Saginaw Spirit defenseman Levi Harper is one of nine players added Thursday to Team CHL for the 2026 CHL USA Prospects Challenge, joining Spirit forward Dima Zhilkin on the roster. Team CHL, made up of top 2027 NHL Draft prospects from the OHL, WHL, and QMJHL, will play the U.S. National Under-18 Team from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in two games, Dec. 1 in Chicoutimi and Dec. 2 in Quebec City.

Harper, a 6-foot, 185-pound defenseman from Tampa, Fla., will be lining up against his own country’s top under-18 players. He won gold with the United States at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup before choosing the OHL route, and he set a Spirit record for points by a rookie defenseman last season with 57 in 68 games. That earned him spots on the OHL First All-Rookie Team and the CHL All-Rookie Team. He also won the Bobby Smith Trophy as the OHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year after finishing high school a year early.

Every Team CHL selection, Harper and Zhilkin included, received an “A” rating on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary Players to Watch list for the 2027 draft, the designation for likely first-round candidates. Zhilkin was among the first four players named to the team, along with Brock England, Alexis Joseph, and Carter Meyer. He came into this week tied for the OHL scoring lead and carried a 14-game point streak, the longest active run in the league.

The rest of the newcomers

The other players added Thursday are goaltender Vilmer Salén Forsberg (Brantford Bulldogs), defensemen Brock Cripps (Prince Albert Raiders), Malik L’Italien (Halifax Mooseheads), and Cooper McAslan (London Knights), and centers Ryerson Edgar (Niagara IceDogs), Aleks Kulemin (Kingston Frontenacs), Kayden Stroeder (Edmonton Oil Kings), and Jaakko Wycisk (Guelph Storm). No Flint Firebirds player has been named so far.

About the event

This is the third edition of the Prospects Challenge and the first held in Quebec and QMJHL markets, with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens hosting at the Georges-Vézina Centre and the Quebec Remparts at the Vidéotron Centre. The U.S. roster has not been announced. The Spirit were already well represented on draft lists this fall, with a CHL-best seven players on Central Scouting’s watch list.

Saginaw (6-5-2-1) hosts the Barrie Colts at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the Dow Event Center.

Related: Seven Saginaw Spirit players make NHL Central Scouting’s 2027 draft watch list, most in the CHL.

Sources

• Saginaw Spirit (CHL): Levi Harper among nine players added to Team CHL for 2026 CHL USA Prospects Challenge, Oct. 29, 2026
• Saginaw Spirit (CHL): Martyniuk scores first OHL goal, Spirit fall to Greyhounds Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026
• Saginaw Spirit (CHL): CHL-best seven Spirit players named to NHL Central Scouting’s Watch List, Oct. 26, 2026