Chase Reid never thought of quitting his pursuit of the NHL, even when being dropped from his USHL team was mentally challenging. Now, he's the CHL's top NHL draft prospect.
Everyone's path to the NHL is unique, but there aren't many underdog stories quite like Chase Reid's.
At the end of the 2023-24 season, the Chesterfield, Mich., native was released by his USHL team, the Waterloo Black Hawks, after suiting up for just 10 games.
He found himself starting the 2024-25 season in Tier II junior hockey with the North American Hockey League's Bismarck Bobcats, a long way from being considered a high-end first-round NHL draft pick at a pivotal point in his development.
The type of adversity athletes like Reid overcome often gets romanticized when it all works out, but in the moment, it rarely feels inspiring. It's often filled with self-doubt and tough conversations that can leave them feeling like their dream is slipping away.
"It was definitely hard on my mental side," Reid said Monday at the CHL awards ceremony in downtown Toronto. "Getting sent down from the top league where you want to be, it sucks."
That reality was discouraging, but Reid said he believes it ultimately fuelled him to become the player he is today.
"I never had any thoughts of quitting," Reid said. "It was all just more reason to work harder and prove people wrong, so that was my only goal, and obviously I accomplished that."
"I can fight through the most adversity that you want to put someone through, and I'm still going to go out there and prove to you why I should be the No. 1 guy."
After a short stint in Bismarck, Reid headed to Sault Ste. Marie in December 2024 to join the Greyhounds midway through the season. Reid was a seventh-round pick of the Greyhounds in the 2023 OHL priority selection.
He'll never forget the day he got the call to finally join the Greyhounds, because it proved to him that all the hard work was beginning to pay off.
"I was sitting in my bed in the basement in Bismarck, and they called me," Reid said. "We had just got home from a road trip at like 3:30 a.m., my mom called me at 8 a.m., and she's like, 'Hey, the Soo offered you a contract; do you want to take it?' So we packed our things and got on our way.
"Giving me the opportunity as a kid playing in the (NAHL), I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to come and thrive in an environment like it is in the Soo."
Reid was an immediate standout on the Greyhounds' blueline, recording 40 points in 39 games and adding three points in the team's five playoff games.
Chase Reid wore the 'A' on his jersey in just his second season with the Soo Greyhounds. (Terry Wilson-OHL Images)While his smooth skating and offensive tools have developed into standout traits of his, Reid said his defensive game has taken major strides during his time with the Greyhounds.
"I finally added a defensive element to my game that nobody really thought I could add," Reid said. "Having Brendan Taylor back there, my assistant coach, being able to feed off the things he's saying and be the player that he wanted me to be, I think I fulfilled that."
After a strong first impression, Reid continued to raise the bar for himself by tallying 18 goals and 48 points in 45 games as an alternate captain of the Greyhounds this season, all while averaging nearly 30 minutes of ice time.
Now, the star major junior defenseman has captured the 2026 CHL top draft prospect award and is entering the NHL draft as the No. 2-ranked North American skater on Central Scouting's rankings.
The CHL's top draft prospect award's previous winners include a who's who of elite NHL talent: Matthew Schaefer, Connor Bedard, Connor McDavid, John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Jordan Staal, Joe Thornton and Eric Lindros.
"It's a huge honor, and I would have never anticipated myself being here today," Reid said after accepting his award on Monday. "It was all the Soo Greyhounds – they gave me the chance to be the player I am today."
Reid's ascension up the draft rankings was not a linear process, but as the first round in Buffalo on June 26 approaches, the tenacious pursuit of his ultimate goal of making the NHL has not gone unnoticed.
"I'm a very resilient person," Reid said. "I can fight through the most adversity that you want to put someone through, and I'm still going to go out there and prove to you why I should be the No. 1 guy."
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