BUFFALO, New York (KNFL/KFGO/UND Athletics) – A historic weekend for the University of North Dakota hockey program concluded on Saturday afternoon from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. with rounds 2-7 of the 2026 NHL Draft.
Future forward Markus Ruck (39th, Pittsburgh), incoming defenseman Ethan MacKenzie (69th, Toronto) and incoming forward Connor Davis (129th, Vancouver) were each selected on Saturday. In addition, two committed but unsigned recruits were selected in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively, to complete the count of current-or-future Fighting Hawks at a total of eight selections over the two days.
The five picks in rounds one, two and three are the most in the single draft over the first three rounds for the program since five players were also selected in 2005 while the eight total selections are the most in a single draft for UND in the modern format of the NHL Draft (2005-present).
Markus joined his brother, Liam, in being selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins (39th overall) to mark the highest selected pair of twins in the NHL since Henrik and Daniel Sedin in 1999. Both Markus and Liam are expected to play the 2026-27 season with Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League (WHL) before coming to North Dakota in 2027-28.
MacKenzie heard his name called early in the third round, as he was selected with the 69th overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He joins incoming transfer forward Hudson Malinoski as the other Maple Leaf draftee on the 2026-27 roster and is the first UND player to be selected by Toronto since Andrew MacWilliam (2008).
Davis did not have to wait long into the fifth round to be selected, as the forward was taken with the first pick of the round (129th overall) by the Vancouver Canucks. The former Cedar Rapids Roughrider was unranked by NHL Central Scouting but recently climbed up draft boards following his strong season in the USHL.
North Dakota is expected to have 14 draft picks on its roster in 2026-27, including four first round selections. The 14 picks are the most since the 2014-15 team also had 14 and the three first round picks are the most since the 2006-07 Fighting Sioux had four.
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