Could high-scoring defender Tommy Bleyl be the 2026 NHL Draft’s top steal?

Jun 17, 2026, 10:30 EDTUpdated: Jun 17, 2026, 09:55 EDT

Credit: Tommy Bleyl (Photo by Josh Kim / CHL)

When you play for the Gardiner MacDougall-run Moncton Wildcats, expectations are high.

The club won the 2025 QMJHL championship, after all. And with MacDougall back in charge, the team looked destined to challenge for the title yet again. Moncton ultimately lost in the final to Chicoutimi, but it was a valiant effort, regardless.

And a big reason for the team’s success was the play of first-year QMJHLer Tommy Bleyl. The Schenectady, N.Y., native finished 2025-26 with 13 goals and 81 points during the regular season and another 28 points in 21 playoff outings. That effort earned Bleyl CHL rookie of the year honors earlier this week after already taking home the Emile Bouchard Trophy as the QMJHL defenseman of the year.

Suddenly, a guy who fell short of a point-per-game average playing prep school hockey the previous two years found himself as the CHL’s top rookie. Bleyl wasn’t drafted to the QMJHL and was only an eighth-round pick in the USHL. Moncton signed Bleyl last summer in a deal that mostly went under the radar. Little did anyone know he’d go on to be one of the most productive defensemen in all of major junior right out of the gate.

“Seriously, nobody saw this rise coming,” said an Albany-based scout who followed Bleyl throughout his minor hockey journey. “He was good, but not special. What you saw from him this year in the Q was special.”

The glow-up even surprised Bleyl.

“I didn’t see this coming,” Bleyl said Monday during the 2026 CHL Awards in Toronto. “But throughout the season, it slowly became more and more of a possibility. It took a ton of help. Everybody (on and off the ice), they contributed greatly to it, and it means a ton.”

It was quite the rise for Bleyl, who could go in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft. The two-way, offensive defender looks like a young Jamie Drysdale with the way he effectively gets the puck into dangerous areas so frequently. Bleyl is one of the top skating defenders in the draft and boasts high-end shooting and passing mechanics. By all accounts, Bleyl has all the makings of an offensive defenseman at the next level. Not every scout is convinced, given his 5-foot-11, 170-pound stature. He’s definitely undersized, and he doesn’t engage physically all too often.

But, man. That skating. The offense. You wrap that altogether and you’ve got one of the most intriguing skill bases of any prospect.

Bleyl is projected to go somewhere either late in the first round or early in the second. While being a bit smaller won’t help his case, his true offensive dominance and hockey sense make him one of the more skilled blueliners available this year. Sure, Bleyl had some excellent teammates like Caleb Desnoyers to work with. But you don’t get 81 points relying on others to do the work – Bleyl was as big a play-driver as you’ll find in the CHL this year. He does that by combining his fluid, quick footwork to blow past opponents while rarely losing possession of the puck. His hockey sense is remarkable – it feels like he’s always beating guys 1-on-1, regardless of size.

“He’s so f–––––– elusive,” said one scout. “He escapes danger so effectively. When you watch him in prep a year ago, he was much more timid. Now, he’s trying to make things happen while playing to his strengths… At this point, it feels like the sky’s the limit.”

Bleyl credits playing under MacDougall as a big reason for his success this year.

“I think his best quality as a coach is bringing out kids’ competitive factors,” Bleyl said. “I’m not saying I’m not a competitive person, but he always found ways to light fires under our team and me as a person if we ever needed it throughout a game, just to get us going.”

Besides Drysdale, who had a breakout season with the Philadelphia Flyers, another good comparable for Bleyl is Shayne Gostisbehere. Despite being an undersized defender, he just registered six points in the Stanley Cup Final with the Carolina Hurricanes.

“It’s easy to discount defenders for being smaller, and that’ll happen with Bleyl, too,” said one scout. “But five years down the line, teams are going to wish they took him, like many teams are kicking themselves about the Hutson brothers.”

Bleyl knows he needs to get stronger, and it’s something he said he’s working on. He’ll have a perfect opportunity to develop that trait when he returns to Moncton, where he’ll likely play 24-plus minutes a night in a leader role next season. That decision to stay in junior as opposed to jumping to Michigan State University is something many scouts love because he’ll likely be one of the best CHL defenders next year. Had Bleyl gone to MSU, he’d likely play much deeper in the lineup and miss out on the critical ice time he still needs at a young age.

Scouts have worried that Bleyl plays a bit too conservatively in his zone. That could be attributed to his lack of muscle and a potential worry of getting beat physically. But Bleyl knows that, and it’s something he plans on continuing to work on. Obviously, next-level pro players will give you even less time to work with, and Bleyl will need to be able to adjust on the fly. If he can manage that, he’ll be fine.

Bleyl always believed in himself. Now, we’ll see which team really believes in him. Bleyl talked to 30 teams at the NHL Draft Combine earlier this month – only Adam Valentini chatted with more. There’s some serious interest surrounding Bleyl and his long-term future.

“It’s really important to go into your draft here with a lot of confidence and expectations for yourself,” Bleyl said. “And I think I was able to do that and then exceed those expectations”

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