The OHL's points leader should hear his name called in round one later this week.
NHL draft week is here, with the big event finally coming up this weekend. Counting down the days to Friday, it's time to hammer out some more players from across the OHL to keep an eye on.
Today's profile is on Nikita Klepov, the OHL's points leader and rookie of the year, coming off an incredible debut season with the Saginaw Spirit.
The American-Russian dual national put up 97 (37+60) points in 67 games this season with the Spirit as the offensive leader on the team.
Nikita Klepov's offensive skill and deception should see him become a first-round pick at this year's NHL draft. (Photo: Natalie Shaver/OHL Images)Klepov has taken advantage of the new CHL-NCAA agreement rules, coming over to Saginaw after a year in the USHL with the Sioux City Musketeers.
Born in Florida, the skillful winger mostly grew up mostly in Russia, spending time with the Rus Moskva program before coming over to play in the States for the WB/Scranton Penguins youth programs.
Now, he's expected to make the jump to the NCAA for 2026-27, joining Michigan State University.
At his best, Klepov is a dynamic offensive talent off the wing, possessing a ton of skill and deception to create plays, and a good motor to move and create space in the offensive zone, while not floating defensively either.
He's clearly a player who's good at putting up points, and skilled in terms of being able to beat defenders. He's also a very good player on the power play, being able to run it from the half-wall, and move around with and without the puck to create shooting lanes for himself and teammates.
While a mix of profiting from a very good system in Saginaw and being heavily relied upon make it so he's maybe not a top-10 to 15 prospect, he's still very clearly a first-round talent and will be a potential top-six forward on any team that selects him.
In general, Klepov is projected to be selected somewhere between 15th and 30th by most outlets, likely being picked by a team that could use an offensive boost.
It's probably fair to say he'll take two years in college before being ready to turn pro, where he can fine-tune his game into being more effective with his dangles shift-by-shift, and continue to develop his game to be an all-around offensive weapon.
Still, Klepov should immediately be expected to be one of the top NCAA scorers next season, just as he did in the OHL, and will likely see himself in the pro ranks in an offensive role and a power play unit once he's ready to hit that level.
But before that, he'll be ready this weekend to hear which NHL team will be at the head of his development path.
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