Ruck twins discuss futures in League on 'NHL Draft Class'

The 2026 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics is taking place this week at KeyBank Center and LECOM HarborCenter in Buffalo. The combine will allow NHL teams an opportunity to conduct interviews and provide physical and medical assessments of the top prospects eligible for the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft. NHL.com will bring you all the sights and stories.

There's no simple way to tell apart twins Markus and Liam Ruck of Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League, but the 18-year-olds joined the "NHL Draft Class" podcast to help clear things up.

"I think on the ice I'm more of a shoot-first guy, and Markus is more of a pass-first guy," Liam said. "I think there's a lot more similarities than differences between us."

Indeed. Markus, No. 23 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, was the WHL's leading scorer this season with 108 points (21 goals, 87 assists) in 68 regular-season games. Liam, No. 20 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, was second with 104 points (45 goals, 59 assists) in 68 games.

The two prospects, who each could be chosen in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, discussed several other topics on the show, including how their specific roles came to be. They talked about the areas of their game that need to improve, which twin has the more difficult job and, of course, the impact of former NHL forwards and twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks. 

The twins are from Osoyoos, British Columbia, a 4 1/2-hour drive east from Vancouver. 

"I think we had some (Sedin) jerseys or shirts, so we wore those around the house," Markus said. "Obviously, we look up to those two. They're obviously really special players and with us being twins, and them being twins, it's pretty cool seeing what they did."

Each player has concluded the interviewing stage of the 2026 NHL Draft Combine and is looking forward to the testing on Friday and Saturday. Liam, a right-handed right wing, had 25 club interviews and Markus, a left-handed center, had 20. 

The podcast is free, and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms, including iTunes and Spotify. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.