Three months ago, most Flyers fans probably would’ve needed a scouting report just to recognize the name Maksim Sokolovskii. Now he’s the club’s first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and the rise is hard to miss.
What makes the jump so striking is how far he came in such a short time. In Central Scouting’s midterm North American rankings, Sokolovskii sat at No. 132, basically on the edge of being drafted at all. By the final rankings in April, he had climbed to No. 40 in North America, which put him in the range of a likely third-round selection.
So what changed?
For most of the season, Sokolovskii was buried on the London Knights’ depth chart as a No. 7 defenseman in the OHL. He was averaging less than 12 minutes per game, spending time as a regular healthy scratch, and sitting behind players like Caleb Mitchell and Julian Brown. That kind of role doesn’t usually lead to a first-round conversation.
The opening came in January, when London made a pair of trade-deadline moves that cleared space on the blue line. Kings prospect Jared Woolley and depth defenseman Brown were moved out, and although the Knights brought in shutdown defender Jacob Xu, a top-six spot finally opened up for Sokolovskii.
At first, the climb was gradual. Xu was placed ahead of him, but Sokolovskii moved from No. 7 to No. 6, and the scratches stopped. His ice time ticked up from 12 minutes to 13, then to 15, and by the end of the regular season he was sometimes getting 17-20 minutes, mostly in games that were already decided.
Then the playoffs hit, and the opportunity got bigger.
In the first round against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, London lost Caleb Mitchell to injury in Game 1 and Linus Funck in Game 3.
Both stayed in the series, but their minutes were reduced, and Sokolovskii suddenly found himself in a much larger role. He averaged almost 23 minutes a night over the five games.
London lost the series 4-1, and it was a rough finish for a team that was expected to win. But while the spotlight was on the marquee matchup, Sokolovskii kept his stock moving in the right direction. He didn’t dominate the series, but he held his own against a Greyhounds team that featured 10 NHL prospects, including Brady Martin and Chase Reid.
For a 6’7 defenseman who moves the way the Petropavlovsk product does, that kind of playoff showing gets noticed fast.
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