OHL Leads 2026 NHL Draft with 47 Players Selected
OHL Ontario Hockey League

OHL Leads 2026 NHL Draft with 47 Players Selected

Published on June 27, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL) News Release


BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) is proud to announce that 47 OHL players were selected across the seven rounds of the 2026 NHL Draft, held at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The total sits one shy of the League's modern-era record of 48, set in 2012 and 2016, and led all leagues at this year's draft.

The 47 OHL players represent 20.9 per cent of all selections in the 2026 NHL Draft - the League's highest share since 2016. The group includes a draft-leading seven players chosen in the opening round, part of a Canadian Hockey League (CHL) total of 16 first-round selections.

The OHL's 47 selections were part of a CHL total of 106 players chosen - the most the CHL has produced at a single NHL Draft in 16 years, and the first time it has reached triple digits since 2013. The Western Hockey League (WHL) produced 39 selections, while the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) developed 20.

Caleb Malhotra led the way for the OHL, going 3rd overall to the Vancouver Canucks to become the highest-drafted player in Brantford Bulldogs club history. He was joined in the first round by Soo Greyhounds defenceman Chase Reid (7th overall, Seattle Kraken) and Saginaw Spirit forward Nikita Klepov (15th overall, Anaheim Ducks), among the seven OHL players chosen on Friday night.

The Ottawa 67's led all OHL clubs by developing five selections, the most the franchise has produced in a single draft since 1999. The Guelph Storm, London Knights, Saginaw Spirit and Soo Greyhounds followed by developing four selections apiece.

The Knights extended their active streak of players selected at the NHL Draft to a CHL-leading 58 years while the 67's (24 years), Greyhounds (20 years) and Spirit (19 years) extended double-digit streaks of their own.

By position, the 47 OHL players consisted of 28 forwards, 15 defencemen and four goaltenders. The four netminders mark the most OHL goaltenders chosen by NHL clubs since 2016.

In terms of birth year, 28 of the 47 players selected were born in 2008, while 10 were late-2007-born players in their first year of draft eligibility. A further three were 2007-born players in their second year of eligibility (Mondoux, Shurygin, Minchak), and six were born in 2006 (Wilmott, Barabanov, von Richter, Anderson, Kostov, Kuhta).

A total of 27 of the NHL's 32 clubs added at least one OHL player. The Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Kraken, Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings each led the way with three OHL selections.

Of note, North Bay Battalion defenceman Alexander Karmanov was selected in the seventh round, 201st overall, by the San Jose Sharks. Standing 7-foot-1, Karmanov becomes the tallest player ever chosen in the history of the NHL Draft.

An additional five players committed to the OHL for the 2026-27 season heard their names called, including goaltender Brady Knowling (Saginaw Spirit), chosen in the fourth round by the San Jose Sharks; forward Simon Katolicky (Sarnia Sting), taken in the fifth round by the Calgary Flames; forward Lucian Bernat (Owen Sound Attack), drafted in the sixth round by the Vancouver Canucks; forward Charlie Puglisi (Kitchener Rangers), selected in the seventh round by the Nashville Predators and defenceman Jean-Samuel Daigneault (Brantford Bulldogs) chosen in the seventh round by the Montreal Canadiens.

Following the 2026 NHL Draft, the OHL has developed a total of 2,685 NHL Draft picks since 1969, representing approximately 20.5 per cent of all players chosen. OHL Players Selected in the 2026 NHL Draft:

Click on player to watch post-draft media interview

First Round (7 OHL Players): 3. Caleb Malhotra (Brantford Bulldogs) - Vancouver Canucks 7. Chase Reid (Soo Greyhounds) - Seattle Kraken 15. Nikita Klepov (Saginaw Spirit) - Anaheim Ducks 17. Ethan Belchetz (Windsor Spitfires) - Utah Mammoth 24. Adam Novotny (Peterborough Petes) - Vancouver Canucks 27. Maksim Sokolovskii (London Knights) - Philadelphia Flyers 32. Jaxon Cover (London Knights) - Ottawa Senators

Second Round (4 OHL Players): 33. Brooks Rogowski (Oshawa Generals) - Vancouver Canucks 35. Ryan Roobroeck (Niagara IceDogs) - Chicago Blackhawks* 48. Ryder Cali (North Bay Battalion) - Florida Panthers 60. Alexander Bilecki (Kitchener Rangers) - Toronto Maple Leafs

Third Round (4 OHL Players): 72. Adam Nemec (Sudbury Wolves) - Ottawa Senators 86. Pierce Mbuyi (Owen Sound Attack) - Pittsburgh Penguins 92. Ben Wilmott (Barrie Colts) - Vegas Golden Knights 94. Alessandro Di Iorio (Sarnia Sting) - Columbus Blue Jackets

Fourth Round (6 OHL Players): 100. Egor Barabanov (Saginaw Spirit) - Calgary Flames 102. Spencer Bowes (Ottawa 67's) - New York Rangers 103. Thomas Vandenberg (Ottawa 67's) - Los Angeles Kings 108. Adam Levac (Peterborough Petes) - Detroit Red Wings 111. Parker von Richter (Barrie Colts) - Pittsburgh Penguins 125. Ryder Fetterolf (Ottawa 67's) - Carolina Hurricanes

Fifth Round (9 OHL Players): 131. Finn Kearns (Sudbury Wolves) - Seattle Kraken 133. Andrew Robinson (Windsor Spitfires) - Edmonton Oilers 141. Vladimir Dravecky (Brantford Bulldogs) - New York Islanders* 143. Beckham Edwards (Sarnia Sting) - Detroit Red Wings 146. Eric Frossard (Guelph Storm) - Anaheim Ducks 150. Carter Stevens (Guelph Storm) - St. Louis Blues 151. Harris Pangretitsch (Soo Greyhounds) - Ottawa Senators 155. Ryan Brown (London Knights) - Dallas Stars 157. Jacob Vandeven (London Knights) - Boston Bruins

Sixth Round (10 OHL Players): 162. Andre Mondoux (Kingston Frontenacs) - New York Rangers 163. Darian Anderson (Flint Firebirds) - New York Rangers 165. Zachary Jovanovski (Guelph Storm) - Carolina Hurricanes 169. Brody Pepoy (Saginaw Spirit) - Toronto Maple Leafs 177. Alex Kostov (Flint Firebirds) - Los Angeles Kings 180. Caden Harvey (Windsor Spitfires) - Edmonton Oilers 181. Cole Zurawski (Owen Sound Attack) - Florida Panthers 186. Stepan Shurygin (Saginaw Spirit) - Tampa Bay Lightning 190. Wesley Royston (Owen Sound Attack) - Montreal Canadiens 191. Matthew Minchak (Kingston Frontenacs) - Vegas Golden Knights

Seventh Round (7 OHL Players): 197. Jasper Kuhta (Ottawa 67's) - Dallas Stars 198. Rylan Singh (Guelph Storm) - Seattle Kraken 201. Alexander Karmanov (North Bay Battalion) - San Jose Sharks 203. Colin Fitzgerald (Soo Greyhounds) - St. Louis Blues 214. Ondrej Ruml (Ottawa 67's) - Colorado Avalanche 222. Quinn McKenzie (Soo Greyhounds) - New Jersey Devils 223. Lucas Ambrosio (Erie Otters) - Los Angeles Kings

*- recently acquired by the Guelph Storm

For more information on the 2026 NHL Draft, including full results, visit nhl.com.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from June 27, 2026


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