Four future Bulldogs make preliminary 2026 NHL Draft rankings
Four players who are verbally committed to the Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey program for the future made NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary watch list for the 2026 NHL Draft, that was released Monday.
Two of the four are projected as possible second or third round draft picks, receiving B grades. Both are Duluth-area players who now wear red, white and blue with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program — Jackson Marthaler of Superior and Victor Plante of Hermantown.
Plante — a 5-foot-9.5, 163-pound winger — is the youngest brother of current Bulldogs Zam and Max Plante. Victor Plante leads the NTDP U-18 team in scoring through 11 games with three goals and five assists for eight points.
Marthaler — a 6-1.75, 198-pound defenseman — has one assist through 11 games.
Receiving ‘W’ grades as sixth or seventh round candidates were Shattuck St. Mary’s centermen Luke Puchner and Janesville Jets goaltender Kaenen Smith, a Duluth native now playing in the North American Hockey League as a 17-year-old.