I currently have Ryan Roobroeck in my Top 10. A new list will be on NHL Draft Buzz soon, and he will drop a bit on my 2026 NHL Draft rankings, and I’ll explain why.
The 6’4”, 216-pound left wing has a great shot, and fans of the Niagara IceDogs love him. He scores clutch goals, and he has some torque on his wrist shot. He knows how to score goals. He scored 41 last season and has 30 so far this season. Six of them are game-winning goals. That’s all positive. It’s hard to find natural goal scorers. In 49 games, he has 58 points, 25 of them on the power play.
He’s playing on the left wing. Roobroeck has played center, and I don’t believe he will be one at the next level. I wanted to see if there was a chance. I don’t foresee it. His face-off percentage is 40% according to InStat. So, as a scoring left wing, that drops him in my eyes, but not a lot. There’s still a lot to like here.
His play away from the puck isn’t what you want. That’s a concern. It’s something that has followed him a bit. I still see it, and it’s not changing anytime soon.
Roobroeck does block shots, and having a big frame like that, blocking shots helps a team, so that’s another positive in his game. There are more positives than negatives.
Roobroeck gets from point A to point B in the OHL without any issue. But his skating has to improve. His stride seems ok, he has long strides, but he has little speed burst, so he needs to work on that as he moves up the ladder.
I like Roobroeck’s passing. It’s accurate, and he is able to create offense for his linemates. He has good stick and puck control, especially for a big player. I feel like he has improved on this.
Roobroeck isn’t a physical player. Now that we’ve said that, he does hang around scoring areas looking for rebounds. He pounces on pucks quickly and has a good feel for picking up rebounds. Will he bang and crash around the net? That’s a question for the future.
I think he could be a first-line player if everything hit right. Most likely, he’s a second-line player and could be a third-liner if his development curve flattens out. He’s a hard player to figure out, and I will revisit this later this season to see if I have changed my mind about him.
