Four Spirit Players on NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings in 2026
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Four Spirit Players on NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings in 2026

Published on April 16, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


New York - NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft on Thursday morning. Four Spirit players were identified as top prospects heading to Buffalo for this June's draft.

RW Nikita Klepov (#8 North American Skater)

The OHL's leading scorer tops Saginaw's list of draft prospects. Klepov led the league with 97 points (37G-60A) as a rookie, the first to do so since Patrick Kane of the London Knights in 2006-07. Klepov was named the Emms Family Award winner earlier this week, becoming the second player in team history to be named the OHL's Rookie of the Year.

Klepov was ranked #16 in Central Scouting's midterm rankings. Since that ranking came out on January 12th, Klepov was the most dominant skater in the OHL. He recorded 47 points and 33 assists, both the highest marks in the league through the end of the regular season, while adding 14 goals. Klepov added a goal and four assists in Saginaw's four playoff games.

C Egor Barabanov (#43 North American Skater)

Klepov's favorite center, Egor Barabanov finished second in team scoring with 91 points (28G-63A). Nobody in Saginaw had more assists than Barabanov this season, and only Brantford's Jake O'Brien had more league-wide. His assist total was the fifth-best in one season by a Spirit player, and he was the ninth player in team history to break the 90-point mark. Barabanov added four points (1G-3A) for the Spirit in the playoffs.

RW Brody Pepoy (#124 North American Skater)

Brody Pepoy began the season as an undrafted invitee to Spirit training camp. He earned a Standard Player Agreement with his preseason play, and quickly became a middle-six staple for Saginaw in his rookie season. Pepoy played in all but one game for Saginaw this season, finishing the year with 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points. Pepoy landed 20th among OHL rookies in scoring. Along with Nikita Klepov and Levi Harper, this gave Saginaw three players in the top-20 of rookie scoring for the first time since 2023 (Michael Misa, Zayne Parekh, Joey Willis).

G Stepan Shurygin (#13 North American Goaltender)

Shurygin's play since the midterm ranking lifted him up the prospect board as well. He was left off of the preliminary watch list and debuted as the #16 ranked goaltender at the midterm. His 59 appearances were the most of any OHL goalie in 2025-26, where he picked up 24 wins. Shurygin also led the league in minutes (3417), shots against (1920), and saves (1704). He finished the year with a 3.79 GAA and .888 SV%, while his 12.4 GSAx (goals saved above expected) was the third-highest of all OHL goalies.

The 2026 NHL Draft is set for June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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