Best NHL rookie cards of 2026, ranked by collector interest
Gavin McKenna is the 2026 NHL rookie collectors are looking up most: 91,002 Wikipedia lookups in the last 30 days. Below, every NHL rookie we track with enough lookups to measure, ranked the same way, with his key rookie card where our sourced checklist has it. Attention, not card prices.
Attention measures how much people are looking up this player, a leading indicator collectors watch. It is not a price. Source: Wikipedia pageviews through 2026-10-15.
2026 NHL rookies, ranked
Wikipedia lookups in the last 30 days, then this week against last.
- 1
Gavin McKennaTOR LW
Key RC: 2023-24 Upper Deck CHL #351
91,002 lookups in 30 daysdown 46% this weekCooling
- 2
Cole HutsonWSH D
Key RC: 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #223
18,098 lookups in 30 daysup 86% this weekSurging
- 3
Ivar StenbergSJS LW
17,699 lookups in 30 daysdown 25% this weekCooling
- 4
Luca CagnoniSJS D
Key RC: 2025-26 Upper Deck Series 1 #213
14,600 lookups in 30 daysdown 91% this weekCooling
- 5
James HagensBOS C
Key RC: 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #206
11,979 lookups in 30 daysdown 64% this weekCooling
- 6
Trevor ConnellyVGK LW
10,233 lookups in 30 daysup 157% this weekSurging
- 7
Victor EklundNYI RW
Key RC: 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #220
8,896 lookups in 30 daysdown 80% this weekCooling
- 8
Roman KantserovCHI RW
6,998 lookups in 30 daysup 204% this weekSurging
- 9
Cole BeaudoinNYR C
6,716 lookups in 30 daysdown 68% this weekCooling
- 10
Frederic BrunetBOS D
Key RC: 2025-26 Upper Deck Series 2 #489
5,519 lookups in 30 daysup 66% this weekSurging
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- 11
Anton FrondellCHI C
Key RC: 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #201
5,357 lookups in 30 daysdown 8% this weekFlat
- 12
Carter YakemchukOTT D
Key RC: 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #249
4,226 lookups in 30 daysup 100% this weekSurging
- 13
Conor GeekieTBL C
Key RC: 2024-25 Upper Deck Series 2 #478
4,215 lookups in 30 daysdown 50% this weekCooling
- 14
Aydar SunievCGY LW
Key RC: 2025-26 Upper Deck Series 2 #478
3,735 lookups in 30 daysup 629% this weekSurging
- 15
Amadeus LombardiNJD C
3,729 lookups in 30 daysdown 33% this weekCooling
- 16
Adam JiricekSTL D
3,707 lookups in 30 daysdown 57% this weekCooling
- 17
Jiri KulichBUF C
Key RC: 2023-24 Upper Deck Extended Series #710
3,215 lookups in 30 daysdown 77% this weekCooling
- 18
Matthew PoitrasBOS C
Key RC: 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 2 #478
3,106 lookups in 30 daysup 20% this weekRising
- 19
Anton JohanssonDET D
2,894 lookups in 30 daysdown 65% this weekCooling
- 20
Michael Brandsegg-NygårdDET RW
Key RC: 2025-26 Upper Deck Series 2 #492
2,692 lookups in 30 daysup 61% this weekSurging
- 21
Konsta HeleniusBUF C
Key RC: 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #210
2,455 lookups in 30 daysdown 32% this weekCooling
- 22
Jonathan LekkerimakiVAN RW
Key RC: 2024-25 Upper Deck Extended Series #706
2,283 lookups in 30 daysdown 38% this weekCooling
- 23
Noah WarrenANA D
1,661 lookups in 30 daysdown 21% this weekCooling
Questions
- Which NHL rookie are collectors watching most in 2026?
- Gavin McKenna: 91,002 Wikipedia lookups in the last 30 days, the most of any NHL rookie we track. That is attention, not a price. His key rookie card by our criteria is the 2023-24 Upper Deck CHL #351.
- What are the key 2026 NHL rookie cards?
- By our printed criteria (the first licensed base rookie card): Cole Hutson, 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #223; Luca Cagnoni, 2025-26 Upper Deck Series 1 #213; James Hagens, 2026-27 Upper Deck Series 1 #206.
How this list is ranked
Collector interest is how many people looked each player up on Wikipedia: the last 30 days for the ranking, the last 7 against the 7 before for the weekly change. It measures attention, not what any card sells for, and Parlae prints no card values. A key rookie card is picked by the criteria printed on each player's card page, from his sourced checklist.
By the Parlae deskCard lists updated Oct 16, 2026 at 12:22 PM ETHow this is builtReport a wrong number