How Chase Reid's World Juniors debut could set the stage for first overall at 2026 NHL Draft
“I want to show the NHL scouts I’m the top prospect in the draft.”
This is what Chase Reid stated to Peter Ruicci of the Greyhounds Gazette a few hours before suiting up for the CHL USA Prospects Challenge a few weeks ago.
Playing for the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL, Reid wore the red and black against the American formation then, completing stretch passes, activating into the play, gapping up to opponents, landing hits, and showing deceptive one-on-one moves.
“Reid proved he's amongst the best defenders in the class,” wrote OHL scout Lauren Kelly in a game report. “Elite skating ability, the physical skills, ability to get defensive stops, and create chances offensively. He's a uniquely solid do-it-all defender who should have no issue bringing all those elements to the NHL.”
Now at the 2026 World Juniors, the Michigan-born Reid, now wearing the colours of Team USA, could continue to push his stock. A string of performances like the one he had against Team Germany on Boxing Day could inch him closer to that number one overall slot.
In a tournament where dozens of top prospects battle for the spotlight, the best way to pop is to be at the centre of the action. That's exactly what Reid did in his first game.
Alternating between straight-lining the puck all to the offensive zone, cutting across the defensive line, and making drop or kick passes to teammates around the offensive blue line, Reid fueled his team’s rush offence.
As soon as his teammates pushed the play turned back to look for an outlet, there he was, slipping into a gap in coverage. His runs felt deliberate. He started them the millisecond his team caught the puck in the defensive zone, sprinting up without looking back, pushing past his coverage and into open ice. He contributed to tilting the ice further in favor of Team USA, overwhelming the opposition.
Reid’s impact also extended to the offensive zone, where he continued to catch passes, taking the puck down the wall and firing booming shots on net from the high slot, scoring once. His release alone will give him scoring potential at the NHL level. When they’re not bypassing goalies directly, they create rebounds and deflections, creating high-danger chances for teammates.
On his best shift, Reid's constant movements, feints, incursions, and short passes spun Germany into mistakes. The opposition struggled to keep up with the multiple puck exchanges and player movement.
Catching a pass in a downward movement, he immediately challenged a first defender, cutting through that opponent’s space and dropping the puck to a teammate, before continuing his route to the half-wall. A return pass gave him an occasion to attack through the faceoff circle. Instead of firing a low-percentage shot on net, he faked that release, waited for another teammate to position in the high slot, and sent him a deceptive feed. That play enabled USA to reload the puck to space, forcing Germany to regroup around the slot, and opening up multiple scoring chances. Reid finished the shift by firing multiple shots on net and landing more passes to space, almost scoring with a backdoor play.
His talent for keeping the puck in and the offence alive, and for orchestrating its movements, shone through.
Of course, a higher-event, creative playstyle comes with its dose of risk.
We saw that on Germany’s first goal, where confusion with a teammate on a Reid activation led to a counterattack. A forward replaced him on the back line and the remaining defender couldn’t stop the rush, giving the Germans their first goal.
That first German goal also displayed his strengths as a defender and the potential pitfalls of his game. He was caught puck watching in the defensive zone, trying to support the breakout and anticipate his next opportunity to activate. Flying from the corner, a pass blew by him, hitting a German opponent left open in the middle of the slot. Fortunately, the puck bounced away, giving Reid an occasion to use his reach to push the opposition to the outside and knock the puck out of the zone.
Throughout the game, Reid also knocked a couple of other opponents on the boards and defended the neutral zone with his usual assertiveness, closing his gap early with his mobility. But truthfully, in an offensive fest, it was harder to get an appropriate read of Reid’s defensive game. That evaluation will come later, against some of the stronger teams at this event.
If his OHL tape is any indication, however, Reid should pass those harder tests, too,
If the defenceman continues to refine his reads, improving his defensive awareness and managing the puck well in his attacks, his game will continue to produce significantly more positives than negatives. His plays will position him as one of the most important pieces of the U.S. team, earning him more minutes in key moments.
Already in the tournament’s opener, the defenceman managed the game well in most shifts. Many of his advances were preceded by subtle fakes against the defence, followed by precise D-to-D passes, direct feeds to the middle, or rims to space, simple plays that enabled his team to start breakouts from advantageous positions. With time to look up for outlets, teammates could make controlled passes out of the zone, giving Reid an occasion to jump up with the rush and receive passes further down the chain.
This ability to make the play snowball towards a scoring chance, by enlarging the team’s offensive advantage with his puck touches, is what we admire most about Reid’s game at the OHL level.
Now, he’s doing it at the World Junior level.
The tournament has only just begun, but the stage has been set for Reid to make his case as a top player in this draft. Playing against some of the top prospects in the world, he won’t find a better opportunity to boost his stock.
Who knows? If he improves on his performance in USA's opening game, maybe he could even make his own belief about his game come true on draft day.