just over 20 minutes of total ice time across those games). Add to that his appearances with U20 and men’s national teams and it’s safe to say he didn’t fly under the radar in his draft year – except for one point: he’s Norwegian.
That meant playing in the D1A group of the World Juniors instead of the top division, therefore facing off against the likes of France, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan instead of Canada, the USA, or Sweden. He performed very well in his first games with the men’s national team, but those games were against Hungary and Austria.
Simply put: We’ve seen what Aaram-Olsen can do at various levels, but we haven’t seen him at the highest international level against his peers. The U18s will be his chance to finally show he can keep up with the top-end talent from Canada and Finland – and perhaps one of the other top nations, if Norway survives the group stage.
Adam Goljer, D, Slovakia
Adam Goljer is one of the trickiest evaluations in Europe this season. He’s been among Slovakia’s top draft prospects for years. He made his pro debut with Dukla Trenčín in his D-2 season, was one of the Slovak development program’s top players and a strong presence for Slovakia at the U18s in his D-1 year, spent his entire draft season in the Slovak pro league, and made his country’s World Junior team. Despite all that, our scouting staff haven’t really been convinced (yet?).
A 6-foot-3, 194-pound defenceman, Goljer looks to contribute at both ends of the ice. He frequently cleared 20 minutes of ice time playing for Trenčín’s pro team in all situations. Two of his most intriguing qualities are his willingness and ability to jump in on rushes and his ability to distribute the puck inside the offensive zone. However, he hasn’t shown truly dynamic offensive skill or skating, which suggests a more defensive projection for the NHL, but he also hasn’t used his size nearly as much as he could, so there are question marks in that area as well. As such, Goljer hasn’t cracked our draft board yet and has looked more like a later-round option for us, though there’s reason to believe he’ll be picked quite a bit higher than where we have him.
Having played pro all season and representing Slovakia at the World Juniors instead of joining them for any of their U18 tournaments, this will be our chance to see Goljer against his peers for the first time since the Hlinka Gretzky Cup eight months ago. If he plays harder and more physical than we’ve seen while still showing offensive flashes, he still has a chance to rise into our top 100.
Tobias Krämer, D, Germany
Tobias Krämer may be big, but he isn’t a big name. The Czech-born defenceman started his D-1 year playing U17 hockey in Brno before moving to Germany. More specifically, he joined the Schwenninger ERC – a DEL club’s junior program, but not one most fans outside of Germany will be familiar with. As a result, his ascension to NHL Draft consideration came more suddenly, when he joined Germany’s top junior program, the Jungadler Mannheim, for his draft season.
A 6-foot-6, 209-pound right-shot defenceman, Krämer naturally got noticed quickly, but he also delivered. While Mannheim rolled their D pairs with roughly equal ice time shares early in the season, he established himself as the No. 1 D by playoff time, playing big minutes in all situations. He finished the year with six goals and 25 points in 46 games (including playoffs), making an impact at both ends of the rink. Our scouts still have question marks around his game, most notably the inconsistent use of his physicality and unlikely-to-translate offensive focus, so a strong international showing would go a long way for his draft hopes.
A dual citizen, it took Krämer a while to be deemed eligible to represent Germany internationally, even in exhibition play, so he didn’t make his national team debut until December. This also prevented him from playing any professional hockey, as Krämer still would've counted as a Czech player and the German pro leagues have an import limit. He will be eligible for the U18 world championship, though, and it will be his first chance to show what he’s got against the highest level of competition. How his game holds up in group play against Sweden and the U.S., as well as in a potential quarterfinal match-up against Canada, will be fascinating to see.
Patriks Plūmiņš, G, Latvia
Patriks Plūmiņš is a returnee for Latvia at the U18 tournament, and there’s almost a sense of mystery around him as a prospect. Heading into the year, Plūmiņš was a guy we thought could make a move to a stronger league, but instead, he ended up staying in Latvia as a backup goalie.
With that, we simply had a tough time getting a good read on him. He’s shown a good all-around skillset in our viewings, but there was a lack of pace in his movements that made us worry about how well he would do at higher levels. He has a 6-foot-3 frame, and the technique itself is strong, but we’ve been left wanting more whenever we saw him.
Being a returner to the U18s, Plūmiņš has some extra experience at the tournament, which is an advantage not many other goaltenders have. With the added experience of being at this tournament before and the history of Latvian netminders at international tournaments, Plūmiņš could easily boost his stock to the point of becoming a mid-round prospect. – David Phillips, Goaltending Scout
