Chase Reid is at the top of this list for me because, as I mentioned to another scout recently, I wanted to slide him into our latest Top 10 and just barely talked myself out of it (and immediately wished I hadn’t). He’ll be within our next top 10 for sure, but if I’m being honest he’ll probably move up just into or outside the top 5. I like his game that much.
Reid is a defenseman for the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds of the OHL. At 6’2″ and 187 pounds, he’s pretty average sized for defense prospects in our current wave, and boy, can he move. Reid is an elite skater with tools that easily project to the NHL—high-end playmaking and passing, great activation, and impressive rush defense, just to name a few. Mistakes don’t tend to throw him off his game, and his decision-making is typically sound (and I don’t know about y’all, but that is so soothing for me to see in a draft-eligible defense prospect). There’s a reason that EliteProspects’ crack scouting team has him ranked third overall, and I look forward to seeing other outlets come around to the (correct) belief that Reid should be a top-five pick if he continues on this path.