Troops haven’t had an NHL prospect bumper crop like this since 2021-22.

Ryder Cali tops five members of the North Bay Battalion in midseason rankings released late Monday by the National Hockey League’s central scouting department.

Left winger Cali is joined by right winger Parker Vaughan, defenceman Alexander Karmanov, right winger Ryder Carey and left winger Arseny Pronin on the list prepared in advance of the 2026 NHL Draft, to be conducted June 26-27 at Buffalo, again in a decentralized format.

The last time the franchise had this many players on the NHL radar was back in the 2021-22 season, when Liam Arnsby, Ty Nelson, Tnias Mathurin, Dalyn Wakely and Dom DiVincentiis were listed. 

Cali, who has played centre in the last three games, is rated No. 22, marking him as a potential first-round pick. He has 10 goals and four assists for 14 points in 19 games this season after missing time to injury.

A first-round pick, 18th overall, by the Soo Greyhounds in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection from the Markham Majors U16s, Cali had his rights acquired in a trade Sept. 13, 2024. The Penetanguishene, Ont., resident turns 18 on Sept. 6.

Vaughan is ranked 141st as a possible fifth-rounder. The Battalion acquired him in a Jan. 5, 2025, trade with the Barrie Colts, who made him the fifth overall selection in 2024 from the Elgin Middlesex Canucks U16s. The St. Thomas, Ont., resident turns 18 on March 6.

Vaughan has scored 10 goals and earned 11 assists for 21 points in 39 games this season.

Karmanov is at No. 194, the first of three Troops positioned in the seventh and final round, although the projections do not include Europeans. The Battalion acquired the rights to the native of Chisinau, Moldova, from the junior B Brantford Titans in November after he was a third-round pick in the 2025 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft by the Brantford Bulldogs, who released him to retain three older players.

Karmanov, who turns 18 on March 22, has one assist in nine games.

Carey, rated 212th, has scored nine goals and added 10 assists for 19 points in 31 games. North Bay chose the Millgrove, Ont., resident in the first round, 16th overall, in 2024 from the Oakville Rangers U16s. He turns 18 on Aug. 2.

Pronin is ranked 214th. A native of Minsk, Belarus, who turns 19 on May 16, he was a second-rounder in the 2025 CHL Import Draft. He has five goals and five assists for 10 points in 27 games after playing last season in Russia with Loko-76 Yaroslavl of the Junior Hockey League, or MHL.

Additionally, right winger Kam Hodgson, whose OHL rights are held by North Bay, is ranked 224th. Hodgson, who turns 18 on April 2, is playing a third season at Culver Military Academy of Culver, Ind. The Battalion selected the Barrie native in the sixth round in 2024.

The top-rated OHL skater is Soo defenceman Chase Reid at No. 4. He is followed at fifth by Brantford centre Caleb Malhotra.

In addition, a list of 32 North American-based goaltenders, including 10 OHLers, was released, along with international lists, essentially European-based, of 128 skaters and 20 goaltenders.

The top-ranked OHL goaltender is Zachary Jovanovski of the Guelph Storm at No. 10.

The Western Hockey League has 67 skaters ranked, while the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League has 35, giving the CHL a total of 167. Nine WHL goaltenders and eight QMJHL counterparts help produce 27 ranked CHL goalies, accounting for all but five listed.

Players are first-time eligible for the NHL Draft in the year they turn 18, unless they were born Sept. 16 or later, in which case they must wait until the following year.