In the early stages of the 2025–26 hockey season, the top projected picks for the 2026 NHL Draft have underwhelmed a bit. While top prospects such as Gavin McKenna and Ryan Roobroeck are still fantastic, it could be argued that they’ve taken a step back at this point.
Related: Chase Reid Poised to Climb 2026 NHL Draft Boards
Ethan Belchetz, a high-skill power forward from the Windsor Spitfires, has only gotten better. He’s making the case that he should be a top-three pick in a very competitive class.
Belchetz Has Been the Spitfires’ Engine
With a record of 10–2–1, the Spitfires are plowing through the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). But they’re doing it without some key names that led them to a West Division title last March. Perhaps their best player in 2024–25, Ilya Protas, is now playing for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). Liam Greentree, one of the OHL’s most talented forwards, was suspended for three games between Oct. 11 and 17.
So, who’s been leading the charge? Belchetz, even when Greentree has played, has done the heavy lifting. Sitting at 10 goals and six assists for 16 points in 13 games, he’s tied for first in OHL goal-scoring and sixth in points. The eye test, though, has been even more impressive.
At 17 years old, Belchetz is the engine of a contender’s offence. He’s had relentless puck possession, both distributing scoring opportunities and taking them himself. Threading cross-ice passes constantly, simultaneously on pace for a 52-goal campaign, it says a lot about his dominance.
Belchetz’s Frame Is Another Selling Point
Belchetz didn’t go No. 1 in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection for his skill alone. Today, he stands at 6-foot-5 and 227 pounds—one of the biggest prospects in hockey. The term “unicorn” gets overused just a smidge, but Belchetz is an exception. He uses his size incredibly well for his age, and combined with the skill, is totally unstoppable.
Ethan Belchetz, Windsor Spitfires (David Jewell / The Hockey Writers)
Even compared to fellow 6-foot-5 linemate Jack Nesbitt, selected 12th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2025 NHL Draft, Belchetz is more physically impactful in my opinion. He doesn’t play like a 2008-born player—more like 2006. It’s a testament to his maturity at such a young age.
Why Belchetz Should Go Early in 2026
Belchetz is playing himself into the top-three conversation at the same time that others are playing themselves out of it. Roobroeck, another huge forward from the OHL, has taken a step back this season, per my eye test. When I looked at the numbers, I wasn’t surprised: eight points in 11 games. He’ll likely find his footing, but this is a player coming off an 87-point campaign across 64 contests.
Ethan Belchetz wins a puck battle along the wall, then immediately cuts to the middle (sitckhandling through a defender) and fires one home short side.
This guy is looking more and more like the complete package offensively. pic.twitter.com/XKOV3ALiif
— Félix Sicard (@Felix_Sicard) October 18, 2025
Inside the consensus top 10 for the 2026 NHL Draft, only a few players have truly increased their stock. Belchetz is one of them, and perhaps the most jaw-dropping of them all. He’s looked like a true game-breaker so far, and I don’t expect that to change.
To me, McKenna and Keaton Verhoeff should still be the first two players off the board, and in that order. But it’s really anyone’s game after that. Dynamic Swedish Hockey League (SHL) winger Ivar Stenberg has a case, and Western Hockey League (WHL) center Mathis Preston has lived up to the hype, but Belchetz has the edge right now. In June, the same might be true.
