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The Sarnia Sting have seven players on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players-to-watch list for the 2026 NHL draft.
Published Oct 21, 2025 • Last updated 30 minutes ago • 2 minute read
Sarnia Sting’s Alessandro Di Iorio (17) plays against the London Knights at Progressive Auto Sales Arena in Sarnia, Ont., on Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Mark Malone/Postmedia Network) jpg, CD, apsmcArticle content
The Sarnia Sting have seven players on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players-to-watch list for the 2026 NHL draft.
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Centre Alessandro Di Iorio leads the group with an A rating as a projected first-round pick.
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Centre Beckham Edwards has a B rating as a second- or third-round candidate. Left-winger Ryan Brown has a C rating as a fourth- or fifth-round candidate.
Centre Chase Gaughan, left-winger Kase Kamzik, right-winger Matthew Manza and goalie Patrick Quinlan are sixth- and seventh-round candidates with a W rating.
The Windsor Spitfires also have seven players on the list, tying the Sting for the most among Ontario Hockey League teams.
The Medicine Hat Tigers lead the Canadian Hockey League with nine players.
The six-foot-one, 175-pound Di Iorio, 17, hasn’t played this season because of an injury. He had 11 goals and 27 assists in 58 games last season as a rookie.
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The six-foot-one, 170-pound Edwards, 17, is the Sting’s leading scorer with five goals and 12 points in 10 games. He made the OHL second all-rookie team last season after posting 25 goals and 20 assists in 62 games.
Di Iorio and Edwards won bronze with Canada’s national U18 summer team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August.
The five-foot-11, 172-pound Brown is in his third OHL season. He turns 18 next week and, like Manza, is draft-eligible for the first time in 2026 because of his late birth date.
Brown has eight points in 10 games after totalling 41 points in 68 games last season.
Manza, 18, is in his first full OHL season. Kamzik, 17, and Gaughan, 17, are rookies. Quinlan, 18, was eligible for this year’s NHL draft, but wasn’t picked.
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QUINLAN AWARDED
Quinlan is the OHL goaltender of the week after going 1-0-1-0 with a 2.93 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in two games against the Windsor Spitfires.
He was the first star Friday with 27 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss in Sarnia. He was the third star Saturday with 42 saves in a 5-3 win in Windsor.
Quinlan is 2-1-2-0 with a 3.16 GAA and .901 save percentage in his first OHL campaign after two seasons with the U.S. national team development program.
MCGREGOR SCORES
Captain Tyler McGregor of Forest scored in Canada’s 2-1 overtime loss to the United State in Monday’s opening game at the International Para Hockey Cup in Ostrava, Czechia.
“We would love to have started with a win, but our effort was exceptional today,” McGregor said in a statement. “A whole new coaching staff, new systems and adjustments, and I’m really proud of how we executed. Everyone has been working hard this off-season.
“It’s been a heavy lift for all of us, but we did a good job today. Lots of things we can clean up and work on. The U.S. is our toughest competition, and you may as well test yourself against them right off the bat. We will keep growing this week and hopefully get another shot at them later in the week.”
Canada plays Czechia Tuesday, China Thursday and Italy Friday in the preliminary round.
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