Five Greyhounds Included on NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List
TORONTO — The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) is proud to announce that 69 players developed in the OHL have been included on NHL Central Scouting’s October ‘Players to Watch’ List for the 2027 NHL Draft, scheduled to take place next summer. The 69 OHL players account for nearly 28 percent of all North American prospects on the list.
The 69 OHL players are part of a larger group of 176 players from across the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), representing 71.3 percent of the 247 North American prospects listed. For the second consecutive year, CHL-developed players account for more than 70 percent of the North American list.
The OHL features a total of 10 players assigned an ‘A’ rating, indicating a first-round NHL Draft candidate. This represents 50 percent of all North American players assigned an ‘A’ rating. Those names include forwards Ryerson Edgar (Niagara IceDogs), Timo Kazda (Guelph Storm), Aleks Kulemin (Kingston Frontenacs), Easton Walos (Sarnia Sting), Jaakko Wycisk (Guelph Storm), Bogdan Yakushevsky (Windsor Spitfires) and Dima Zhilkin (Saginaw Spirit), defencemen Levi Harper (Saginaw Spirit) and Cooper McAslan (London Knights), and goaltender Vilmer Salen Forsberg (Brantford Bulldogs).
The OHL’s 10 first-round candidates are part of a group of 19 CHL-developed players assigned ‘A’ ratings, accounting for 95 percent of all North American prospects in that category. Combined with eight ‘B’-rated prospects, the OHL accounts for 18 of the 51 North American players identified as potential selections in the first three rounds of the 2027 NHL Draft.
Beyond the league’s 18 A- and B-rated prospects, an additional 20 players received ‘C’ designations, indicating potential fourth- or fifth-round candidates, while 31 received ‘W’ ratings, indicating potential sixth- or seventh-round picks.
The OHL stands alone as the only league worldwide with every member club represented on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary Players to Watch List for the 2027 NHL Draft. All 20 OHL clubs feature at least one listed prospect, led by the Saginaw Spirit with seven, followed by the Brantford Bulldogs, Kingston Frontenacs and London Knights with six apiece. Together, those four clubs account for 25 of the league’s 69 listed prospects.
The list includes 38 OHL forwards, 23 defencemen and eight goaltenders. The Guelph Storm and Saginaw Spirit each feature two ‘A’-rated prospects, with Guelph forwards Timo Kazda and Jaakko Wycisk joined by Saginaw defenceman Levi Harper and forward Dima Zhilkin among the league’s projected first-round candidates.
Across the CHL, 40 of the 51 North American players assigned ‘A’ or ‘B’ ratings are CHL-developed, representing more than 78 percent of the prospects identified as potential selections in the opening three rounds of the 2027 NHL Draft.
2027 NHL Central Scouting October Players to Watch List – OHL
Players have been identified using the following criteria:
- A Rating – Indicates a first-round candidate
- B Rating – Indicates a second- or third-round candidate
- C Rating – Indicates a fourth- or fifth-round candidate
- W Rating – Indicates a sixth- or seventh-round candidate
SKATERS
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | TEAM |
| A | Ryerson Edgar | C | Niagara IceDogs |
| A | Levi Harper | D | Saginaw Spirit |
| A | Timo Kazda | RW | Guelph Storm |
| A | Aleks Kulemin | C | Kingston Frontenacs |
| A | Cooper McAslan | D | London Knights |
| A | Easton Walos | C | Sarnia Sting |
| A | Jaakko Wycisk | C | Guelph Storm |
| A | Bogdan Yakushevsky | RW | Windsor Spitfires |
| A | Dimian Zhilkin | LW | Saginaw Spirit |
| B | Max Delisle | C | Owen Sound Attack |
| B | Tyler Hinde | C | Oshawa Generals |
| B | Brenner Lammens | LW | Sarnia Sting |
| B | Noah Laus | LW | Soo Greyhounds |
| B | Kaden McGregor | C | Brantford Bulldogs |
| B | Johnny McLaughlin | C | Windsor Spitfires |
| B | Drew Roscoe | D | Saginaw Spirit |
| B | Luca Santala | C | Kitchener Rangers |
| C | Keaton Ardagh | RW | Brampton Steelheads |
| C | Kane Barch | C | London Knights |
| C | Abe Barnett | D | Brantford Bulldogs |
| C | Simon Belohorsky | RW | Flint Firebirds |
| C | Brayden Bennett | C | Sudbury Wolves |
| C | Brock Chitaroni | RW | Ottawa 67’s |
| C | Trevor Daley | C | Soo Greyhounds |
| C | Kohyn Eshkawkogan | D | Ottawa 67’s |
| C | Ryan Kaczynski | LW | Soo Greyhounds |
| C | Eloan Le Gallic | LW | London Knights |
| C | Charles Murata | LW | Flint Firebirds |
| C | Jack O’Dell* | D | Windsor Spitfires |
| C | Sam Roberts | RW | Brantford Bulldogs |
| C | Dmitry Savin | C | Saginaw Spirit |
| C | Nolan Snyder | RW | Kingston Frontenacs |
| C | Genc Ula | D | Sudbury Wolves |
| C | Camryn Warren | C | North Bay Battalion |
| C | Braidy Wassilyn | LW | Saginaw Spirit |
| W | Kaden Aucoin | D | Sarnia Sting |
| W | Ty Bergeron | LW | Windsor Spitfires |
| W | David Buchman | D | Brantford Bulldogs |
| W | Alex Campeau | LW | London Knights |
| W | Gavin Christie | D | Kingston Frontenacs |
| W | Dante D’Andrea | D | Kingston Frontenacs |
| W | Jesse DeBruyn | D | Windsor Spitfires |
| W | Gerry DiCunzolo** | LW | Peterborough Petes |
| W | Alex Forrest | D | Kitchener Rangers |
| W | Jonas Gulbrandsen | C | Sarnia Sting |
| W | Gensen Geldart | C | Saginaw Spirit |
| W | A.J. Gladman | D | Erie Otters |
| W | Peter Green | D | Brampton Steelheads |
| W | Matthew Henderson | D | Kingston Frontenacs |
| W | Jack Johnson | D | Ottawa 67’s |
| W | Oskar Konobelj | D | North Bay Battalion |
| W | Carter Kunopaski | D | North Bay Battalion |
| W | Tyler Martyniuk | D | Saginaw Spirit |
| W | Broden McArthur | D | Erie Otters |
| W | Sebastian Mogull | RW | Barrie Colts |
| W | Jake Murray | C | Erie Otters |
| W | Adam Nemec | LW | Brantford Bulldogs |
| W | Mark Pape | LW | Oshawa Generals |
| W | Matthew Perreault | D | Peterborough Petes |
| W | Jake Ritson | C | London Knights |
| W | Chase Sewell | D | Sarnia Sting |
| W | Christopher Weiss | D | Soo Greyhounds |
GOALTENDERS
| RATING | GOALTENDER | TEAM |
| A | Vilmer Salen Forsberg | Brantford Bulldogs |
| C | Hagan Bach | Barrie Colts |
| C | Connor Haffner | Niagara IceDogs |
| C | Royden Smith | Kingston Frontenacs |
| W | Mason Hriczov | Kitchener Rangers |
| W | Cruz Reznik | Oshawa Generals |
| W | David Vermirovsky | Soo Greyhounds |
| W | Charlie Weiss*** | London Knights |
* – Jack O’Dell has signed with Windsor, is not counted toward overall total
**- Gerry DiCunzolo spent the 2025-26 season in the OHL
***- Charlie Weiss is affiliated with the London Knights for 2026-27
For the full list, visit NHL.com.
