McKenna Still the Prize as 2026 Draft Debate Starts at No. 5

The top of the 2026 NHL Draft board looks fairly settled, and Gavin McKenna keeps sitting in the No. 1 chair. The real argument starts after that, where the opinions get messy and the mock drafts stop pretending there is a clean answer. That is where the scouts, GMs and draft nerds separate themselves, and where one pick can change a franchise’s mood for years. The first four may be easy to sort out, but the fight at No. 5 is where the draft starts to get interesting.