OHL draft chit chat
The 2026 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft will be held on Friday and Saturday of this week in Kingston. And with so many player rankings out there and with so many factors in play, it is not easy to project who is going where, in which order, and in the first or second or even third round.
There are insiders and outsiders who all have their rankings and while the top two or three picks may be already spoken for, how the entire first round will play out is matter of considerable debate.
First Round Phenoms. Among the seemingly sure fire high picks include the likes of forwards Tanner Adams of the Hill Academy, Kane Cloutier of the Vaughan Kings, Kash Kwajah of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and the gigantic 6 foot 7 Logan Prud’homme of Upper Canada College. Defensemen of excellent repute include Adrian Sgro of Vaughan, Max Fransen of Upper Canada College, Jaden Licastro of the Toronto Marlies and Declan McNally of the Don Mills Flyers Notably, Adams is originally from the northeastern Ontario town of Timmins while Cloutier is the son of Danny Cloutier, a former OHL goalie with the Soo Greyhounds who later played in more than 375 games in the National Hockey League, mostly with the Vancouver Canucks.
Colin On Kennedy. Meanwhile, of particular intrigue is forward Colin Kennedy of Sault Ste. Marie, who has spent the past two seasons starring with the Detroit Little Caesars AAA program. Some projections have Kennedy jumping his later first round ranking by going as early as the sixth overall pick of the first round, with the Saginaw Spirit being a speculated destination. Kennedy’s bloodlines include his dad, Craig Kennedy, who played five full seasons in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires as a hard working, productive forward who became team captain. Not only that, young Kennedy’s maternal grand father is Craig Hartsburg, who during his playing days as a world class defenseman was a first round OHL pick to the Soo Greyhounds and a first round NHL pick to the Minnesota North Stars — while going on to be the captain of both teams.
The Max Factor. Most draft boards have Detroit HoneyBaked defenseman Max Lappan as a second round pick. But Lappan, a big defender with a huge offensive upside — he put up 24 goals, 108 assists, 132 points in 89 games for HoneyBaked over the course of the ’25-26 season — could well be a first round pick to, perhaps, the Soo Greyhounds, who have the 12th overall selection. (The Greyhounds did quite well a few years ago by another former Metro Detroit area AAA defenseman in Chase Reid, who is a projected early first round pick at this year’s National Hockey League Draft.)
More HoneyBaked Flavour. Two of the above mentioned Max Lappan’s big, mean defence mates from OHL Cup champion Detroit HoneyBaked are of particular contrivance. They are Ivan Belikov and Jake LaMontagne, who both size up at 6 foot 4, 190 pounds. They may not be first rounders but both Belikov and LaMontagne figure to be gone by the end of the fourth round — and become forceful OHL defensemen as time goes on. Specifically, Lappan, Belikov and LaMontage are all represented by player agent Eddie Mio, who is a Windsor native.
Cole’s Notes. The only knock on Upper Canada College forward Cole Guizzetti — who, like the aforementioned Colin Kennedy also left his Sault Ste. Marie home at age 14 to develop elsewhere — is his small size at 5 foot 6, 155 pounds. But that aside, Guizzetti can score, can skate, is very skilled, very smart and really strong. Need more? He is also of good character. This is a kid who looms as a potential steal in the third or fourth round. Overlook the size and some OHL team will be getting a dandy.
Spitting Some Fire. Two players from the Under 16 level Windsor Jr. Spitfires of the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario figure to be taken between the fourth and seventh rounds. They are big defenseman Logan Disher and small size forward Roman Shtefan.
