Brian McFadden is a top local 2026 NHL Draft prospect. (Brian Kelly/NEHJ)
Fall hockey isn’t always the best spot for NHL scouts to get a taste of what a player is. Games can lack structure. Come the middle of the fall, fewer players may be on the bench due to injuries or players having prior commitments.
Two players — Everett Baldwin (Providence, R.I.) and Grayden Robertson-Palmer — were taken in this year’s NHL Draft. Baldwin played for the Boston Little Bruins last fall, while Robertson-Palmer was a Neponset Valley River Rat. The year before, Cape Cod Whalers forward Ben Merrill (Hingham, Mass.) was the lone draft pick who played local fall hockey.
This fall, however, may be different.
Several prospects are playing New England fall hockey who I would put at a higher than 50 percent chance of getting drafted. A lot has to go right between now and next June, but early signs point to a relatively good year for local NHL Draft prospects.
There would have been even more names on this list, but players like David Bosco (Winchester, Mass.), Jack Torr and Brady Murnane skipped town for junior hockey. Bosco (Belmont Hill, Boston Junior Eagles) and Torr (East Coast Militia, Governor’s Academy) are in the USHL, while Murnane (Islanders Hockey Club East, Winchendon) is in the OHL.
Let’s dive in.