Daxon Rudolph

ANALYSIS
Rudolph opened a lot of eyes in his draft season. He finished third in the WHL in points from the blue line (73), and then he went feral in the postseason, finishing tied for the league lead in points (27). Rudolph's intelligence and hockey sense are his best assets, with his shot not far behind. He has good size, skates well and has excellent vision. And his hands are soft -- he finds forwards easily on breakouts and his catch-and-release is NHL level already. So, that means he'll be a goal threat at the next level. Rudolph doesn't project to carry his offensive exploits -- at least at the level we saw in 2025-26 -- into the NHL. But he will be a modern, puck-moving, two-way defender who will be a top-four backbone and can be a power-play guy for the Sabres. Rudolph models his own game around Charlie McAvoy. There's fantasy value in that kind of solid play if he can find that in the NHL.