Prospect Watch: Northern Ontario Roots "Mean Everything" To Tanner Adams Amid Trade Speculation

Back in the day, Northern Ontario was a hotbed for NHL talent.

Look at any of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Stanley Cup teams from the 1960s and you'll find key contributors from Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Cochrane and beyond. Fast-forward to today and there's a new kid repping the area — South Porcupine, to be precise — in center Tanner Adams.

Adams made a big statement at the 2026 OHL Cup while playing for The Hill, a private sports school in Caledon, which is about an hour from Toronto. The powerful pivot notched a hat trick and four points in the play-in game before racking up six more goals in the next four tournament matches.

In a year where there wasn't a clear No. 1 in the OHL draft class, Adams certainly could have been the guy. But as his agent, Dave Maloney, made clear to teams and the media, Adams wanted to play back up in Northern Ontario, preferably in Sudbury.

Ultimately, he was taken third overall by Brampton (the Wolves had the No. 5 pick), but did not sign with the Steelheads. While a trade has not been announced yet, it's certainly a possibility.

So what is it about South Porcupine and the North that is so important to the 16-year-old? 

"It's where I grew up and it's where I learned how to play hockey, where I learned how to do everything," Adams said. "It's my home and I'm proud to be from Northern Ontario."

Family and community are also incredibly important — and let's not forget we're talking about a 16-year-old here.

"It means everything," he said. "It's part of the reason why I am where I am. They give me a lot of support and have helped me throughout my journey."

Listed at six-foot and 202 pounds when he was drafted, Adams is a handful on the ice and will only get more dangerous as he gets bigger and stronger. When it comes to his biggest strengths, he combines his physical gifts with drive.

"I'd said it's my compete level and physicality," Adams said. "When I bring those to the table, it's hard to stay with me."

The teen wants to get faster and work on his first three steps and that explosiveness was a focus when he was training this summer. Adams is eligible for the 2028 NHL draft.

While Canadian defenseman Landon DuPont comes into the year as the top prospect for the 2027 NHL Draft, his best competition right now may be massive Russian left winger Nazar Privalov.

Though Privalov had a ton of points in Russia's junior league last year, I was a bit concerned with his speed and conditioning. But having watched him in the pre-season on video this week, I'm not worried anymore.

Privalov, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 227 pounds, has been a wrecking ball early on, getting in on defenders quickly and blowing them up with his powerful frame. And he's still got the goal-scorer's touch, so the rest of the 2027 class better watch out.

I was aware of the Idaho Spud Kings, but I was not prepared for the Billings Cattle Punchers or Pueblo Peppers.

The NAHL has expanded for the upcoming season, with a new Mountain Division and five teams to populate it, several of which are coming in from the NCDC junior circuit. I had seen the Spud Kings branding on social media before and I love it.

The fact there are also teams named Cattle Punchers (whose logo is a bull, so is the cattle doing the punching?) and Peppers is delightful and definitely has the fun spirit of minor-league baseball. With the junior hockey world getting ever more competitive, it never hurts to get eyeballs on your franchise, even if it's a catchy name opening the door.

Those three teams are joined by the Grand Junction River Hawks of Colorado and the Ogden Mustangs in Utah. Pueblo's Peppers were formerly the Chippewa Steel before making the move to Colorado.

The Edmonton Oil Kings recently announced a unique development plan for defenseman Holden Wouters: They're sending him to Shattuck-St. Mary's.

That's the famed Minnesota prep school whose alumni include Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Nathan MacKinnon. It's a great situation for Wouters, who won't turn 16 until December, and frankly, the first time I've heard of a major junior squad sending a player there.

Pretty good idea, though...

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