Matias Vanhanen – 2026 NHL Draft Prospect Profile – The Hockey Writers – NHL Entry Draft

Matias Vanhanen

2025-26 Team: Everett Silvertips (WHL)
Date of Birth: Sept. 11, 2007
Place of Birth: Nokia, FIN
Ht: 5-foot-10 Wt: 174 pounds Shoots: L
Position: LW/RW
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2026 Overager (passed over in 2025)

Rankings

Matias Vanhanen was not drafted in 2025. Thirty-two NHL teams watched a 5-foot-10 Finnish winger put up 47 points in 42 games for HIFK U20 in Finland’s U20 SM-sarja, win the league’s Rookie of the Year award, earn a five-game callup to HIFK’s Liiga roster, and represent Finland at both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the U18 World Championship. All 32 teams passed. His size was the reason. It almost always is.

So Vanhanen crossed the Atlantic. The Everett Silvertips selected him 31st overall in the 2025 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft, and what happened next turned the story entirely on its head. He set Everett’s franchise rookie scoring record with 21 goals and 66 assists for 87 points in 62 regular-season games. He finished fifth in the entire Western Hockey League (WHL) in scoring, second in assists, and posted a plus-58 rating. He played 62 of 68 regular-season games, missing time only for Finland’s World Junior Championship (WJC) apperance in December and January. He won the Silvertips’ team Rookie of the Year and Iron Man Award, the latter given for not missing a single game due to injury. He won WHL Rookie of the Month twice (February and April). And at this writing, he is tied for third in WHL playoff scoring with 11 goals and 22 points as Everett holds a series lead in the WHL Championship against the Prince Albert Raiders.

This is not a player who benefited from a stacked lineup and coasted. Everett’s roster includes Carter Bear (Detroit Red Wings first-round pick, 40 goals last season), Julius Miettinen (Seattle Kraken second-round pick), and Landon DuPont (the 2025 CHL Rookie of the Year and top 2027 draft prospect). None of them led the team in scoring. Vanhanen did.

The transition from Finnish junior hockey to the WHL was not seamless at the start. Vanhanen acknowledged the adjustment himself. “The ice is smaller here, so the game is a lot faster,” he told TSN ahead of the WHL Championship Series. “You don’t have that much time. There are so many good players here, like the best juniors in the world, so it’s totally different from Finland. The first couple of games, I was just getting to know how the system works. But I think I got into the game quickly after that.”

He did. After a scoreless opening night, Vanhanen rattled off five points in his second game and never slowed down. His first WHL Player of the Week award came in early October after a two-goal, eight-assist stretch across three games. From there, the production was relentless: a point-per-game pace through November, a 20-point February, and a 14-point April that coincided with the start of a deep playoff run.

His toolkit is playmaking, and it is not subtle. Elite Prospects’ 2025 draft guide described his game in specific terms: he anticipates offensive opportunities, takes the right routes, and dictates pace with the puck on his stick. He finds clever passing solutions in tight spaces and refuses to settle for a decent play when a better one exists. That profile showed up in the box score. His 66 regular-season assists ranked second in the WHL, behind only the Medicine Hat Tigers’ Markus Ruck.

Vanhanen also earned a spot on Finland’s roster at the 2026 IIHF WJC in Minnesota, where he recorded six assists in seven games as Finland finished fourth. Daily Faceoff’s draft coverage called him “arguably the most important part of Finland’s top line,” noting that he recorded points in all but one game and assisted on some of Finland’s biggest goals, including the 3-on-3 overtime winner against the United States. He did not score a goal at the tournament, which underlines the one persistent scouting note: his game runs through distribution, not finishing.

The concerns that kept him off draft boards in 2025 have not disappeared. At 5-foot-10 and 174 pounds, Vanhanen’s frame remains a question. His skating, while improved through the demands of the WHL’s smaller ice surface, is still cited as his biggest limitation by scouts. He does not have the burst to separate at top speed, and that gap becomes more pronounced against faster, more physical competition. The WHL regular season, even on a dominant team, does not replicate the physicality of professional hockey.

But the production speaks. No one puts up 87 points and a plus-58 rating in 62 WHL games without real ability, regardless of the team around them. NHL Central Scouting agreed, bumping him from 76th at midterm to 54th among North American skaters in the final rankings.

Vanhanen grew up in Nokia, Finland (yes, the city that gave the phone company its name), watching the Chicago Blackhawks and modeling his game after Patrick Kane. His sister, Sanni Vanhanen, plays for the Finnish women’s national team. His connection to Everett was partly through Miettinen, his fellow Finn and Kraken prospect, who lobbied for the two to share a billet family. “He helped me a lot,” Vanhanen said. “I asked him a lot about Everett, and he loves it, so it was kind of easy for me.”

Matias Vanhanen – NHL Draft Projection

Vanhanen projects as a third-to-fifth round selection. The 22-spot climb in Central Scouting’s rankings reflects a real shift in perception, and the WHL Championship run will only help. His production is too loud to ignore twice, even for a 5-foot-10 overager. Teams with deep development pipelines and patience for skill-first wingers who need to grow physically will see a player whose vision and playmaking translate to a level his size alone might not suggest. Everett’s scouting staff found him. It won’t be hard for NHL clubs to find him this time.

Quotables

“Matias Vanhanen is a forward with high puck control and skating skills. He is able to make good decisions with the puck. He established himself as a top-six forward with the U18 Finnish national team in just his first year with them, and has experience with one of the best professional teams in Europe.” – Alessandro Benin, Everett Silvertips European scout

“Vanhanen’s intelligence on the ice sets him apart from the rest. He’s very good at anticipating offensive opportunities, taking the right routes and dictating the pace of play with the puck on his stick. He’s at his best as a playmaker who finds clever passing solutions in tight and doesn’t settle for a decent play, instead finding the best one.” – Elite Prospects 2025 NHL Draft Guide

“Vanhanen hasn’t scored a single goal through five games, but he has been, arguably, the most important part of Finland’s top line. He’s the glue that keeps it altogether.” – Daily Faceoff, 2026 World Juniors coverage

Strengths

• Elite playmaking vision and passing creativity; 66 assists in 62 WHL regular-season games, second in the league
• Set Everett Silvertips franchise rookie scoring record (87 points)
• High hockey IQ with the ability to dictate pace and find the best play, not just a decent one
• Production carried over to the WHL playoffs (22 points in 15 games as of Game 3 of the WHL Championship)
• International pedigree: represented Finland at the 2026 WJC, 2025 U18 Worlds, and 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup
• Durable: played 62 of 68 regular-season games (missed time only for WJC duty) and every playoff contest; did not miss a game to injury

Under Construction – Needs Improvement

• Undersized at 5-foot-10, 174 pounds; the frame that kept him undrafted in 2025 has not changed dramatically
• Skating lacks explosive first-step acceleration; scouts consistently flag this as his ceiling limiter
• Goal-scoring rate (21 goals in 62 games) is modest for a player with that assist volume, reflecting a distributor’s profile more than a finisher’s
• Older than most of his draft class by a full year; the production advantage that comes with physical maturity needs to be weighed

NHL Potential

The overager label carries a tax, and at 5-foot-10, it carries a heavier one. But Vanhanen’s season is not a mirage. He led a WHL powerhouse in scoring, produced at the WJC, and demonstrated adaptability by moving continents and thriving within months. The playmaking translates. The question is whether the skating and size will allow him to deploy it at the NHL level, where passing lanes close faster and the cost of losing body position is steeper. A realistic projection puts him as a depth winger who can quarterback a second power-play unit and create offense in a middle-six role, provided his skating continues to improve. If it doesn’t, he still profiles as a top-six American Hockey League producer or a strong European league option. Either way, he is better than what the 2025 draft process said he was.

Risk-Reward Analysis

Risk: 3/5, Reward: 3/5

Fantasy Hockey Potential

Offense: 5/10, Defense: 4/10

Awards/Achievements

• Set Everett Silvertips franchise rookie scoring record (21 goals, 66 assists, 87 points in 62 games)
• WHL Sandman Rookie of the Month: February 2026, April 2026
• WHL Player of the Week: October 2025
• Silvertips team Rookie of the Year and Iron Man Award (2025-26)
• HIFK U20 Rookie of the Year (2024-25 U20 SM-sarja)
• Represented Finland at the 2026 IIHF WJC (seven games, six assists)
• Represented Finland at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship (five games, five points)
• Represented Finland at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup (four games, three points)
• Selected 31st overall in the 2025 CHL Import Draft by Everett

Interviews/Links

Matias Vanhanen Stats

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