Early Scouting Reports Highlight Heavyweights for 2027 No. 1 Pick
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From NCAA newcomers to KHL phenoms, the race for the top spot in the 2027 NHL Draft is already taking shape.
While the current NHL season is the primary focus for most, scouting for the 2027 NHL Draft is already underway. As Sportsnet first reported, analysis from Jason Bukala of The Pro Hockey Group indicates that several priority players are emerging as early candidates for the first overall selection.
Landon DuPont, a 6-foot, 192-pound right-shot defenseman and former Everett Silvertips player, is currently the consensus pre-season top prospect. Now playing for the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA, DuPont is described as a power play quarterback and transitional defender who recorded 45G-126A and was plus-117 across 155 games with the Silvertips.
Challenging DuPont's status is Nazar Privalov, a 6-foot-4, 227-pound forward with CSKA Moskow. Sportsnet reports that Privalov, who recorded 30G-19A in 51 junior games (MHL) last season, is projected to play most of the year in the KHL.
Other high-ceiling prospects being tracked include:
* **Milan Sundstrom**: A 6-foot-2, 207-pound center for MODO in Sweden, who recently recorded 2G-4A in five games at the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. * **Sergei Skvortsov**: A 6-foot-1, 165-pound dynamic winger for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL who tallied 19G-24A in the MHL regular season last year. * **Dima Zhilkin**: A 5-foot-10, 185-pound Saginaw Spirit winger in the OHL who produced 36G-39A in 59 regular season games and is a 2027 Michigan commit.
Bukala notes that while DuPont is currently the favorite, the combination of size and skill provided by players like Privalov makes the race for the top spot a genuine competition.