Even hockey consumers who don’t pay attention to prospects already know Gavin McKenna’s name. The 17-year-old phenom has been recognized as the top prize of the 2026 NHL Draft for a long time now—he’s an immensely gifted talent.
Naturally, some fans are hoping the Philadelphia Flyers earn the No. 1 pick to select McKenna, granting them two generational young players. Well, not to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s not happening. After upgrading in the 2025 offseason, the Flyers aren’t going to be in that mix.
But don’t fret. Viggo Björck might be within the Flyers’ grasp, and there’s one thing that differentiates him from McKenna: he’s a center.
Björck Might Be the Best Center of the 2026 NHL Draft
Let’s set the scene. In 2023–24, Björck registered 98 points across 36 games in Sweden’s J18 Regional. Among 15-year-old players with double-digit games played, his 2.72 points per game are the most ever recorded. Beating out recent top-10 picks such as Alexander Holtz, Alexander Nylander, Anton Frondell, and Lucas Raymond, he firmly established himself as a top name for the 2026 NHL Draft two years before it was set to take place.
Then, Björck had one of the highest-scoring seasons in J20 Nationell history. Despite being one of the youngest players in Sweden’s best junior league, he finished atop the 2024–25 scoring leaderboard—and fifth all-time—with 74 points in 42 games. The only other draft-minus-one prospects to reach 1.60 points per game across double-digit contests are Ivar Stenberg (1.96; top-three projected pick in 2026) and Leo Carlsson (1.93; second-overall pick in 2023).
Briefly getting to his game, Björck has elite vision. The passing ability is off the charts, which is backed up by the numbers—last season, his assist-per-game rate (1.12) beat out the point-per-game rate of 2025 second-round picks Milton Gästrin and Eric Nilson. The way Björck sees the ice is high-end, especially for someone coming off their age-16 campaign.
D-1 prospects with 1.1+ assists per game across 10+ games in J20 Nationell history:
Leo Carlsson (2021-22)
Viggo Bjorck (2024-25)— Justin Giampietro (@justingiam) July 10, 2025
Better yet, Björck is primarily a center. For the upcoming class, my way-too-early top three prospects are McKenna, Keaton Verhoeff, and Stenberg. But none of them are centers—it may be Björck’s title to lose.
McKenna Is Out of Reach
For a quick introduction, McKenna is in the Connor Bedard and Matvei Michkov tier of prospects. In other words, generational. He outclassed Bedard’s draft-minus-one Western Hockey League (WHL) season with 129 points in 56 games—an otherworldly feat (42.8% more productive on a per-game basis). Dominant on the international stage, too, this highly intelligent and skilled forward is destined for superstardom at the NHL level.
However, I am in agreement with general manager Daniel Brière—last season was rock bottom for the Flyers. With an upgraded roster and coaching staff, they likely won’t have the fourth-worst record in the league again. Even if they did, that spot only gives them 9.5% odds of landing the first-overall pick. McKenna is, at best, a dream.
Sure, the New York Islanders jumped up nine spots via the lottery to select Matthew Schaefer at the 2025 NHL Draft. While that’s always a factor, it’s not something to bet on. Besides, a bottom-11 finish is a prerequisite for a top-pick lottery boost to be on the table—the Flyers’ ceiling is higher than that.
So, McKenna might be out of the Orange and Black’s range. On the flip side, Björck could end up sliding, the way I see it.
Björck Might Be within Reach
Before last season began, Björck was considered by many as the top option after McKenna. He’s been overtaken by Verhoeff and Stenberg in the eyes of many, sitting right around fifth on some rankings I’ve seen. But he might not even get selected there, regardless of if he has another excellent showing in 2025–26. The reason: he happens to be 5-foot-9.
Related: Gavin McKenna and Viggo Björck Lead Historic 2026 NHL Draft Class
As a very small center who also dabbles in some playing time on the wing, there will be scouts who view him as the latter. Lacking elite speed, as well, Björck may be unjustly faded. Winger Victor Eklund had one of the best seasons in HockeyAllsvenskan history, Sweden’s second-tier pro league, but fell to 16th overall at the 2025 NHL Draft. Objectively, his biggest crime was standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 169 pounds.
The Flyers would still have to finish toward the basement in their next campaign to be in the Björck conversation. However, there can be some wiggle room. This is all speculation on my behalf, but given his profile, Björck could be available at eighth overall or perhaps even later. Though I’m a bit more optimistic on Philadelphia’s roster than the public is, a bottom-eight finish is reasonable.
He’s not the big, physical top-line center many fans crave, but Björck has superstar upside. With the Orange and Black only poised to improve as seasons pass, opportunities to draft centers of this caliber are waning. If they can land this undersized Swede in next June’s class, their future will be even brighter.
Stats courtesy of QuantHockey
