Scout’s Analysis: Breaking down 2025 OHL Top Prospects Game

BRANTFORD, Ont. — Top prospects games can provide a wide range of information on draft eligible players. 

There’s a long history of top-rated prospects who, for whatever reason, didn’t perform well at these events, while others take advantage of having every NHL team in attendance to scout them for the draft in June. 

Wednesday’s OHL Top Prospect Game in Brantford had its share of high-end offensive playmaking and goal scoring. The goaltending was pretty solid overall, and both teams competed physically throughout. The game also included fisticuffs! Which is something that doesn’t usually occur at a prospects game. 

Here are some of my observations from the 2025 OHL Top Prospects Game:

Gordie Howe hat trick

Brampton Steelheads forward Porter Martone is the fourth-ranked skater in North America by NHL Central Scouting. I believe he’s going to challenge for, at least, a top-four overall ranking and could have his name called as soon as No. 2 come June. 

Martone scored the winning goal in the three-on-three overtime. It capped off a night that included an assist and a fight in regulation time, meaning he ended the prospect game with a Gordie Howe hat trick. I honestly cannot recall such a feat occurring at any of the previous 18 prospects games I’ve scouted. 

Martone stood out. His combination of power and skill is very intriguing. He was involved along the wall, out front of the net and pushed the play off the rush. He’s produced 22 goals and 40 assists in 30 games for the Steelheads, along with 45 penalty minutes. Those kinds of numbers project him to be a player who could produce over 45 goals, 80 assists and 90 PIMs. 

The NHL game is being played faster than ever. The regular season doesn’t include as much physicality as it used to, but playoffs are a completely different animal. Players like Martone are becoming unicorns compared to other prospects around the globe. You can’t teach size, and Martone has plenty of it (six-foot-three, 208 pounds) to go along with his skill. 

Defencemen

Cameron Reid 

Kitchener Rangers

6-foot-0, 193 pounds – Left Shot

27th-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS

Reid does it all for the Rangers and he stood out in Brantford. He’s an elusive skater with high-end hockey IQ. Reid escaped pressure to launch the attack from his defensive zone and walked the blue line in the offensive zone to direct pucks on net. He ended the game with three assists and player-of-the-game honours for Team West. 

Carson Cameron

Peterborough Petes

6-foot-1, 193 pounds – Right Shot 

87th-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS 

Cameron also caught my attention with his skating and handling of the puck. He was engaged in the defensive zone, pushed back with some physicality, and led the rush on occasion. I see him as a two-way “D” with a transitional element. He appears capable of producing more offence in time. Cameron averages 0.50 points per game in Peterborough, but the team is in the midst of a reset, so there should be more offence on the horizon from Cameron as the group matures. 

David Bedkowski

Owen Sound Attack

6-foot-4½, 215 pounds – Right Shot

38th-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS

Big, rangy, right-shot defencemen who take away time and space are coveted by NHL teams. Bedkowski isn’t known to push the play offensively, or take many risks with the puck on his stick, but he attempted to make more plays in this game and generally looked comfortable doing so. He’s difficult to manoeuvre around and made life miserable for opponents near his crease. 

Forwards

Michael Misa

Saginaw Spirit 

6-foot-1, 184 pounds – Left Shot – Centre

3rd-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS

Misa’s body of work this season has been elite. He’s the leading scorer in the OHL with 35 goals and 37 assists. I have no doubt he will compete for the OHL scoring title the rest of the season. He’s played centre the entire season, and the extra space to make plays the full width of the ice surface — compared to playing wing via offensive-zone exits — agrees with his skill set. 

Misa’s game on Wednesday was average. He was spotty handling the puck and making plays at even strength but did look dangerous on the power play. He ended with a power-play assist but looked a little off with his playmaking for most of the game. It won’t affect his trajectory, he still has lots of runway ahead of him before the draft, but he was outplayed by Martone. 

Jake O’Brien

Brantford Bulldogs

6-foot-2, 172 pounds – Right Shot – Centre

8th-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS

O’Brien had some synergy playing along side linemates Martone and Ethan Czata (Niagara Ice Dogs). The trio made plays off the cycle and in high-danger areas most of the night. O’Brien’s puck touch, specifically, stood out. He sees the ice, resulting in plays moving quickly and accurately off his stick. O’Brien was named the player of the game for Team East after his three-assist effort. 

Brady Martin 

Soo Greyhounds 

6-foot-0, 178 pounds – Right Shot – Centre

17th-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS

Martin was around the play the entire game. He played the bumper / net front position on the power play and scored on a tip in the first period. Martin is a handful to play against. He finishes his checks, works off the boards going to the net, boxes out opponents effectively and very seldom gets caught out of position defensively. I appreciate the way he leads by example. His competitiveness and skill are evident every time his number is called. He’s a name to monitor closely in the build-up to the draft. Don’t be surprised to hear his name called well before his ranking. 

Lirim Amidovski

North Bay Battalion

6-foot-1, 180 pounds – Right Shot – Forward

85th-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS

Amidovski is also a player who took full advantage of the opportunity to play in this game. He scored a highlight-reel goal in the first period, when he burst off the wing and went bar-down for the tuck. Amidovski’s stats haven’t jumped off the page in North Bay this season (10 goals and six assists in 37 games) but he sure looked comfortable handling the puck and attacking off the rush. He’s got my attention. I’m hoping he gains confidence off this experience and it pushes him toward greater output down the stretch. 

Luca Romano

Kitchener Rangers

5-foot-11, 177 pounds – Right Shot – Centre

35th-ranked skater in North America by NHL CS

Every time I watch Romano play, he stands out for his speed, energy and offensive upside. He’s the kind of prospect who projects as a middle-six NHL forward. Romano can match up versus top-six forwards defensively, kill penalties and slot into one of the power-play units. He scored the opening goal of the game when he beat his opponent up ice, through the neutral zone, established body position and fired the puck inside the post in motion. 

Is Owen Sound a Goalie Factory?

Goaltender Carter George was Canada’s top player at the World Juniors in Ottawa. He’s the starting netminder for the Owen Sound Attack, but his backup, Matthew Koprowski, looks poised to be an OHL starter, and NHL draft pick, in the near future. 

Koprowski made some big stops in his half of the game. He took the loss in overtime when Martone slid the puck between the legs of Koprowski, who was without his goal stick, but had made a massive glove stop a few minutes earlier to give his group a chance to win. 

Koprowski is the 12th-ranked goalie in North America, which means he is likely a fifth- to seventh-round target, depending on how the draft unfolds. He’s six-foot-two and 199 pounds, catches with his left hand and is plenty athletic. He has good feet, pushed laterally on time and made himself as big as possible fronting shooters. Teams will have to plan their visits around his starts for Owen Sound in the back half of the season.

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