The Florida Panthers selected center Ryder Cali in the second round (48th overall) of the 2026 NHL Draft, using the pick they acquired from the Washington Capitals for Justin Sourdif.
Cali has a very interesting hockey background as his mother, a Canadian, was a professional player toiling in Switzerland who continued to suit up during the first trimester of her pregnancy with Ryder.
When he was three, his family moved from Switzerland to the Cayman Islands, where Cali started off playing roller hockey, before they relocated to Penetanguishene, Ontario and he took to the ice.
Somewhat overlooked by the scouting community as a teen, Cali parlayed a breakout season (19 goals and 30 points in 29 games) with the GTHL’s Markham Majors into being chosen in the first round (18th overall) of the 2024 OHL Priority Selection by the Soo Greyhounds.
Looking for more ice time and to be a team leader, Cali decided to play the 2024-25 season a rung down with the Milton Menace of the OJHL instead of joining the Greyhounds. The decision was the right one for his development as he finished second on the team in goals (24) and points (54) while playing in 51 games.
Shortly after the season started, North Bay acquired Cali’s OHL rights and he did end up appearing in five scoreless Major Junior games with the Battalion.
The postseason saw Cali put up six goals and seven assists in 20 games as Milton advanced to the league final before falling in six to the Trenton Golden Hawks.
Cali spent his draft season in North Bay and finished his first OHL campaign with 16 goals and 20 assists in 47 games. Despite missing 21 tilts, his 36 points were the sixth-highest on the team. Cali notched five game-winning goals, registered 114 shots on goal, accumulated 24 PIM and posted a plus-two rating.
He scored a goal and added three assists while appearing in all ten of North Bay’s postseason contests before they were swept in the second round by the Brantford Bulldogs.
In April, Cali was a member of Canada’s entry at the 2026 U18 World Junior Championship in Slovakia. After going 3-1 in the group stage with a plus-20 goal differential, Canada was upset by Sweden in the quarterfinals. Cali played in all five games and had one assist, which came in the final round robin match against Finland.
After being drafted by the Cats, Cali put in an appearance at Florida’s development camp in Fort Lauderdale. Next up for the still 17-year-old – he’ll be 18 on September 6 – is a stint in the NCAA as he has committed to play the 2026-27 season with the Providence College Friars of Hockey East.
Already garnering notice among NHL press as one of the Panthers top prospects, Cali has a ton of projectability because his game is rooted in a 200-foot, defensively sound foundation. He’s an athletic and strong skater, but needs to work on his quickness and burst. His size and speed profile is NHL quality and he’s a hard worker who should have no problem playing the Panthers feisty brand of hockey. The question with Cali is going to be his offense. Can he translate all those tools into points? He may very well end up being a fourth line center and that’s just fine for a mid-second rounder, but he could put it all together and top out as second line pivot for a decade. Cali’s got a long way to go, but the Cats have plenty of time to wait.