2026 NHL Draft Profile: Arguably the most bang for your buck in the late rounds. Matias Vanhanen — blue chip producer.

The Finnish winger might be the most underdiscussed of the draft.

You won’t find this left winger on every draft list. The highest he’s been ranked is #34 by Craig Button at TSN. Part of the reason is because he’s an overager (although barely: his September 11, 2007 birthdate made him only a week away from being eligible for this year’s draft as a first timer). So today’s profile is more about Round 4 and beyond. To that end, there’s a lot to like.

Matias Vanhanen

• Position: LW

• Profile: 5’11, 176lbs

• League: WHL (Everett Silvertips)

• Stats: 21 goals, 66 assists, 87 points (62 games)

• Player Class: Specialist

• Player Type: Pillar of Support, Efficient Attacker

Vanhanen has one of the more impressive resumes you’ll find for a player slated to go beyond the second round. Not only has he played in a man’s league (the Liiga; briefly), but he didn’t skip a beat making the transition to North American hockey. His eye-popping point totals would be one thing. But his production has been fantastic on the international stage as well. This is not a player to spotlight simply because he’s Finnish. He’s just a skilled player, and that includes 24 points in 18 playoff games for a Silvertips squad that went to the Memorial Cup. The numbers speak for themselves. As does his talent.

Vanhanen is a very meat and potatoes scoring forward. And I mean that in a good way. He has a good read of the ice not just as a threat with his hands, but as a wheelhouse passer. Despite his size, he has no problem working around and in front of the net, and has just enough agility to play with translatable pace. He’s also responsible in his own end. I’m actually kind of shocked he’s considered such an afterthought. On an Everett team stacked with talent — Carter Bear (Detroit), Julius Miettinen (Seattle), and next year’s golden boy Landon Dupont¹ — he led everyone in points (!). Yes, he’s an overager, but except for Dupont, he’s younger than Bear and Miettinen.

Keep in mind, he was functionally a point per game player for the U18 and U20 World Junior squads for Team Finland. He had three points in four games for Team Finland in last year’s Glinka Gretzky Cup, and eight points in five games in this year’s Memorial Cup. Only reason he stopped is because Kitchener was a freight train².

At this point, you’re probably wondering why Vanhanen isn’t a bigger name in this draft. A few reasons. Close to the cutoff or not, overagers will always have a harder time drawing interest from teams who don’t want to feel like they missed anything the first time. Sure, there are exceptions. Andrew Shaw and Tanner Pearson were overagers. But for the most part, it’s hard for 30-plus teams to miss all seven rounds. There’s also the size issue. It’s unlikely he’ll become that much bigger, especially as an older prospect, and he doesn’t have the kind of speed or agility you would prefer in a smaller forward. Then there’s the Dupont factor. Dupont is not a generational prospect (Matthew Schaefer just beat him for that title), but he is a very very good one, and that stacked team makes it hard to assess player production. Think back to that NTDP team in 2019, where players like Cam York, Alex Turcotte, Henry Thrun, and John Beecher got more shine from playing with Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, and Matt Boldy (good god what a team). This gives Vahanen that awkward, low floor, low ceiling type profile that tends to be the kiss of death for any drafting team.

Do I buy all of that? Not really. Again, he was productive on the international stage too. But it’s not without merit. At the same time, I have zero problem with Dallas taking a flyer on a talented, super productive left winger in rounds six and seven. He would instantly become Dallas’ third best forward prospect behind Emil Hemming and Cameron Schmidt. And unlike those two, he plays a position the Stars lack right now. Why not?

1. One of only nine players to ever be granted exceptional status, having been allowed to play in the CHL as a 15-year old.

2. Thanks to Jussi Ahokas. If there’s any justice in this North American world, Ahokas would be a serious candidate for a head coach in the near future, as the Rangers played with some of the best team chemistry I’ve ever seen.