Standouts From The OHL's Opening Weekend

The opening weekend of the 2026-27 OHL season has come and gone, and with that of course comes some standout performers across the league.

With many NHL-drafted prospects still not quite back from training camps yet, it's allowed some of the younger talent across the league to shine, and a few 2027 NHL draft eligibles really stood out with big performances.

With that, here's our top forward, defenceman and goalie picks from the first week of OHL action.

While it didn't lead to any wins, Dima Zhilkin was absolutely flying to start off his draft-year.

The Saginaw Spirit captain was all over the ice, using his speed, motor and shot to take over shifts and score in all situations.

He started the season off with a two-goal performance against the Greyhounds, with both goals coming in the third period, including the 4-4 equalizer to force OT with under two minutes to go in the third.

Zhilkin followed that up with a goal and two assists against Flint the next night, giving the feisty winger two goals and three assists in two games.

Those five points tie him with London's Evan Van Gorp for first in the league in points, factoring in on 62.5% of the Spirit's goal so far this season.

While McAslan only played eight combined OHL regular season and playoff games last year, he's off to a big start in what is also his draft year.

The mobile right-shot blueliner showed what he can do at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup over the summer, and Dale Hunter is clearly ready to give the Bowmanville native a much bigger role this season.

Without Maksim Sokolovskii or Henry Brzustewicz for the opening weekend, it was McAslan who got the no. 1 D duties, and he showed up ready for the assignment.

On Friday's home opener, he played over 30 minutes, and capped off that performance with the OT winner over the Spitfires.

As the second half of the home-and-home went back to Windsor, McAslan added a power-play goal and an assist to his tally, playing big minutes once again as the Knights skated away with a 2-0 opening weekend as they look to contend once again this season.

While all the headlines in Sudbury may have been on Tanner Adams, it was Frasca in goal who really stole the show with two fantastic performances to help the Wolves jump out to a 2-0 record.

The overage goaltender started the season off with a solid, 25-save effort against Peterborough, allowing just one goal as the Wolves won 2-1 in regulation.

The next night, it was a 31-save shutout over Barrie, capping off an excellent opening weekend for both Frasca and Sudbury.

Some strong goaltending and some newfound offensive flair could make this team a pretty underrated contender out in the Eastern conference early on this season.

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