The Sudbury Wolves began to look to the future at the trade deadline this past January, trading away veterans Nathan Villeneuve, Kieron Walton and Alex Pharand and becoming younger with the addition of Jean-Cristoph Lemieux and Genc Ula.
This past weekend, the local OHLers hope to have added notably to their stable of young talent, adding 15 new prospects to their grouping including five picks in the first three rounds alone.
Topping the draft list for the Wolves is high scoring forward Kash Kwajah from the Toronto Junior Canadiens, selected fifth overall in the draft. The 6'0" 180 pound 15 year-old recorded 28 goals and 35 assists over the course of 31 games, named as the GTHL U16 AAA Player of the Year.
A native of Etobicoke, Kwajah also showed well on the big stage, collecting 13 points in seven games at the 2026 OHL Cup and earning himself a spot on the tournament all-star team as the Canadiens advanced to the Cup final.
In the second round, the Wolves opted to try and solidify their blueline, welcoming 6'4" right-shooting defenceman Ivan Belikov to the fold. Born in Moscow, Belikov has resided in North America seemingly for at least the past seven years, moving from California to Florida, with further stops in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Michigan.
Suiting up with Detroit Honeybaked 15U AAA squad last winter, Belikov collected 10 goals and 25 assists in 84 games and helped lead his team to an OHL Cup title, emerging as one of the top puck-moving defensemen in the draft.
The Wolves covered all bases in round three, adding another defenseman in Shayden Hintenberger (from Port Colborne - played with Hill Academy), forward Ronan Quinn (from Stouffville - Markham Majors) and goaltender Luke Lawson (from Aurora - Reps Hockey).
Rounding out the 2026 OHL draft, from a Sudbury perspective, were:
Round 4 - Garrett Sutton (RD) - from Livonia (MI) - BioSteel Sports AcademyRound 4 - Cole Krottner (RW) - from Stittsville - Ottawa Valley Titans
Round 5 - Brody Schulz (RW) - from Kanata - Ottawa Myers Automotive
Round 5 - Mason Drouin (RD) - from Orchard Park (NY) - Nichols School
Round 8 - Cohen O'Neill (G) - from Whitby - Markham Majors
Round 9 - Alex Dvorak (LD) - from Fort Myers (FLA) - Florida Alliance
Round 10 - Cameron Gout (LW) - from Caledon - Credit River Capitals
Round 11 - Rylan Aufderheide (LD) - from Mars (PA) - Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
Round 12 - Rylan Da Costa (G) - from West Lorne - Huron-Perth Lakers
Round 13 - Brycen McCoy* (C) - from Belleville - Kingston Canadiens
* younger brother of former Wolves' captain Donovan McCoy