Red Wings 2026 Draft Guide: Top 50 Targets, Larkin Impact & More – Hockey Writers – Detroit Red Wings

Heading into the 2026 NHL Draft, the Detroit Red Wings’ amateur scouting team will have their work cut out for them. Detroit’s first round pick now belongs to St. Louis Blues, leaving the team with six picks outside of the opening round to bolster their organization’s depth:

• Number 47
• Number 79
• Number 143
• Number 175
• Number 196
• Number 207

Detroit already has a deep line of prospects – the goal really is to add the best players available and develop the overall talent pool. This, of course, may be difficult to do without a first-round pick, but there is value to be had, nonetheless. All drafts have recent steals. And a modified draft strategy can bring benefits in this regard.

So, with a few days to go, let’s take a look at some draft targets that could improve Detroit’s pipeline.

Red Wings 2026 Draft Board

Instead of focusing on Detroit’s individual draft picks, the focus will be on the draft’s main board — 50 prospects who would be a good fit for the organization. Note that these are not the 50 best prospects. Instead, these players are the best fit for Detroit’s draft positions based on research, tracking, live viewing, and tape analysis.

How does this work? If a player is drafted, remove him from the list. And when it’s Detroit’s turn to pick, the top player left on the roster represents a worthy option.

Of course, many prospects with first-round grades are left out. There is no chance of Gavin McKenna falling to the Red Wings. Instead, we’ll start the list with players who are typically in the 25-45 range and could be available if the Red Wings pick first at No. 47. Let’s go in.

1. LW Niklas Aaram-Olsen
2. C/RW Simas Ignatavičius
3. William Hakansson
4. LD Xavier Villeneuve
5. RD Mans Gudmundsson
6. RW Nikita Klepov
7. RW Mathias Preston
8. LW JP Hurlbert
9. LW Matias Vanhanen
10. C Adam Valentini
11. LW Adam Nemec
12. RW Jonas Lagerberg Hoen
13. LW Pierce Mbuyi
14. C Egor Shilov
15. C Tomas Chrenko
16. LD Ben Macbeath
17. RD Axel Elofsson
18. C Dayne Beuker
19. RD Brek Liske
20. RW Alex Kostov
21. LW Nikita Ovcharov
22. C Adam Andersson
23. C Viktor Fedorov
24. G Martin Psohlavec
25. LD Ola Palme
26. LW Victor Plante
27. C Cooper Williams
28. RW Zach Olsen
29. G Michal Orsulak
30. RW Blake Zielinski
31. LW Jean-Christoph Lemieux
32. C Beckham Edwards
33. C/RW Ludvig Andersson
34. C Jakub Frolo
35. RW Nils Bartholdsson
36. LW Evan Jardine
37. LD Landon Nycz
38. C Max Isaksson
39. RD Brian McFadden
40. C Andrei Bykov
41. LD Axel Brøngel-Larsson
42. C Joe Erickson
43. C Landon Hafele
44. G Yegor Rybkin
45. G Tobias Tvrznik
46. C William Manchuso
47. C Kent Sauer
48. LD Jonas Kemps
49. RD Cole Tuminaro
50. LW Parker Trottier