Seven Saginaw Spirit players were named to NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Players to Watch List for the 2027 NHL Draft on Monday, Oct. 26, the most of any team in the Canadian Hockey League. Captain Dima Zhilkin and defenseman Levi Harper both received A ratings, which mark first-round candidates.
Central Scouting grades players on the preliminary list A (first round), B (second or third round), C (fourth or fifth round), or W (sixth or seventh round). Saginaw’s seven:
- Dima Zhilkin, F, A
- Levi Harper, D, A
- Drew Roscoe, D, B
- Dmitry Savin, F, C
- Braidy Wassilyn, F, C
- Gensen Geldart, F, W
- Tyler Martyniuk, D, W
Zhilkin has been one of the OHL’s best players through the first month. He has 24 points, including 12 goals, tied for the league lead in both, with five power-play goals and a 13-game point streak that is still going. He had 75 points (36-39—75) in 59 games last season. Central Scouting director Karl Stewart called him “the smartest player on the ice” and praised his work ethic.
Harper has 10 points (2-8—10) in seven games after a rookie season in which his 57 points set a Spirit record for a first-year defenseman. Wassilyn, a 2008-born re-entry candidate acquired from London, is tied with Zhilkin for the OHL lead with 24 points (12-12—24), 12 of them on the power play. Savin, a Russian rookie, has 10 points (4-6—10) in 13 games, fourth among OHL first-year players.
Roscoe, a 6-foot-8 defenseman from St. Louis, is currently out with an upper-body injury. Geldart has two assists in 13 games, and Martyniuk, who played two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program before joining Saginaw, has seven assists.
The Central Scouting list will be updated with midterm rankings in January and final rankings in the spring ahead of the 2027 draft.
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