2026 NHL Scouting Combine results: Gavin McKenna, Keaton Verhoeff among stand out performers

On Saturday, 90 of hockey’s best draft-eligible prospects descended on the NHL Scouting Combine and put their athletic abilities on full display across a series of physical and skills-based exercises. 

From bench press to sprints, line drills and the grueling Wingate bike, where players go all out and exert as much energy as physically possible, some prospects left a massive mark on the proceedings, while others struggled to make an impression in front of the assembled NHL clubs.

Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg, the expected first and second overall picks in the draft, were both in attendance. Stenberg sat out the physical testing with an apparent illness but was made available to speak with the media. 

McKenna, meanwhile, did anything but sit on his reputation as the consensus top pick led the entire combine in the VO2 Max Aerobic Fitness test with a score of 65.0 ml/kg/min, and also placed fourth in the Isokinetic Squat, tied for sixth in pull-ups, and finished eighth in the Force Plate No Arm Jump. 

MORE: Top 2026 NHL draft prospects discuss development paths, excitement about futures, and more at the Scouting Combine

The story of the day, however, belonged to three players who most teams won’t be selecting until late in the first round or into the second. Mathis Preston, Ethan MacKenzie and Niklas Aaram-Olsen each recorded seven top-ten finishes across the combine’s events, more than anyone else at the combine. The trio’s performance is all the more remarkable given that none of the three are expected to go until deep into the first round at the earliest. 

MacKenzie in particular may have done himself the most good, entering Saturday ranked 69th overall in Elite Prospects’ consolidated draft rankings. His performance across the events may be enough to perk the interest of teams who weren’t previously considering him in the early rounds.

Not far behind that top trio was a group of five prospects who each recorded six top-ten finishes in Cole Zurawski, Layne Gallacher, Charlie Morrison, Landon Nycz and Ilia Morozov, who all had standout days. 

Of the eight players who finished with six or more top-ten appearances, only Preston and Morozov are currently projected to go in the first round, meaning a significant portion of Saturday’s best performers were players likely fighting to improve their draft positioning.

Jake Tye - The Hockey News

Among the higher-end prospects, the results were more modest but still notable as consensus top-five pick Keaton Verhoeff finished with three top-ten appearances, posting elite results in the VO2 Max test and both Pro Agility drills to affirm his reputation as a well-conditioned, change-of-direction athlete. 

Consensus top-twelve pick Caleb Malhotra had a pair of top-ten finishes, including a tied fifth-place result in the Force Plate Vertical Jump. Consensus top-ten pick Viggo Bjorck recorded two top-ten finishes at the combine, while consensus top-twelve pick Adam Novotny saved one of the day’s most notable individual moments for the pull-ups station, where he led all prospects with 18, tying Montreal Canadiens star Lane Hutson for the second-most in combine history.

MORE: Jets pass on Caleb Malhotra meeting at NHL Combine, sparks questions on potential fall in draft

On the other side of the ledger, a few high-profile defensive prospects had quieter days than expected. Chase Reid and Alberts Smits, both defensemen projected to go within the first ten picks of the draft, did not finish in the top ten of a single combine event. Tynan Lawrence, a skilled two-way center, also did not finish in the top of any test.

Whether that has any bearing on where those three are selected remains to be seen, but it will almost certainly generate conversation in draft rooms across the league in the days ahead.

Here are the top performers from each event at the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine:

Horizontal Jump (Distance Inches)

1. Niklas Aaram-Olsen - 118.0
2. Wesley Royston - 116.8
3. Timofei Runtso - 116.0
4. Xavier Villeneuve - 115.0
5. Maddox Dagenais - 114.8
6. Layne Gallacher - 114.8
7. Beckham Edwards - 114.0
8. Charlie Morrison - 114.0
9. Jakub Vanecek - 113.3
10. Cole Zurawski - 112.5

VO2 Max Aerobic Fitness (ml/kg/min)

1. Gavin McKenna - 65.0
2. Xavier Villeneuve - 64.4
3. Malte Gustafsson - 61.0
4. Jan Larys - 60.0
5. Juho Piiparinen - 60.0
6. Oliver Suvanto - 59.0
7. Wyatt Cullen - 58.7
8. Matias Vanhanen - 58.0
9. Keaton Verhoeff - 57.8
10. Cole Zurawski - 57.3

Pro Agility – Left Time (sec)

1. Beckham Edwards - 4.2
2. Niklas Aaram-Olsen - 4.2
3. Cole Zurawski - 4.2
4. Ethan MacKenzie - 4.3
5. Layne Gallacher - 4.3
6. Simon Katolicky - 4.3
7. Timofei Runtso - 4.3
8. Mathis Preston - 4.4
9. Oliver Suvanto - 4.4
10. Keaton Verhoeff - 4.4

Pro Agility – Right Time (sec)

1. Niklas Aaram-Olsen - 4.2
2. Beckham Edwards - 4.2
3. Ethan MacKenzie - 4.3
4. Keaton Verhoeff - 4.3
5. Layne Gallacher - 4.3
6. Jayden Kurtz - 4.3
7. Mathis Preston - 4.3
8. Cole Zurawski - 4.3
9. Timofei Runtso - 4.3
10. Caleb Malhotra - 4.4

Isokinetic Squat (lb/lb BW)

1. Pierce Mbuyi - 3.62
2. Mathis Preston - 3.57
3. Adam Novotny - 3.43
4. Gavin McKenna - 3.40
5. Layne Gallacher - 3.33
6. Ilia Morozov - 3.32
7. Adam Valentini - 3.30
8. Jack Hextall - 3.27
9. Victor Plante - 3.22
10. Wyatt Cullen - 3.08

10m Sprint (sec)

1. Cole Zurawski - 1.97
2. Thomas Vandenberg  - 2.02
3. Niklas Aaram-Olsen - 2.04
4. Layne Gallacher - 2.04
5. Juho Piiparinen - 2.04
6. Mathis Preston - 2.04
7. Jayden Kurtz - 2.05
8. Tyus Sparks - 2.05
9. Ryan Lin - 2.06
10. Landon Nycz - 2.06

Anaerobic Fitness (watts/kg)

1. Layne Gallacher - 17.3
2. Niklas Aaram-Olsen - 17.2
3. Ethan MacKenzie - 17.2
4. Mathis Preston - 17.2
5. Zach Olsen - 16.8
6. Malte Gustafsson - 16.7
7. Landon Nycz - 16.7
8. Maksim Sokolovskii - 16.7
9. Alessandro Di Iorio - 16.6
10. Charlie Morrison - 16.6

Anaerobic Fitness (Fatigue Index / % Drop From Peak)

1. Victor Plante - 39.1
2. Thomas Vandenberg - 39.4
3. Casey Mutryn - 41.1
4. Jack Hextall - 41.2
5. Jaxon Cover - 41.5
6. Jonah Sivertson - 42.3
7. Cooper Williams - 42.3
8. Viggo Bjorck - 42.6
9. Thomas Bleyl - 42.9
10. Blake Zielinski - 44.1

Bench Press (Watts/KG)

1. Landon Nycz - 7.5
2. Pierce Mbuyi - 7.1
3. Ethan MacKenzie - 6.9
4. Mathis Preston - 6.8
5. Simon Katolicky - 6.7
6. Wesley Royston - 6.7
7. Niklas Aaram-Olsen - 6.6
8. Ryan Lin - 6.6
9. Juho Piiparinen - 6.6
10. Liam Ruck - 6.4

Wingspan (Inches)

1. Oscar Hemming - 80.3
2. Maksim Sokolovskii - 80.0
3. Brady Knowling - 79.8
4. Oliver Suvanto - 79.3
5. Brooks Rogowski - 79.0
6. Ethan Belchetz - 78.8
7. Michal Orsulak - 78.8
8. Luke Schairer - 78.8
9. Vilho Vanhatalo - 78.8
10. Landon Nycz - 78.5

Force Plate No Arm Jump (Inches)

1. Beckham Edwards - 20.9
2. Landon Nycz - 20.6
3. Lincoln Kuehne - 20.3
4. Juho Piiparinen - 20.3
5. Charlie Morrison - 20.1
6. Ryan Lin - 20.0
7. Ilia Morozov - 19.9
8. Gavin McKenna - 19.5
9. Matias Vanhanen - 19.4
10. Niklas Aaram-Olsen - 19.3

Force Plate – Vertical Jump (Inches)

1. Charlie Morrison - 25.4
2. Wesley Royston - 24.8
3. Matias Vanhanen - 24.2
4. Lincoln Kuehne - 23.3
5. Ryan Lin - 22.8
6. Caleb Malhotra - 22.8
7. Landon Nycz - 22.6
8. Ethan MacKenzie - 22.4
9. Ilia Morozov - 22.1
10. Xavier Villeneuve - 21.9

Right Hand Grip (lb)

1. Ryder Cali - 182
2. Lincoln Kuehne - 182
3. Ilia Morozov - 181
4. Charlie Morrison - 181
5. Oscar Hemming - 176
6. Ethan MacKenzie - 175
7. Jakub Vanecek - 175
8. Giorgos Pantelas - 173
9. Maksim Sokolovskii - 173
10. Malte Gustafsson - 170

Left Hand Grip (lb)

1. Ilia Morozov - 184
2. Giorgos Pantelas - 183
3. Oliver Suvanto - 181
4. Maksim Sokolovskii - 180
5. Cole Zurawski - 178
6. Charlie Morrison - 174
7. Lincoln Kuehne - 171
8. Casey Mutryn - 170
9. Alessandro Di Iorio - 168
10. Oscar Hemming - 168

Pull-Ups (Reps)

1. Adam Novotny - 18
2. Ilia Morozov - 17
3. Viggo Bjorck - 16
4. Jakub Vanecek - 16
5. Jonas Lagerberg Hoen - 15
6. Ethan MacKenzie - 14
7. Pierce Mbuyi - 14
8. Gavin McKenna - 14
9. Mathis Preston - 14
10. Wesley Royston - 14

More NHL News

• Taking a look at Judd Brackett's history as a talent evaluator; What he'll bring to the Maple Leafs
• Drafting Gavin McKenna is the only option for the Maple Leafs at the 2026 NHL draft
• ‘It’s upsetting,’ Bruce Cassidy speaks about Golden Knights denying him permission to speak to NHL teams
• Mitch Marner isn't allowed to pick and choose when he talks about his past with the Maple Leafs
• Dylan Larkin’s trade request signifies a failed Red Wings rebuild; A trade will set the team back disastrously