2026 NHL Draft Sleepers Who Could Jump Straight to the League

The top of the 2026 draft gets the spotlight, but the real front-office fun starts when teams hunt for players who can help sooner than the public thinks. This is the part of the draft where scouts get smug, GMs start seeing value, and one good summer can flip a kid from “project” to “play-now.” The question is which prospects outside the top 10 have the game, the body, and the nerve to walk into an NHL room and not look lost.