2026 SICHL Early Mock Draft: Round One

Since we devote a large amount of chat to talking about the draft and laughing at Pronman's he-big takes, I thought it might be fun to do a mock draft before the NHL draft to see how it compares. I needed some different (better) perspectives, so I managed to con the esteemed Mr. Burch and the incomparable Mr. Graves into helping me with this endeavor.

We determined would be Gary, myself, Matt in order to avoid picking for our own franchises and used a lottery simulator to come up with the draft order. As you'll see, Evil Eric's tentacles reach even as far as simulating a simulation league lottery. This is what we came up with (so far - Round Two to be added soon):

ROUND ONE

1) OKANAGAN SUN DEVILS (from the Las Vegas Aces) - W1 Ivar Stenberg (Gary) "Actually this is an easy one for me to pick on behalf of Ryan. He has his cornerstone centre in Celebrini. Going to draft Ivar Stenberg to be that top line winger.ctually this is an easy one for me to pick on behalf of Ryan. He has his cornerstone centre in Celebrini. Going to draft Ivar Stenberg to be that top line winger."

2) ST. LOUIS SPARTANS - W2 Gavin McKenna (Ryan) "Considering his prospect depth at D and C this seems like a no brainer bet on talent."

3) NOVA SCOTIA SCHOONERS - D1 Carson Carels (Matt) "High possibility of Eric using this pick as trade bait, but as far as prospects go he could use a bit of everything. I think we could see Carson Carels go here."

4) OTTAWA SLAMMERS - D2 Chase Reid (Gary) "With Ottawa, he is in a similar boat so I think he will build out with Wolf as his future Starter. So Pat will select RHD Chase Reid from the Soo!"

5) STOCKHOLM COUGARS - C1 Caleb Malhotra (Ryan) "Tom is fairly set on back end prospects, so Caleb seems like an easy pick and maybe a steal at 5."

6) OKANAGAN SUN DEVILS - C2 Viggo Bjork (Matt) "While I think OKA needs some D depth, I think maybe a swing to round out team up the middle might be the choice here. So, center Viggo Bjorck could be Macklin's potential understudy."

7) TORONTO REX - D3 Keaton Verhoeff (Gary) "Now this is an easy one for me as Taran needs D. RHD Keaton Verhoeff picked by the Rex at 7!"

8) PHILADELPHIA FIRE ANTS - D4 Albert Smits (Ryan) "With a huge dearth of notable D in the pipeline, but no immediate need for a pp QB Smits seems like the pick here over Rudolph."

9) REYKJAVIK RIDERS - C3 Tynan Lawrence (Matt) "Well Syl is in luck because his first overall pick from the pre-mock draft is still available. Tynan Lawrence, come on down!"

10) SEATTLE GRUNGE - D5 Daxon Rudolph (Gary) "The Grunge will take D Daxon Rudolph with the 9th selection. I know Phil wants to package to move up and clearly was unable to ?."

11) SEATTLE GRUNGE (from the Shamrocks from the Gators) - W3 Wyatt Cullen (Ryan) "Phil probably wants something up front after taking Rudolph, and Cullen seems to be quite liked in this range."

12) REGINA BISONS - D6 Malte Gustafsson (Matt) "I feel like Geoff is a Malte Gustafsson man."

13) VANCOUVER VIPERS - C4 Oliver Suvanto (Gary) "The Vipers go with Oliver Suvanto here at 13."

14) WHITEHORSE HUSKIES - W4 Ethan Belchetz (Ryan) "I would love to go D with Lin still on the board here and his lack of D in the pipeline, but I can only handle Don complaining about one smallboi D's sim ratings so he'll go Belchetz for all our sakes."

15) BANFF ROCKIES (from the Shamrocks) - W5 Elton Hermansson (Matt) "Well I'm going to bet on history here, in that Ian will snipe me just before I select, so how about a bit of Elton Hermansson."

16) BRNO BARONS - W6 Nikita Klepov (Gary) "Well Bob will go with winger Nikita Klepov from Saginaw at Pick #16."

17) VANCOUVER ISLAND NORSEMENSESES - D7 Ryan Lin (Ryan) "Torn between needing to infuse some talent up front and taking a risk on Hurlbert or Nordmark and taking the clear best player left in Lin, but I can't see Mr Pragmatic letting the BPA fall any farther."

18) NIAGARA ICE - W7 Liam Ruck (Matt) "Ok so Liam Ruck plays for Medicine Hat. So...there we go lol."

19) CALGARY MUSTANGS - C5 Alexander Command (Gary) "I think Matt has to take Alex Command here and he will."

20) HAMBURG GLADIATORS - C6 Tomas Chrenko (Ryan) "Having been sniped of the sure fire middle 6 C he desperately craves, Mr Power Rankings is forced to go a bit off board with Tomas Chrenko."

21) PORTLAND BUCKAROOS - W8 Oscar Hemming (Matt) "Portland likes big forwards, and they have plenty to choose from here. Let's go Oscar Hemming."

22) EDMONTON SUPERSONICS - W9 J.P. Hurlbert (Gary) "Edmonton selects JP Hurlbert from the Blazers at 22!"

23) TORONTO REX (from the Tigers) - W10 Marcus Nordmark (Ryan) "His system is so loaded I think he probably moves this pick. If not let's say he takes a swing on a slightly risky Nordmark."

24) FREDERICTON EXPRESS - W11 Mathis Preston (Matt) "I think i know how mark drafts, and I think he'd take the enigmatic Mathis Preston here."

25) SEATTLE GRUNGE (from the Rockies) - W12 Adam Novotny (Gary) "Grunge gonna select winger Adam Novotny."

26) REYKJAVIK RIDERS (from the Colonials) - D8 Tommy Bleyl (Ryan) "I know Syl tends to like his big men up front in the first round, but as he seems to finally be restocking the back end I think he continues that again and goes with a more offensive but responsible Bleyl over Villeneuve to complement Hensler."

27) ST. LOUIS SPARTANS (from the Millionaires) - D9 Juho Piiparinen (Matt) "Spartans went exciting and frustrating with their first pick, so lets go predictable and boring: Juho Piiparinen."

28) ACADIA GRIZZLY BEARS (from the Revolution) - D10 Ben MacBeath (Gary) "I could see Guy going with Ben MacBeath here (Editor's Note: Gary could not be convinced to take the first Russian here)."

29) SEATTLE GRUNGE, YES FOR THE FOURTH TIME (from the Monarchs) - D11 Xavier Villeneuve (Ryan) "Makes sense to take a big swing with his 4th pick of the first round on all offense Villeneuve."

30) PHILADELPHIA FIRE ANTS (from the Grizzly Bears) - W13 Gleb Pugachyov (Matt) "Best name and possible BPA: Gleb Pugachyov."