2026 NHL Draft Profile | Mathis Preston, Vancouver Giants

Mathis Preston has been known to dazzle (or irritate) his opponents with his flash and speed.

Not just on the ice, but also on the track.

The Vancouver Giants forward was also a talented BMX racer as a kid, where he got to unleash his daredevil nature on dirt tracks dotted with jumps, rollers and steep turns.

Racing is actually where he picked up his signature number, 96.

“I started BMX when I was really young, just racing against my brother for fun,” Preston recalled. “Then we started to get into competitions as we got a little bit older.

I kind of wasn’t scared of getting hurt or getting injured or anything. Kind of like a good and bad thing.”

While Preston eventually shifted most of his energy towards hockey, you can still see the elements of the player and person that would allow him to succeed at almost any sport.

Despite an injury-shortened campaign and midseason trade, Preston logged 18 goals (including four game-winners) and 26 assists for 44 points in 46 games with the Giants and Spokane Chiefs in 2025-26.

Mathis Preston scores the OT winner in his first game as a Giant!@WHLGiants | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/uOu43MYGIl

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) January 10, 2026

After being dealt to Vancouver at the 2026 WHL Trade Deadline, the 5-foot-10.75, 172-pound winger looked primed to explode with 12 points (4G-8A) in 10 games with the G-Men before being sidelined with a lower-body injury from January 10 to March 6.

“When he has the puck, his head is always up, he’s always one or two plays ahead of everybody,” Giants assistant coach Wacey Rabbit said. “His shot is underrated. I remember we hadn’t scored a while on the power play, and we’re in Kamloops, it’s one of our last games, and he just grabbed the puck and in a flash it’s in the back of the net. As he grows as a player, he’ll have more confidence in that shot because it’s really underrated. It’s quick, it’s fast, and, you know, his tenacity to get the puck back is elite. Once the puck’s on his stick, you’re not taking it off of him.”

Despite the Giants missing the postseason, Preston got an extra shot to prove himself at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship, where he finished second in scoring among Canadians with six points (2G-4A) in five games.

He also added a goal and two assists in two games at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge.

“When I’m at my best, I’m pushing the pace of the game,” Preston said ahead of the Prospects Challenge.  “I think I like to speed up the game more than I slow it down. (I) can push defenders back and get them on their heels, as well as make plays in the O-zone.”

The Penticton, B.C. product has flexed that ability from the jump.

Preston was selected by Spokane with the third overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft and potted 45 points (23G-22A) in 54 games in his first full WHL season.

In the 2025 WHL Playoffs, when most rookies would start to see their ice time trimmed, Preston iced 16 points (9G-7A) in 20 games to help the Chiefs reach the Championship Series, highlighted by a one-goal, one-assist effort in Game 2 of the Final.

While the Chiefs would fall to fellow top 2026 draft-eligibles Gavin McKenna, Markus and Liam Ruck, and the Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 5, it showed Preston wouldn’t shy away in big-time moments.

More recently, the 18-year-old put forward a strong showing at the NHL Combine, where he finished in the top 10 in seven events- including a second-place finish in isokinetic squat and anaerobic fitness – peak power output (T-2nd), plus a tie for third in the 10-metre spring.

“He’s a gym rat,” Preston’s former coach, Spokane Chiefs bench boss Brad Lauer, added. “One thing with Mathis is he puts in the time, and he works. He wants to be a player, he wants to be a pro. He’s got a great skill. He’s going to get drafted, he’s going to have an opportunity, which is great to see.”

Preston enters the 2026 NHL Draft ranked 32nd among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

He has high hopes for the future, and looks forward to returning to the Dub to chase a championship in 2026-27.

“It just kind of flashes before your eyes,” Preston explained. “You grow up, want to get drafted, watching the draft and, you know, seeing all that stuff, and now it’s you, and you’re up next.”

Round 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft begins on Friday, June 26, at 5:00 p.m. MT, with Rounds 2-7 to follow on Saturday, June 27, at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.