Draft Profile: Ryder Cali

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6 June 2026 at 15:00

With draft season now in full swing, it's time to keep looking at prospects eligible for the 2026 NHL draft.

One interesting name to watch on night one will be Ryder Cali, whose strong first full OHL season started to turn some heads around the league.

The 6-foot-2, 218-pounder's physical profile and soft offensive skills are those in demand around the league right now, and that hard-nosed style could be his ticket to the league.

Ryder Cali's mix of size and skill have seen him rise up NHL draft boards, and could see him selected as high as the end of the first round. (Photo: Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

It always helps the NHL draft comes right after the playoffs, where teams typically look at the big and physical players and say "that's how you win," which always gives the benefit to hard-nosed players over smaller perimeter playmakers.

Cali loves the front of the net, and winning battles on the forecheck. Having size is one thing, but being willing and able to use it is another. The Pentanguishene native loves to use his body on the forecheck, to create space when protecting the puck, and to bulldoze to the front of the net.

All of these traits project well to an NHL roster, where the value in being able to make plays in the tough parts of the ice is always a wanted bonus.

Add on to that Cali's skill and soft hands, and you have a really intriguing package in a prospect, and one with a good bit of developmental runway to keep improving aspects of his game.

Speaking of that runway, since Cali is a Sept. 6, 2008 birthday, he's one of the youngest players eligible for the draft this year, almost a full year younger than some other eligibles.

While this isn't the biggest deal, it can be seen as valuable to be technically a year behind some others developmentally, where you can get to a whole new level in the next calendar year.

The questions around Cali come around the ceiling of his game. While having a hard-nosed, physical forward is useful, he still only put up 36 points in 47 games this year, and just four in 10 playoff contests.

While his hands are nice, he lacks a truly game-breaking shot, and his skating is just average. This means that while he's super value in forechecking and physical situations, his lack of pure speed and creativity off the rush do stifle the projectability of elite offence at the NHL level.

If a team drafts Cali, they probably believe his profile and translatable skills will make him a super useful middle-six piece that can be extra valuable come playoff time.

Those that pass on him will probably see him as more of a bottom-six level player at the next level, one without the necessary offensive tools to really be a difference maker on that side of the puck.

Either way, he should be selected somewhere between 25-40 in this upcoming draft, likely by a team looking for his specific skills to round out their prospect pool.