2026 NHL Draft: Top five prospects from less traditional hockey countries

May 28, 2026, 10:30 EDTUpdated: May 27, 2026, 14:15 EDT

It’s always fun to look back at an NHL Draft and check all of the different flags listed.

In 2025, Canada led the way, with 85 players selected from a total of 224. USA was second with 52, while Sweden (30) was the only other team above 25. In total, representatives from 14 nations were drafted, including China’s Simon Wang (San Jose Sharks) and Croatia’s Bruno Idzan (Ottawa Senators).

The game is truly growing. While North Americans still dominate the NHL’s player participation, a total of 17 countries were represented in 2025-26. Slovenia is set to lose its lone NHLer, Anze Kopitar, with no realistic replacement in sight. But who knows? Maybe a new nation will have a reason to stay up extremely late to watch someone representing their flag next year.

This has become a fun exercise every draft class – finding players from smaller hockey countries. Of the five players listed below, only Hungary plays in the top division of the IIHF Men’s World Championship – and they’re one of the weaker teams. Ukraine is set to join the fun next year, but the others aren’t close to becoming top-level threats. One of them, in particular, doesn’t even play ice hockey.

So, let’s have some fun and look at five players from less traditional hockey markets looking to get selected in Buffalo from June 26-27:

Jaxon Cover, LW (Cayman Islands)

Number of players drafted from Cayman Islands: 0

Cover is one of the higher-profile prospects on this list. Born in Miami, Fla., Cover grew up in the Cayman Islands, where he focused his attention on inline hockey. It wasn’t until 2021-22 that he not only watched but took part in ice hockey for the first time. His natural talent took him to AAA hockey in just his second year of competition, and by 2024, he was a draft pick of one of the most prestigious junior hockey teams in the world, the London Knights.

That’s not your typical path to success. Most top prospects have spent their whole lives traveling across their respective countries playing in high-profile events. Yet, here’s Cover – a bubble first-round prospect – with about five years of ice hockey experience under his belt. Sure, he was a roller hockey star, but that sport isn’t a 1-to-1 translation. He spent last year playing prep U-18 hockey at St. Andrew’s College, but impressed enough during a short stint with London to earn a full-time roster spot this year. The speedy, strong, hard-working forward is as raw as they come, but scouts love the potential for him as a middle-six forward in the NHL. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go in the first round – what a story that would make.

Domán Kristóf Szongoth, C (Hungary)

Number of players drafted from Hungary: 4

It was hard to stand out on Hungary’s national team at the recent IIHF Men’s World Championship. But Szongoth – the youngest player on the team at 17 – was easily one of the top players every single night. I like him because he’s fearless, but he also knows when it’s better to trail back and look for a second opportunity. He plays a reliable two-way game and has a strong 6-foot-1, 198-pound base to work with. He doesn’t lose many physical battles in front of the net, and he absolutely punished opponents on a consistent basis in the Finnish U-20 league.

I have little belief Szongoth won’t get selected. And, hopefully, he’ll become the most effective – there have been four Hungarians selected in NHL history, but none of them ever made the NHL. Former Anaheim Ducks/Phoenix Coyotes forward Frank Banham was born in Calahoo, Alta., but would go on to represent Hungary internationally after spending enough time with Fehérvár AV19. So Szongoth has the potential to become the first true Hungarian to reach the NHL, and I really think he can make it happen. I truly believe his World Championship play opened some eyes.

Simas Ignatavicius, RW (Lithuania)

Number of players drafted from Lithuania: 2

We don’t typically see many prospects coming out of the top league in Switzerland. We see even fewer coming out of Lithuania – Darius Kasparaitis (fifth overall in 1992) and Dainius Zubrus (15th in 1996) are the only ones to have been selected previously. The pair combined for 2,156 career regular season NHL games, which is incredible to believe. Both played for Russia internationally during their primes, but Zubrus spent the final few years of his pro career captaining Lithuania at the World Championship level, with Kasparaitis even joining him in 2018.

Ignatavicius has the opportunity to keep the first-round streak alive. He’s a 6-foot-3 forward having a solid season in Switzerland’s top league and has been downright dominant internationally. Ignatavicius is so versatile, finding so many different ways to impact the play both with and without the puck. He’s good defensively, has a great shot release, has obvious muscle and is incredibly skilled, too. Is Ignatavicius notable because he’s a big dude playing pro hockey? Or is there something truly here? That’s something scouts need to figure out.

Alexander Karmanov, LHD (Moldova)

Number of players drafted from Moldova: 0

There has literally never been a bigger player to play high-level ice hockey. Listed as 7-foot-1 and 280 pounds by NHL Central Scouting, Karmanov is an absolute beast of a human being. Born in Chisinau, Moldova, Karmanov hopes to become the first countryman to be selected to the NHL and, hopefully, the first to play as well. Karmanov showed some promise in the GOJHL with the Brantford Titans, scoring three goals and totaling seven points, along with 68 penalty minutes, in 15 games. He got outmatched a bit more frequently with North Bay in the OHL, but it was hilarious watching smaller players go up to him and completely freak out. He also showed a lot more promise with the puck near the end of the season, too.

Karmanov won’t get drafted this year based on pure hockey talent alone. But an NHL team will absolutely select him on his size and look to mold that into something tangible. It’s worth noting that most scouts didn’t expect Zdeno Chára to ever get close to becoming an NHLer – he went on to become one of the greatest defenders of his generation. There’s still a long way for Karmanov to go to become an NHLer, but the team that selects him is unlikely to rush the Penn State commit. He’s a truly unique prospect, and one MANY teams have interest in.

Illia Shybinskyi, LW (Ukraine)

Number of players drafted from Ukraine: 30

Passed over a year ago, Shybinskyi has received some interest from scouts this season. The Guelph Storm forward had 44 points in 60 games in his first season in major junior. He has been productive at just about every level and was a leader on Ukraine’s U-20 Division IA World Junior team earlier this year. I really like Shybinskyi’s skill – he needs it to offset the fact he’s only 5-foot-10. He has a quick, accurate wrister, and he does a good job of keeping the puck on his stick and not getting pushed around. I could see a team betting on his talent with a seventh-round pick, but he’s definitely a long shot compared to some others on this list.

Another Ukrainian to watch is goaltender Alexander Levshyn, who put up some impressive performances in his first year with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars. He was passed over twice before, but he has a big 6-foot-3 frame and has shown he is capable of some huge performances. If either one of them gets selected, they’d become the first player selected out of Ukraine since Artur Cholach went 190th overall in 2021. A total of 30 NHLers have been selected from there, and just eight – most notably, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ruslan Fedotenko and Dmitri Khristich – have actually made it.

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