OHL talent headlines Bob McKenzie’s mid-season NHL Draft Rankings
Twenty-three Ontario Hockey League players are featured in Bob McKenzie’s Mid-Season Draft Rankings, with six skaters in the top 16 and nine in the top 32.
Despite suffering a collarbone injury at the World Junior Championship and undergoing surgery on Dec. 30, Erie Otters’ Matthew Schaefer secured the No. 1 spot in TSN’s Mid-Season 2025 NHL Draft Rankings. Schaefer is expected to be sidelined until at least April, potentially missing the remainder of the season.
1. Matthew Schaefer (Erie Otters)
The Erie Otter defenceman was a unanimous No. 1 selection in TSN’s survey of 10 NHL club team scouts. The survey was conducted between Jan. 7-14 – after the WJC but just prior to the Ontario Hockey League Top Prospects and USA Hockey Top Prospects Games on Jan. 15 and 16, respectively. Not only did Schaefer garner all 10 first-place votes, seven of the 10 scouts declared there is a “substantial” gap between the Stoney Creek, Ont., native and the rest of the 2025 draft class. Two others described the gap as “moderate,” but one said it was only “minuscule.”
“As far as I’m concerned,” one NHL head scout said, “[Schaefer] is No. 1 and he’s staying there – even if he never plays another game this season.”
Schaefer is a marvelous skater who can move the puck up the ice quickly with his feet or his hands. His offensive instincts are top notch. He can make plays; he can score goals. He’s totally fearless.
3. Michael Misa (Saginaw Spirit)
Saginaw Spirit centreman Michael Misa, who has 37 goals in 38 games this season, vaulted up from No. 7 in the pre-season to No. 3 now. One scout ranked Misa second overall; five others had him at No. 3. Some scouts wonder if he’ll be a better NHL winger than centre, but he’s expected to make his mark offensively in either spot.
“He’s a centre with nice size, high-end skill and elite scoring ability,” said the scout who ranked Misa No. 2.
4. Porter Martone (Brampton Steelheads)
Brampton 6-foot-2 3/4, 208-pound winger Porter Martone remains in the No. 4 slot, where he was in September. He didn’t play particularly well for Canada at the WJC — he was not alone on that front — but draft-eligible players are rarely penalized for failing to make an impact at the WJC. His blend of size and belligerence, to go along with his shooting ability and nose for the net, is highly coveted. Two scouts ranked him second overall behind only Schaefer; three others had him at No. 3 and the rest at No. 4.
“I really like Martone’s ability to get inside,” said one of the scouts who ranked him at No. 2. “Five-on-five goals are hard to come by and he does some of his best work in the hard areas.”
Martone’s skating is more good than great, but his other attributes keep him solidly in the top four mix.
9. Jake O’Brien (Brantford Bulldogs)
The Brantford Bulldogs 6-foot-2 centre has elite hockey sense, high-end playmaking ability and is a wizard on the half wall on the power play. He has moved up from No. 14 on the pre-season list. The scouts ranked him as high as sixth and as low as 17th.
31. Simon Wang (Oshawa Generals)
One of the most intriguing prospects in this year’s draft is Oshawa General 6-foot-5 defenceman Simon Wang. He checks in at No. 31, with one scout ranking him as high as No. 18 and one not ranking him at all in the top 64. Wang is Chinese, born in Beijing in 2007 and raised there until he left as a teenager in 2020 to pursue his dream of playing hockey in the NHL.
48. Jack Ivankovic (Brampton Steelheads)
Brampton Steelhead Jack Ivankovic is the consensus No., 2 netminder. He’s ranked at No. 48. Ivankovic has been phenomenal in the OHL this season but suffers from a scouting malady that isn’t easy to overcome, at least in terms of rankings. That is, he’s listed as 5-foot-11. No scout rated Ivankovic higher than No. 32 but most pegged him as a solid second-round prospect, which is a testament to his talent because a lot of 5-foot-11 goalies don’t get the time of day from NHL scouts.
OHL Players on Bob McKenzie’s Mid-season Draft Ranking
RK | Player | Team | Pos | HT | WT | GP | G | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matthew Schaefer | Erie (OHL) | LD | 6’2 | 183 | 17 | 7 | 22 |
3 | Michael Misa | Saginaw (OHL) | C/LW | 6’0 ¾ | 184 | 38 | 37 | 75 |
4 | Porter Martone | Brampton (OHL) | RW | 6’2 ¾ | 208 | 32 | 22 | 62 |
9 | Jake O’Brien | Brantford (OHL) | C | 6’1 ¾ | 172 | 43 | 22 | 55 |
13 | Brady Martin | S.S. Marie (OHL) | C/RW | 6’0 | 178 | 33 | 15 | 32 |
16 | Malcolm Spence | Erie (OHL) | LW | 6’1 | 203 | 39 | 18 | 46 |
18 | Kashawn Aitcheson | Barrie (OHL) | LD | 6’1 ½ | 196 | 39 | 11 | 27 |
23 | Jack Nesbitt | Windsor (OHL) | C | 6’4 ¼ | 185 | 44 | 17 | 41 |
31 | Simon Wang | Oshawa (OHL) | LD | 6’5 ½ | 215 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
37 | Cameron Reid | Kitchener (OHL) | LD | 511 ¾ | 193 | 43 | 8 | 33 |
41 | Henry Brzustewicz | London (OHL) | RD | 6’1 ¾ | 203 | 40 | 7 | 26 |
44 | Luca Romano | Kitchener (OHL) | C/RW | 5’11 ¼ | 177 | 42 | 16 | 33 |
48 | Jack Ivankovic | Brampton (OHL) | G | 5’11 | 178 | 26 | 3.41 | .900 |
53 | Ethan Czata | Niagara (OHL) | C | 6’1 ¼ | 175 | 43 | 16 | 41 |
54 | Tyler Hopkins | Kingston (OHL) | C | 6’1 | 181 | 41 | 9 | 31 |
56 | David Bedkowski | Owen Sound (OHL) | RD | 6’5 | 214 | 26 | 1 | 5 |
61 | Alexei Medvedev | London (OHL) | G | 6’1 | 165 | 22 | 2.43 | .925 |
73 | Quinn Beauchesne | Guelph (OHL) | RD | 6’0 | 185 | 31 | 4 | 14 |
74 | Jimmy Lombardi | Flint (OHL) | C | 6’0 | 179 | 39 | 6 | 22 |
77 | Kristian Epperson | Saginaw (OHL) | LW | 6’0 | 185 | 36 | 17 | 51 |
HM | Kieren Dervin | Kingston (OHL) | C | 6’2 | 181 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
HM | Lucas Karmiris | Brampton (OHL) | C | 5’11 | 190 | 22 | 5 | 18 |
HM | Shamar Moses | North Bay (OHL) | RW | 6’1 | 203 | 39 | 10 | 34 |