Attached is a link to an article listing the top 10 candidates for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award honoring college hockey’s best player. The three finalists for this award will be revealed on April 3, with the winner being announced April 10. The 2025 award went to then-Michigan State University forward Isaac Howard, who is now with Edmonton’s organization. Howard recently was ranked the 37th-best NHL prospect on Craig Button’s list of the top 50 NHL-affiliated prospects.
In addition to the youth represented by Penn State 18-year-old Gavin Mckenna, what immediately jumps out on this list is the presence of much-discussed undrafted free agents TJ Hughes of the University of Michigan, NCAA goals leader (28) Hayden Stavroff of Dartmouth College, and Felix Trudeau of Sacred Heart University. Hughes and Trudeau can add this selection to their list of accolades, as they also have been named conference players of the year in the Big 10 and AHA, respectively.
While Stavroff is the nation’s goals leader, he is second in the ECAC in scoring with 47 points, trailing Quinnipiac forward and fellow Hobey Baker candidate Ethan Wyttenbach’s 58 (CGY 2025 5th round, 144th overall). Wyttenbach was an afterthought in last year’s draft, but has quickly become one of Calgary’s best prospects. Wyttenbach appears on Button’s list as the 39th-ranked affiliated prospect throughout the league.
https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/prospects/2026-hobey-baker-award-candidates-announced