About this episode

Dave Gregory discusses the evaluation process for the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft and insights on college hockey prospects.

The 2026 NHL Draft is just days away, and USCHO kicks off its draft coverage with Dave Gregory, Associate Director of NHL Central Scouting. In this conversation, Gregory explains how NHL Central Scouting’s rankings come together, what fans should understand about the evaluation process, and how scouts compare prospects across college hockey, junior hockey, international leagues and other development paths. We also discuss what college hockey can reveal about draft-eligible players, how scouts look beyond statistics and highlight clips, what the NHL Scouting Combine adds to the process, and which types of players may be getting less public attention but could still make a real impact in the future. Topics include: • How to understand NHL Central Scouting rankings • Comparing NCAA, CHL, USHL, NTDP and international prospects • What college hockey reveals about draft-eligible players • Why production does not always tell the full story • Evaluating forwards, defensemen and goaltenders • What the NHL Combine adds to the process • Players and traits that may be under-discussed before draft day Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

People in this episode

Guest: Dave Gregory

Topics covered

• NHL Draft
• Central Scouting
• college hockey
• player evaluation
• prospect comparison
• NHL Scouting Combine

Keywords

• NHL Draft
• Central Scouting
• college hockey
• prospects
• NHL Combine
• evaluation process
• draft-eligible players

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NHL Central Scouting, NCAA, CHL, USHL, NTDP

Places: NHL

More episodes of USCHO Weekend Review

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• 2026 NHL Draft Preview: Guy Gadowsky on Gavin McKenna's development at Penn State · June 24, 2026 · 13 min

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