2026 NHL Draft Profile | Zach Olsen, Saskatoon Blades
From the outside, Zach Olsen‘s rise through the NHL Draft ranks might have some scratching their heads.
The bare stats don’t necessarily fly off the page- but as Olsen’s coaches, teammates and opponents will tell you, goals and assists don’t tell the full story.
In fact, in a recent poll by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, the Saskatoon Blades winger was voted the most underrated player in the 2026 NHL Draft class by his peers.
“He’s always moving,” Blades star and fellow draft-eligible forward Cooper Williams said. “He’s big and he’s strong, and when you add his speed to it, he’s hard to stop in puck battles, and he’s just always competing as hard as he can.”
New at @TheAthletic: The NHL Draft player poll.
I surveyed 65 of the top prospects in the 2026 class. The results, packed with quotes and insight: https://t.co/zaGrgTgq6l pic.twitter.com/DvlLYptxGa
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) June 16, 2026
In a sophomore season that saw him switch from centre to right wing, Olsen posted 18 goals (including three game-winners) and 16 assists for 34 points in 57 regular-season games, along with a team-leading 79 penalty minutes.
Blades Head Coach Dan DaSilva sees shades of gritty Washington Capitals alternate captain and Stanley Cup champion Tom Wilson in the youngster’s game.
“He’s such a presence when he’s on the ice. The opponent knows when Tom Wilson is on the ice, and our opponents know when Zach’s out there, ” DaSilva explained. “He can play up and down your lineup. He can play a fourth-line checking role, where you need someone to just be responsible defensively, bring energy, and get on the forecheck, and then he can also play in the top six, on your top line, where he’s on the forecheck, creating time and space for his teammates, getting them the puck and getting open and getting to the net, and he can finish really well. He’s really a complementary player to anyone he’s playing with.”
Clocking in at 6-foot-1.25 and 207 pounds, Olsen prides himself on the work he’s put in to round out his 200-foot game without losing his sandpaper approach.
“I definitely like to get gritty and get dirty,” Olsen added. “I like to go to the dirty areas, go to the corners, get to the net front, and kind of just try to get under people’s skin. I know my physicality, definitely, is a huge part of my game, and I know in the NHL there are lots of physical guys out there, so I think it’ll translate well.”
One, two, three, four, Zach Olsen likes to score!@BladesHockey | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/1IeoujAMXi
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 21, 2026
The Calgary, Alta. product tacked on another six points (2G-4A) in 10 playoff games to upset the Edmonton Oil Kings before falling to the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Prince Albert Raiders and got the call to Team Canada for the first time shortly afterwards.
Olsen notched a pair of goals in five games for Canada at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship, scored for Team East at the 2026 WHL Prospects Game and has raised his NHL Central Scouting ranking to 36th among all North American skaters.
He placed in the top 20 in five of 15 tests at the 2026 NHL Combine, including a fifth-place finish in anaerobic fitness- peak power output (watts/kg).
And he’s doing this while managing additional health factors.
Olsen was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was in the second grade.
“I got super, super sick,” Olsen said. “My parents noticed even weeks before that, that something was going on with me. I wasn’t acting like myself. I was drinking lots and lots of water, going to the bathroom a lot, and so one day, my mom decided that it’d be best if we’d take me to the Children’s Hospital. They ended up running some tests and found out that I have Type 1 diabetes. So it was definitely scary at first, kind of learning what diabetes is, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to play hockey.”
Like many young athletes who’ve faced a similar diagnosis, Olsen dialled into Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi’s journey.
He leapt back into elite hockey and even captured a CSSHL U18 Championship with Calgary’s Edge School before making the jump to the WHL.
Now, he’s part of a wave of aspiring professionals carrying the torch.
Olsen and his Blades teammate, Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Evan Gardner, have advocated for diabetes awareness in Saskatoon and met with local schoolkids to share more about the condition and how it’s simply become a part of their game day routines.
“(It) feels like I’ve had it my entire life, so it’s kind of just another thing I do,” Olsen shrugged. “Got to make sure my blood sugar is right, make sure I’m eating right, just little things like that.
(I) just want to help show other younger kids, maybe who are getting diagnosed and they don’t know what it is and if they can play, that it’s not over and there’s always more, and you can keep doing what you do.”
That leadership extends to the Saskatoon locker room, where DaSilva says Olsen has established himself as a young man that his teammates look up to.
“He’s a guy that is beloved by his teammates,” DaSilva added. “He’s a guy that can hold court and everyone’s kind of drawn to. He’s just got that, you know, great positive energy. He’s just emerged as a leader amongst the younger guys, but now, obviously, with some of our older players departing this year, we’re going to need guys to step up, and we’ll definitely be looking to Zach to do that.”
Olsen, along with teammates Williams and defenceman Brayden Klimpke, will be glued to the draft boards this weekend.
Round 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft begins on Friday, June 26, at 5:00 p.m. MT, with Rounds 2-7 running the following day.
