Called Up: The Hockey Prospects Podcast · FloSports

NHL Draft Rankings: Why Ivar Stenberg Is Rising To Top Of Many Lists; NHL Draft Prospects In The NCAA And More

·1 hr 22 min·5 clips

Xavier Villeneuve is the pure offensive upside from the blue line.

1. Called Up: The Hockey Prospects Podcast centers this episode on the Elite Prospects NHL Draft midterm rankings and a midseason NCAA check-in for draft-eligible players. 2. Chris Peters of Flow Hockey and Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects host the show, and Cam’s scouting-room perspective explains why the EP board looks the way it does. 3. The episode asks why Ivar Stenberg moved ahead of Gavin McKenna, and what that says about NHL draft valuation in 2026. 4. Cam says Stenberg has been the better player this year and has a skill set that looks more translatable to the NHL. 5. Cam says most crossover scouts had Stenberg at No. 1, while one crossover scout still preferred McKenna. 6. Chris and Cam say McKenna still has the highest-end upside in the class, but his deficiencies this season have stopped him from holding the top spot. 7. Chris compares the McKenna debate to earlier top-prospect conversations around Shane Wright and Alexis Lafrenière. 8. The hosts run through the Elite Prospects order, including Chase Reid at No. 3, Keaton Verhoff at No. 4, Carson Carls at No. 5, and Xavier Villeneuve at No. 6. 9. Cam explains that the room values Villeneuve’s pure offensive upside from the blue line, especially his power-play projection. 10. Chris notes that players such as Oscar Hemming, Tynan Lawrence, Adam Novotny, and Viggo Bjork all sit in the first-round mix with different strengths and risks. 11. Cam calls Villeneuve a player who can shift at the line, break ankles, get shots through, and distribute through lanes. 12. Chris says Villeneuve’s ranking reflects a high-risk, high-reward profile and a big projection bet. 13. Cam says Hemming’s 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame, skating, physicality, and puck protection pushed him up the board. 14. Chris explains that Hemming’s path changed after a transfer dispute kept him out of his planned Kitchener Rangers season and pushed him to Boston College. 15. Cam says the room sees Hemming as a winger with true power-forward potential, especially because the class is thin on players who hit and forecheck hard. 16. Chris and Cam discuss Viggo Bjork as a player whose size is the main concern, while his hockey sense, compete level, and versatility keep him in the conversation. 17. The tone is scouting-room debate rather than formal interview, with direct back-and-forth and repeated challenge-and-response on individual players. 18. The format moves from ranking explanation to player-by-player disagreement, and Cam says the process includes a larger group of scouts with weighted lists and tier discussions. 19. Draft followers who want scouting-room reasoning behind a first-round board will get the most from this episode. 20. Casual listeners who want a simple news rundown without draft jargon may skip it.

As heard by us

A tight draft-board discussion focused on fit, projection, and the hockey details that matter.

Called Up starts with weather, travel snags, and Hockey Day Minnesota, which gives the draft talk a real-world edge instead of dropping it in isolation.

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Why you'd press play

You want draft talk that feels like scouting, not headline-chasing.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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