Chase Reid has tried to keep his head down and tune out the noise.
As one of the top prospects heading into the NHL draft on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. that was always going to be an uphill struggle, especially in the social media age with projections and opinions peppering the internet.
“They’re popping up a lot more often than not with it coming close,” said Reid, the No. 2-ranked North American skater, according to the league’s scouting department. “I like to see what people are thinking, but I don’t go out looking for it.”
And then there’s the content that playfully muses about his potential future as the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks, who own the first and second overall picks, and 30 other teams go through final preparations ahead of Friday’s first round in Buffalo, N.Y.
“My billet brother keeps making AI-generated images of me in different jerseys,” said Reid, a defenceman for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. “I see some of what he’s posting.”
It’s a surreal position to be in, and one that felt like a distant dream not that long ago
Committed to eventually play at Michigan State in the NCAA, Reid was cut from the United States Hockey League, the country’s top domestic junior circuit, early in 2024-25 before catching on in the second tier North American Hockey League.
The Chesterfield, Mich., product put up 12 points in 18 games for the Bismarck Bobcats when Sault Ste. Marie, which took a flyer on Reid in the 2023 OHL draft, came calling once U.S. college hockey’s eligibility rules changed for major junior players.
“If they didn’t give me the opportunity,” Reid said of the Greyhounds, “I don’t know where I’m at today.”
Rocketed up draft boards
He hasn’t looked back.
The six-foot-three, 195-pound, right-shot blueliner rocketed up draft boards in a season where he registered 18 goals and 48 points across 45 games.
“He does have a chip on his shoulder,” Sault Ste. Marie general manager Kyle Raftis said in a phone interview of the 18-year-old. “Somebody that has a blind faith that things are going to work out if he puts that work in and he trusts who’s around him.”
Reid, who really took off after suiting up at the world junior hockey championship and won the Canadian Hockey League’s top prospect award for 2025-26, said the last 12 months have been a “roller-coaster.”
“But I thought I handled myself,” he said recently in Toronto. “I made sure everybody knew that I was not going to stop working until I achieved my goals.”
Raftis recalled the day Reid showed up in Sault Ste. Marie in December 2024. The paperwork for his transfer was completed a few hours before a game.
“Got the green light at 5:30 p.m. and he was like, ‘All right, cool,”‘ said the GM. “It wasn’t like it was anything. After the first period, I popped down to the coaches’ room and went, ‘OK, we could probably give him a little more ice.’ We had high hopes, but it was a big jump.
“I haven’t seen too many 17-year-olds walk in and feel that welcomed and that comfortable that quickly.”
Raftis said the team that lands Reid will get a modern-day defenceman in the mould of fellow American blueliner Zach Werenski.
“Deadly in transition, can really help the power play,” Raftis said. “But he really made a point this year of showing he can play on both sides of the puck.”
The projected 1st-overall selection in next year’s NHL entry draft hails from the far north of Canada — Whitehorse, Yukon. He’ll also be playing in the NCAA at Penn State for his draft year, a decision that could change the path top prospects take to the NHL. But, who is Gavin McKenna?
‘No secret’ before 2025 draft
Reid, who won the same CHL prospect award Matthew Schaefer claimed last spring before going No. 1 overall to the New York Islanders and capturing the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year, has done his best to soak up the draft experience.
“Just live in the moment,” he said. “You only get to do it once.”
Raftis had a feeling Reid would be getting all kinds of pre-draft love at this time last year.
“We had a couple high picks in 2025,” he said. “About 10 of the NHL teams, when we were wrapping up talking about our current draft eligibles, were like, ‘OK, where do you think Chase Reid goes if he’s eligible for this draft?’ He was no secret.”
But unlike many of the 2026 top prospects, Reid hadn’t dealt with the same attention as players like No. 1-ranked North American skater Gavin McKenna throughout his teenage years.
“We weren’t really sure how he was going to handle it, but I was really impressed,” Raftis said. “You’re not supposed to read those independent lists or independent scouting reports, but every one of us is guilty, myself included. You could see the rapid ascension.
“He leaned on guys that have been through it.”
Reid, meanwhile, is now just waiting to hear his name called following a long journey.
“I’ve definitely envisioned this,” he said. “It’s in the back of my mind every day.”
The projected 1st-overall selection in next year’s NHL entry draft hails from the far north of Canada — Whitehorse, Yukon. He’ll also be playing in the NCAA at Penn State for his draft year, a decision that could change the path top prospects take to the NHL. But, who is Gavin McKenna?
