46 OHL PLAYERS INCLUDED ON NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING PRELIMINARY PLAYERS TO WATCH LIST

Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League is proud to announce that 46 OHL players have been included on NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Players to Watch List for the 2021 NHL Draft.

The list includes 25 forwards, 16 defencemen and five goaltenders.

“At this point in the evaluation process and considering the lack of a summer scouting season, it’s much too early to identify a strength for the 2021 draft class other than to state that there are a number of good prospects at every position,” Director of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr said.

A total of five OHL players were assigned an ‘A’ rating indicating a potential first round NHL Draft candidate. Those names include a 2019-20 first all-rookie team member in Barrie Colts defenceman Brandt Clarke along with a second team member in Peterborough Petes centreman Mason McTavish. Guelph Storm defenceman Daniil Chayka joins a recently committed Hamilton Bulldogs prospect in Russian countryman Artyom Grushnikov in the ‘A’ column alongside Kitchener Rangers forward Francesco Pinelli.

An additional six OHL skaters along with three goaltenders were assigned ‘B’ rankings, indicating a potential second or third round candidate. Those include former first round 2019 OHL Priority Selection choices Brennan Othmann (Flint Firebirds), Wyatt Johnston (Windsor Spitfires), Brett Harrison (Oshawa Generals) and goaltender Ben Gaudreau (Sarnia Sting). Sudbury Wolves forwards Chase Stillman and Nick DeGrazia join recently committed Windsor Spitfires prospect Daniil Sobolev in receiving a ‘B’ listing along with goaltenders Tristan Lennox (Saginaw Spirit) and Joe Vrbetic (North Bay Battalion). An additional 30 skaters and two goaltenders were assigned a ‘C’ ranking, indicating a potential fourth, fifth or sixth round candidate.

All 20 of the OHL’s member teams are represented on the list led by the defending Hamilton Spectator Trophy recipient Ottawa 67’s with five players followed by the Hamilton Bulldogs with four and the Barrie Colts, Kitchener Rangers, London Knights, Peterborough Petes and Sarnia Sting each with three.

2021 NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to Watch List – OHL:

SKATERS:

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	POSITION
A	Daniil Chayka	Guelph Storm	D
A	Brandt Clarke	Barrie Colts	D
A	Artyom Grushnikov*	Hamilton Bulldogs	D
A	Mason McTavish	Peterborough Petes	C
A	Francesco Pinelli	Kitchener Rangers	C
B	Nick DeGrazia	Sudbury Wolves	C
B	Brett Harrison	Oshawa Generals	C
B	Wyatt Johnston	Windsor Spitfires	C
B	Brennan Othmann	Flint Firebirds	LW
B	Daniil Sobolev*	Windsor Spitfires	D
B	Chase Stillman	Sudbury Wolves	C
C	Francesco Arcuri	Kingston Frontenacs	C
C	Jack Beck	Ottawa 67’s	RW
C	Ethan Burroughs	Owen Sound Attack	RW
C	Ethan Cardwell	Barrie Colts	RW
C	Nolan Dann	Sarnia Sting	LW
C	Ethan Del Mastro	Mississauga Steelheads	D
C	Isaac Enright	Niagara IceDogs	D
C	Vsevolod Gaidamak*	Ottawa 67’s	C
C	Ranvir Gill-Shane	Ottawa 67’s	D
C	Deni Goure	Owen Sound Attack	C
C	Artem Guryev	Peterborough Petes	D
C	Avery Hayes	Hamilton Bulldogs	RW
C	Jacob Holmes	Soo Greyhounds	D
C	Braeden Kressler	Flint Firebirds	C
C	Kasper Larsen*	Mississauga Steelheads	D
C	Connor Lockhart	Erie Otters	C
C	Logan Mailloux	London Knights	D
C	Jack Matier	Ottawa 67’s	D
C	Bryce Montgomery	London Knights	D
C	Matvei Petrov*	North Bay Battalion	RW
C	Connor Punnett	Barrie Colts	D
C	Ben Roger	London Knights	D
C	Colby Saganiuk*	Erie Otters	RW
C	Lawson Sherk	Hamilton Bulldogs	C
C	Brenden Sirizzotti	Ottawa 67’s	RW
C	Matthew Sop	Kitchener Rangers	LW
C	Oliver Suni	Oshawa Generals	RW
C	Ty Voit	Sarnia Sting	RW
C	Ryan Winterton	Hamilton Bulldogs	RW
C	Brian Zanetti*	Peterborough Petes	D

GOALTENDERS:

RANK	GOALTENDER	TEAM
B	Ben Gaudreau	Sarnia Sting
B	Tristan Lennox	Saginaw Spirit
B	Joe Vrbetic	North Bay Battalion
C	Pavel Cajan*	Kitchener Rangers
C	Nick Malik	Soo Greyhounds

*– indicates player committed to OHL for 2020-21

Players have been identified using the following criteria:

• A Rating – Indicates a first round candidate

• B Rating – Indicates a second or third round candidate

• C Rating – Indicates a fourth/fifth/sixth round candidate

For the complete list, visit NHL.com.
 

About the Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is a proud member of the Canadian Hockey League which is the world’s largest development hockey league with 60 teams in nine Canadian provinces and four American states. In addition to the OHL, the CHL is made up of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The CHL supplies more players to the National Hockey League and U SPORTS than any other league. For more information visit http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/.