Daniel Walters

June 2026 — Walters was an 11th-overall QMJHL pick for two reasons, pace and physicality, and his draft year leaned into both. He’s a fast, feisty center who throws his weight around, wins battles big and small, and racked up 110 penalty minutes inflicting heavy hits. The encouraging part is that the offense moved with him: he went from three goals and 11 points as a rookie to 15 goals and 30 points this season, a real jump even if the total stays modest, and there’s some skill underneath the physical game. Central Scouting placed him 114th among North American skaters, a fourth-to-fifth-round range. Still, the projection is a bottom-six, energy-and-pace center rather than a scorer.

For fantasy, that means his value sits almost entirely in penalty minutes and hits, the categories deep banger leagues reward, with counting stats that stay low. He’s committed to Cornell and will head there after his junior career, a multi-year runway that buys time for the offensive trend to continue. If it does and he carves out a checking-line NHL role, the offensive ceiling still tops out around 25 to 30 points, which is where the 3.0 upside lands. Andrew Epps