Who will be the first center picked at the 2026 draft?

We’re less than a month away from the 2026 NHL Draft, with many people excited to see which of their teams take in the opening round in Buffalo.

While everyone has wingers Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg going 1-2 in this year’s draft, the debate about which center will hear their name called first is ongoing. Daily Faceoff draft expert Steven Ellis has Brantford Bulldogs center Caleb Malhotra and Djurgardens middleman Viggo Björck as the top two centers available in the draft. Many suspect that Malhotra might be the first taken, as the Vancouver Canucks, for whom Caleb’s father, Manny, works, might be interested in taking him third overall. However, Björck might leapfrog him if Malhotra falls out of the top three.

On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Ellis joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Steve Peters to explain who he thinks will be the first centerman to be taken in this year’s draft.

Steven Ellis: I think there’s a very good argument for Viggo Björck to go number one among centermen. You look at Maholtra, he’s got some good size, 6’1″. He’s a tough player to play against. He’s very smart, very good way two-way player. The fact is, he played on one of the best teams in the CHL…but the one thing we see from him every single night, no matter what happens, he’s typically one of the best players out there. That’s pretty important for a draft-eligible prospect, especially a guy who was playing in the BCHL last year.

For him to go out there and have the season he’s had this year was extremely impressive. He was outperforming guys like Jett Luchanko, Jake O’Brien, NHL prospects, guys that were drafted really high.

I think the one thing that scouts are really getting excited about Björck, though, is he might be the most fearless center in this draft, and he’s only 5’9″. He’s one of those 5’9″ guys that I don’t think’s actually gonna have a hard time making the jump up to the NHL. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vancouver takes him at number three. I think Maholtra’s probably the favorite, for sure, but when you look at Björk, number one center already playing against men in the top Swedish league….I think that’s a guy that’s definitely in that conversation.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…