Photo by Canadian Hockey League (CHL)
TORONTO — NHL Central Scouting's first look at the 2027 NHL Draft class runs through the Canadian Hockey League, with 176 CHL-developed players named to the Preliminary Players to Watch List.
The 176 players account for 71.3 per cent of the 247 North American prospects on the list, the second straight year the CHL has supplied more than 70 per cent of it. The total includes 154 of the 212 skaters listed and 22 of the 35 goaltenders.
Of the 176, 171 are currently playing in the WHL, OHL or QMJHL. The next closest league, the USHL, has 55 players on the list.
Nineteen of the 20 North American players given an A rating, Central Scouting's marker for a first-round candidate, are CHL-developed. Ten come from the OHL, five from the WHL and four from the QMJHL.
The group is headlined by Seattle forward Brock England, Saginaw forward Dima Zhilkin, Saint John forward Alexis Joseph and Québec forward Carter Meyer, the first four players named to Team CHL for the 2026 CHL USA Prospects Challenge. Team CHL faces the U.S. National Under-18 Team on December 1 in Chicoutimi and December 2 in Québec City.
The OHL leads the three leagues with 69 players on the list, followed by the WHL with 54 and the QMJHL with 53.
The WHL's five A-rated prospects are Prince Albert defenceman Brock Cripps, Medicine Hat forward Noah Davidson, England, Edmonton Oil Kings forward Kayden Stroeder and Everett defenceman Landon DuPont.
The OHL's A-rated group is forwards Ryerson Edgar of Niagara, Timothy Kazda and Jaakko Wycisk of Guelph, Aleksey Kulemin of Kingston, Easton Walos of Sarnia, Bogdan Yakushevsky of Windsor and Zhilkin, defencemen Levi Harper of Saginaw and Cooper McAslan of London, and Brantford goaltender Vilmer Salen Forsberg. The QMJHL's four are Saint John forwards Jamie Glance and Joseph, Meyer, and Halifax defenceman Malik L'Italien.
Players from 57 of the CHL's 61 clubs appear on the list. Saginaw leads all clubs with seven players, while Medicine Hat's six lead the WHL, with Seattle and Tri-City at five each.
The preliminary list is one step in a season-long evaluation process that ends at the 2027 NHL Draft. At the 2026 NHL Draft, 106 CHL-developed players were selected, and 400 CHL graduates opened this season on NHL rosters.