The Toronto Maple Leafs have the first overall pick in the upcoming 2026 NHL draft, and that will be the highlight of the occasion. Along with that No. 1 selection, Toronto also has the 60th pick in the draft, which will come in the second round.
This 60th overall pick comes from Toronto’s Scott Laughton trade to the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings had the Buffalo Sabres’ second-round pick from previous deals. And with the Sabres’ elimination in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Maple Leafs fall to the 60th pick.
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Looking at the different mock drafts and opinions of draft experts, there are a number of players that are projected to be selected around the 60th selection.
One of those players is left winger Matias Vanhanen, who is ranked 60th in the consolidated rankings by eliteprospects.com.
Vanhanen is coming off an excellent first year in the WHL with the Everett Silvertips. The Finnish 18-year-old was a top performer for the Silvertips all season long.
In the WHL regular season, he led his team in assists (66) and points (87). In addition to that production, he provided 21 goals on the year, too, tied for fourth on the team in that category. He scored more points than teammates Carter Bear, who was selected 13th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2025, and projected No. 1 pick for 2027, defenseman Landon DuPont.
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Vanhanen’s scoring touch didn’t stop in the regular season. In the WHL playoffs, he finished with 24 points in 18 contests, finishing second on the team in scoring for the post-season, and in goals with 12 tallies.
He was a big piece to Everett winning its first-ever Ed Chynoweth Cup as champions of the WHL, along with the franchise’s first trip to the Memorial Cup, which was in Kelowna, B.C., this year.
Vanhanen was strong yet again at the Memorial Cup, finishing second in the tournament in scoring with four goals and four assists for eight points in five games for the Silvertips.
The Silvertips weren’t able to lift the holy grail above their heads, but they did advance to the final against the Kitchener Rangers, losing 6-2 in that contest.
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Nonetheless, Vanhanen has proven to be one of the best players on a very successful team this past year, who finished atop the regular-season standings of the WHL, playoff champions, and Memorial Cup finalists.
With that, he also put up six assists in seven games at the 2026 World Junior Championship for a Finland team that finished fourth in the competition.
Before joining the Silvertips last season, Vanhanen played junior hockey in Finland, representing HIFK’s U-20 team. In 42 games in the 2024-25 campaign, Vanhanen scored 17 goals and 47 points. He also made five appearances for HIFK in Liiga, but didn’t register a point among the pros.
Vanhanen is listed at 5-foot-11 by NHL Central Scouting and has been labelled as an excellent playmaker.
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