2026 NHL Draft Diary: Keaton Verhoeff

Keaton Verhoeff of the University of North Dakota in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference will file a draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2026 NHL Draft. The 17-year-old freshman defenseman (6-foot-3, 208 pounds), who was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, is No. 6 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. The third-youngest player in men's college hockey had 20 points (six goals, 14 assists), 43 blocked shots and 69 shots on goal in 36 games. He had 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 63 games with Victoria of the Western Hockey League in 2024-25, scoring the third-most goals by a defenseman age 16 or younger in WHL history. Verhoeff filed his June entry after his participation in the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo.

Hello hockey fans.

I just got done with my week here at the NHL Scouting Combine. It was really fun getting to know all the teams. You talk to scouts and other people throughout the year, and kind of get to know them a bit, but to kind of meet the full staff and full management, the GMs and stuff like that, that was pretty cool.

I met with 18 teams during the few days of interviewing. I got a couple random questions. One of the teams asked me what would happen if I went into Tim Hortons and paid extra for cheese on a BLT sandwich, but when I left the store and opened my order, there was no cheese. Would I go back in and complain? Or would I just walk away?

I also was asked what kind of animal I was on the ice, and off the ice. For that one, I said off the ice I was a deer, someone that likes to be around guys and hang out in groups, and pretty happy all the time. And then on the ice I said alligator, someone that's kind of sitting underneath the water and calm until it's time to attack and time to battle, and then jumps out and is pretty aggressive.

I also went to dinner with two teams, the Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks. Those were fun. It was good getting all those guys in a little bit of a more casual setting.

We had the Vo2 bike test Friday. Plain and simple, that's just hard. I tried a couple things like that that are similar, and it's definitely a battle, but it's cool to come out and do it. It's the NHL combine, and the Vo2 is a staple of it, I'd say. So doing that and being involved and being a part of that was pretty cool.

The big testing day was Saturday, but I slept pretty well Friday night. Me and my roommate here, Adam Valentini, watched the NBA Finals game, then I slept pretty good. I was excited, ready to get going. I'm pretty confident in my physical abilities. I believe that I put the work in off the ice. Still so much to go, and so much room for improvement, but I was excited to be out there competing with myself, competing with my peers. It was fun.

The Wingate bike test was a tough one. That's pretty much a 30 second race until you puke. You're going as hard as you can until you don't have any more. All the tests are tough, they're all fun, but the bikes are probably the hardest ones.

Next for me is a trip to Toronto to visit with the Maple Leafs staff and get to know those folks a little more and a little better. Then a few of us are going to Las Vegas for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. That should be super exciting, super fun. I live near Edmonton, so we've been lucky enough the past couple years to go to some Stanley Cup Final games with them being in Edmonton. But to go to Vegas and experience this with some of the guys that I've met here and guys that I've known for a long time too, is going to be super exciting. Definitely looking forward to that experience. Being a part of that culture and being part of that rink and that atmosphere is going to be pretty sweet.

Then I'll head home to get ready for the draft. I'll spend as much time as I can with my family, and get right back training. Back in the gym, get on the ice, get ready to come back to Buffalo for the draft, and eventually an NHL development camp.

I think that's the most important part, especially being away for a lot of the year at school, is being home with my family and seeing them and hanging out with them. Super excited to get back home and get back to work and kind of prepare myself for what's to come.

That's it for this month. Thanks for reading.