Haul of a deal: OHL's Steelheads net 17 picks for top hockey prospect

• 

  Kristen ShiltonSep 12, 2026, 09:41 AM ET

  Close

  Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.

The Ontario Hockey League's Brampton Steelheads received 17 draft picks from the Sudbury Wolves for the rights to forward prospect Tanner Adams in a blockbuster trade late Friday night.

Brampton's haul includes 15 OHL Priority Selection picks. In addition, via the OHL's compensatory draft pick process, the Steelheads also get the fifth overall pick and a second-round pick (projected to be 43rd overall) in the 2027 OHL draft.

Adams was selected by Brampton third overall in the 2026 OHL draft. He was the league's consensus pre-draft choice to go No. 1 overall, but Adams was only interested in playing for the Wolves.

The 16-year-old born in Porcupine, Ontario, played his minor hockey in Timmins, Ontario, approximately three hours outside of Sudbury. Adams is a skilled center and was a standout star for the Hill Academy U-16 AAA squad in Caledon, with 88 points in 52 games, prior to the Steelheads taking him off the board.

Adams didn't attend the draft himself in June, and it was believed he and his family preferred Adams play closer to home in Sudbury than anywhere else.

While the Wolves missed out on drafting Adams, they took another top-end prospect forward, Kash Kwajah, at fifth overall in 2026.

"We are thrilled to bring Tanner to Sudbury. He is a leader and an elite person," said Wolves general manager Rob Papineau in a statement. "His passion to be in Sudbury and be a Sudbury Wolf is everything to him. To add him to our team after being able to draft Kash makes this the best draft we have had in the past 10 years. Our staff felt they were the best two players available in the draft, so it is amazing to have them both on our team."

The Steelheads now have a landslide of selections to use on building their own roster for years to come, even if it doesn't include Adams.

"We would've really liked to have Tanner with us in Brampton, but as time went by, it seemed less and less likely," said Steelheads general manager James Richmond. "I think we did right by the player and our hockey club. Now we move forward and try to use some of those assets and build through a trade or two."