The conclusion of U18 worlds and the drawing of the NHL Draft Lottery means that draft season is officially upon us.

After Tuesday night’s lottery, the order of the first 16 selections in the 2026 NHL Draft is now determined.

League finals in junior hockey are about to get started, and men’s worlds in Switzerland won’t be far behind them. Then we’ll wrap up another year on the prospects calendar with the Memorial Cup in Kelowna, B.C., at the end of the month and then the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo in the first week of June before returning to Buffalo a few weeks later for the draft.

Here’s everything I’m thinking about and hearing after the drawing of this year’s ping pong balls

A new Core Four in Toronto?

You almost have to laugh.

On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs were introducing two new heads of their hockey operations in a testy and uncomfortable news conference, and inheriting the potential loss of a No. 6 or No. 7 pick in this year’s draft to the Bruins as part of the previous regime’s decision-making. Now they’re sitting atop the draft.

After news broke on Tuesday evening that McKenna will not, in the end, play for Canada at men’s worlds, his draft year is officially over.

McKenna remains, through a tumultuous year of his own, the likely choice at No. 1. And while there was a time when his camp was at least considering a return to college for his sophomore year, that was months ago, and the expectation now is that he’s going to sign his entry-level contract and play in the NHL next year. He’s not entirely ready. Physically. From a maturity/habits/details/defensive standpoint. It’s going to be hard for him on the ice, and he’s going to have to go through it in the league’s highest-pressure market right now if he’s the pick. But you’ll see the talent shine through right away, and he would give the Leafs a dynamic playmaking winger and immediate power-play upgrade.

I think it’ll be McKenna, and he’s my first-ranked prospect in the draft still, too.

What to do at No. 2?

If the Maple Leafs take McKenna, I’m sure the Sharks will consider Ivar Stenberg at No. 2. How could you not at least imagine what it would look like to pair the Swedish winger with forwards Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Michael Misa atop that lineup? And yet, precisely because you have those three players, the Sharks feel like the real winners of this lottery if only because they’re now positioned to fill the position they need most by picking their top D in the class. My sense is that’s Chase Reid at the moment. He feels like the most natural fit to run their first power-play long term and better slot Sam Dickinson in their depth chart. But Sharks fans should be learning about Carson Carels and even Alberts Smits, Keaton Verhoeff and the red-hot Daxon Rudolph in the lead-up to draft night as well.

Caleb Malhotra, the topic of the day

On the eve of the lottery, the Brantford Bulldogs lost in Game 7 of the OHL’s Eastern Conference Final to the Barrie Colts. As their season ended, so did Caleb Malhotra’s. Tuesday morning, rumors started circulating connecting Malhotra, a Boston University commit, to next year’s Memorial Cup-host Guelph. There was even a suggestion online of a pre-ordained trade.

After doing some due diligence of my own on it, I was told by two sources that those rumors are meritless. Malhotra isn’t being traded to Guelph and never was. And he remains committed to BU. If there’s a consideration for him, it’s an NHL one. Those around him think he should be playing in the NHL or NCAA next year.

And BU are very excited about him.

“What a player he is,” Terriers head coach Jay Pandolfo told The Athletic on a phone call a couple of weeks ago. “I’ve watched most of his playoff games, and you can still see that the strength portion for him will show up more at this level than it does in the OHL, but his sense and everything that goes along with it, he’s just a player.”

Malhotra’s draft year concluded with 42 goals and 110 points in 82 combined regular-season and playoff games. The belief around the NHL is that he’s in the conversation starting at No. 2 after a meteoric draft year ascension, and the belief around the OHL is that that’s the range he belongs in. On a loaded Bulldogs team that featured a top-10 pick from last year’s draft in Jake O’Brien, Malhotra was their best player in these playoffs. He’s now the clear top center prospect in this class, ahead of Boston University’s Tynan Lawrence and Djurgarden’s Viggo Bjorck. Centers always go early, but Malhotra is a top-of-the-draft talent. He’s a nearly 6-foot-2 pivot who drives two-way results, can play in all situations, and has his dad Manny’s pro habits, but he was also viewed as one of the most talented and intelligent players in the OHL this year and has a still-lean frame that offers him legitimate growth potential moving forward. Don’t scoff at him if your team takes him at the very top of the draft, even if you’ve been hearing about McKenna and Stenberg over the last couple of years.

Notable prospects still playing

Some teams have their final scouting meetings coming out of U18 worlds. Others hold off until closer to the combine. But even with Malhotra’s elimination, there are still a fair number of draft eligibles playing. Not all NHL teams give the end of the year the same attention, but here’s who is still playing.

Stenberg and Bjorck are both currently auditioning for Sweden’s men’s worlds roster. Stenberg has five points in his first two games, and Bjorck has two goals in his first two. Smits will also play for Latvia at the men’s worlds.

In the WHL championship, Rudolph and the Prince Albert Raiders (Rudolph has been outstanding and leads the Raiders in scoring with nine goals and 23 points in 15 playoff games) will play the Everett Silvertips for a spot in the Memorial Cup. Raiders overage goaltender Michal Orsulak, Silvertips defenseman Brek Liske and winger Matias Vanhanen should all be mid-to-late-round picks.

In the OHL final, Kitchener Rangers defenseman Alexander Bilecki should be a mid-round pick, while Barrie Colts overager Ben Wilmott should be a late-round pick.

In the QMJHL, the Moncton Wildcats and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada are playing Game 7 of their third-round series Tuesday night. If the Wildcats advance, they have three prospects of note: Defenseman Tommy Bleyl (one of the top rookies in the CHL this year), overage forward Niko Tournas and American forward Rian Chudzinski. If the Armada advance, dynamic and diminutive defenseman Xavier Villeneuve plays on. The winner will play Chicoutimi and mid-round overager Tomas Lefebvre in the Q final.

And four teams remain in the USHL’s Clark Cup Playoffs, with goaltender Samuel Hernak, fresh off a silver medal with Slovakia at U18s, back with Fargo, and Muskegon forward Rudolfs Berzkalns projected to be a mid-round pick.

The MHL playoffs aren’t complete yet either. Lokomotiv has already punched its ticket to the final and will meet the winner of Spartak Moscow and Avto Yekaterinburg. Spartak is up 3-2 in that series. Spartak D Vsevolod Matveyev and Yekaterinburg forward Lavr Gashilov are the draft-eligibles of note there.