Ethan Belchetz was a part of an historic season for the Windsor Spitfires last season.
The Spitfires finished the 2023-24 campaign with the Ontario Hockey League’s second-worst record at 18-42-8 but managed to win the draft lottery, using the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft on Belchetz, a forward from Oakville, Ont.
The Spitfires then had a complete turnaround last season, winning the West Division with a 45-17-6 record. The 52-point improvement set a franchise record and marked as only the fifth time in OHL history a team was able to go from last to first in one season since the league moved to a four-division format in 1998-99.
Belchetz was a key part of the team’s resurgence, recording 17 goals and 38 points in his rookie season.
“When I saw Windsor got the first-overall pick, I was super honoured and grateful to be selected by such an unbelievable organization,” Belchetz told TSN on Wednesday. “It was a tough year for them prior to me getting drafted, but we broke a record from going from having one of the worst seasons to one of the best and we broke that record for a reason.
“We had such a great team last year and we’re just keeping it going into this year where we have super high expectations.”
Windsor has not slowed down to begin the 2025-26 campaign as they lead the Western Conference with a 15-4-3 record and are six points behind the Brantford Bulldogs for top spot in the league.
Belchetz’s impact continues to evolve as he sits third in the OHL with 16 goals to go along with his 27 points as he takes a more significant role in the team’s offence.
The 6-foot-5 winger views himself as a strong power forward who uses his size and strength to his advantage to create offence. Growing up, he based his game off of Columbus Blue Jackets legend Rick Nash and wears No. 61 in his honour.
But Belchetz also says he also takes a page out of Matthew and Brady Tkachuk’s book by trying to find ways to gain the advantage both physically and mentally.
“I really like the Tkachuk brothers right now – just the way they can compete, and you notice them every single shift,” said Belchetz. “Whether they are laying out hits, getting under people’s skin, putting pucks in the back of the net, or setting up their teammates for high-quality chances, they’re always doing something that grabs your attention every single shift.”
Belchetz’s play this season has given him the honour to represent the Canadian Hockey League at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge next week in Calgary and Lethbridge, Atla.
The CHL USA Prospects Challenge is a two-game series that pits the top NHL Draft-eligible players from around the Canadian Hockey league against the U.S. National Under-18 Team.
Team CHL won the inaugural event last year 2-0 in London and Oshawa, Ont., and Belchetz and the rest of the CHL are looking to repeat the feat this season.
“It’s such an honour to be selected to go out to Calgary and Lethbridge this season to compete for Team CHL,” said Belchetz. “It’s my first time representing the CHL in this type of aspect, so I’m super excited and I couldn’t be prouder to represent the CHL.”
Belchetz is already part of the historic rivalry between Canada and the United States after representing Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer. He recorded four goals and seven points in five games, but Canada would eventually fall to the Americans 4-3 in a shootout in the tournament semifinals.
Canada went on to win the bronze-medal game but the loss to the Americans still doesn’t sit right for Belchetz, and he’s using it as motivation for the prospects challenge.
“I kind of created my own little rivalry with the U.S. in the summer,” said Belchetz. “It lights a fire under our belts there and I want to get our payback. It’s not the same team playing, but it’s the Americans. Whenever you play the Americans there’s so such a historical rivalry going back years and decades.”
Belchetz heads into the prospects challenge as one of the highest-rated prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft. He was listed at No. 5 on TSN’s pre-season rankings and TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button ranked him at No. 8 on his October list.
The 17-year-old isn’t letting himself stress about trying to impress NHL scouts. He is more focused on enjoying the moment and just show what he can do.
“I look at it more of a cooler thing than more of a stressful thing,” said Belchetz. “You only go through your draft year one time and you only get this kind of experience once. I just want to show them everything I can do and that I’m there for a reason. I have the skills and confidence to be there.
“I don’t worry about that stuff too much and I just have fun with it.”
The pressure he does put on himself comes from trying to help the Spitfires take the next step. Despite the massive turnaround last year, the team ended up falling to the Kitchener Rangers in seven games in the second round of the playoffs.
Windsor was unfortunately missing Belchetz for their entire playoff run due to a long-term injury he sustained near the end of the regular season.
Belchetz is now craving to experience playoff action, and his main goal is to push the Spitfires towards a J. Ross Robertson Cup championship and to represent the OHL at the Memorial Cup in Kelowna, B.C.
“You grind all year looking toward the playoffs and it sucks to go out right before with an injury and not be able to go to war with all my teammates,” said Belchetz. “It sucks, you don’t want to sit out and it’s hard watching those games and especially going into Game 7. How do you go up to the bleachers when all you want to do is go onto the ice and go to war with your teammates?
“The biggest goal for me right now is to win a Memorial Cup and championship with the Windsor Spitfires. That’s the expectation we have coming off that tough loss in the second round. We want to take a step up and become a championship team and I think we have the players and characters in the room to do just that.”