It's always a big deal when NHL Central Scouting's preliminary watch list comes out. Whether you completely agree or disagree with it, those are the names NHL scouts travel around the United States (and the world) watching.
Scouts will spend the lead-up to next June's draft circling players they like and crossing out those they don't.
NHL Central Scouting dropped the list for the 2026 NHL Draft on Monday morning. To be eligible for the next draft, players have to have birthdays between Jan. 1, 2006 and Sept. 15, 2008.
Ten New England natives made the list, with many more players who have connections to the region getting their names on it as well.
NHL Central Scouting ranks every player with an 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'W' rating. Here's what those letters mean:
- A rating: First-round candidate
- B rating: Second- or third-round candidate
- C rating: Fourth- or fifth-round candidate
- W rating: Sixth- or seventh-round candidate
For the second year in a row, no New England natives got the coveted 'A' rating. The region did have two 'B' candidates in U.S. National Team Development Program U18 forward Casey Mutryn and Moncton Wildcats goalie Jacoby Weiner. Mutryn played prep with St. Sebastian's and split-season hockey with the Boston Junior Eagles, while Weiner was with Kent last season and grew up with Mid Fairfield.
Five locals got the 'C' rating: Will Bent, Myles Brosnan, Rian Chudzinski, Will Manchuso and Niko Tournas. Bent (Halifax Mooseheads), Chudzinski (Moncton Wildcats) and Tournas (Moncton Wildcats) are all forwards in the QMJHL, while Brosnan (Dexter Southfield defenseman) and Manchuso (St. Mark's forward) will be in prep this winter.
Tournas, an '06, is the lone non-first-year eligible player among the locals on the list.
READ MORE: 8 takeaways from college hockey recruiting over the last month
Three locals earned a 'W' in Groton defenseman Kaiden Donia, Charlottetown Islanders forward Nolan Duskocy and Thayer defenseman Brian McFadden.
There are also various other players listed who aren't from New England, but are playing in prep this winter. They all got a 'W' rating, and are Hotchkiss goalie Neilan Johnson, Deerfield goalie Elliot Lennon, South Kent 18U forward Andrew Mohesky, Choate forward Greg Najda, Winchendon forward Charlie Puglisi and Kent forward Will Schlectweg.
Here is the full breakdown:
New Englanders on the list
- B: Casey Mutryn | Norwell, Mass. | Boston College commit
- B: Jacoby Weiner | Riverside, Conn. | Harvard commit
- C: Will Bent | Dover, Mass. | Providence College commit
- C: Myles Brosnan | Winchester, Mass. | Harvard commit
- C: Rian Chudzinski | Needham, Mass. | Boston University commit
- C: Will Manchuso | Concord, Mass. | Dartmouth commit
- C: Niko Tournas | Redding, Conn. | UNH commit
- W: Kaiden Donia | Townsend, Mass. | Quinnipiac commit
- W: Nolan Duskocy | Ellington, Conn. | UMass commit
- W: Brian McFadden | Holbrook, Mass. | Northeastern commit
READ MORE: 13 NHL Draft prospects to watch in New England fall hockey
New England connections
- A: Tynan Lawrence | Boston University commit
- A: Caleb Malhotra | Boston University commit
- A: Luke Schairer | Mount St. Charles | Boston University commit
- A: Egor Shilov | Boston University commit
- B: Tobias Trejbal | UMass commit
- B: Thomas Vandenberg | Providence College commit
- C: Blake Zielinski | Providence College commit
- C: Samu Alalauri | UMass commit
- C: Nathan Amidovski | UConn commit
- C: Rudolfs Berzkalns | Boston College commit
- C: Tommy Bleyl | Cushing
- C: Cam Chartrand | Boston College commit
- C: Maksim Corovic | Cushing
- C: Callum Croskery | Boston College commit
- C: Colin Feeley | Salisbury | Harvard commit
- C: Liam Lefebvre | Trinity-Pawling | Vermont commit
- C: Pavel Martinu | UNH commit
- C: Brady Murnane | Winchendon
- C: Landon Nycz | UMass
- C: Maksim Sokolovskii | Maine commit
- C: Alexei Vlasov | UConn commit
- C: Sam Wathier | Boston College commit
- C: Jacob Xu | Harvard commit
- W: Poul Anderson | Maine commit
- W: Diego Buttazzoni | UMass Lowell commit
- W: Ryan Cameron | Boston College commit
- W: Dylan Dean | Mount St. Charles | Maine commit
- W: Nicholas Desiderio | Providence College commit
- W: Kambryn Hendrickson | UConn commit
- W: Neilan Johnson | Hotchkiss
- W: Elliot Lennon | Deerfield | Brown commit
- W: Carl-Otto Magnusson | UConn commit
- W: Bexultan Makysh | Boston Hockey Academy
- W: Tomas Mikel | UMass commit
- W: Andrew Mohesky | South Kent
- W: Andrei Molgachev | UConn commit
- W: Greg Najda | Choate | Yale commit
- W: John Parsons | Providence College
- W: Ethan Phillips | Providence College commit
- W: Charlie Puglisi | Winchendon
- W: Andrew Robinson | Providence College commit
- W: Joe Salandra | Brunswick | Harvard commit
- W: Will Schlectweg | Kent
- W: Ethan Sturgis | Dartmouth commit
- W: Nicholas Sykora | Quinnipiac commit
- W: Jack Torr | Governor's Academy | UConn commit
