Chase Reid’s grit makes him NHL Draft’s top defender

Chase Reid grew from an under-the-radar junior player—often reassigned, healthy scratched, and far from home—into the top-rated defenseman for the 2026 NHL Draft class. After a late birthday and years of adversity, he’s set to be chosen likely in the first fiv

Buffalo, N.Y. — Chase Reid stepped into the NHL Draft week with a calm that didn’t come easily.

A late birthday made him the youngest player in his age group. A late bloom didn’t fix everything, either. His parents didn’t have the money or NHL contacts that helped some of his peers. When he moved into junior hockey. the first transition didn’t go smoothly: after being healthy scratched by the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks. he was sent down to the second-tier NAHL.

Two years after that gut check, Reid is now the top-rated defenseman in his 2026 NHL Draft class. Friday night at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center, he’s likely to be taken in the first five picks. And after the draft, the Chesterfield native will suit up for Michigan State this coming season.

“If I knew what was going to happen now, I would have just told myself to keep pushing through,” Reid said Thursday, surrounded by microphones and cameras. “The end result’s going to be what you want it to be.”

Reid says the pressure doesn’t scare him—it sharpens him. “I love the pressure,” he said. “I think I play better under pressure. I think I have been fighting adversity my whole life, so I think I definitely know how to handle it.”

What made the difference wasn’t a single break. It was the way he responded each time the road got narrower.

His family has been the constant thread through nearly every stop. The lessons came at home, and they stayed with him as hockey repeatedly pulled him away from familiar faces.

Bismarck Bobcats general manager Niko Kapetanovic framed it as the kind of lesson young players remember long after the standings change. Reid’s story included a 2024 phone call Kapetanovic received from Waterloo GM Bryn Chyzyk. which resulted in Reid coming to the NAHL. Kapetanovic said he knew what Reid had done in the Michigan AAA ranks with Victory Honda. where Reid shined as an offensive defenseman even while being on the younger side of his age group.

Then Reid jumped to the USHL and struggled. In 10 games, he never scored, and he was healthy scratched. Kapetanovic said the reassignment wasn’t a simple reset; leagues swap players often, and rarely of Reid’s caliber. The question that lingered wasn’t whether the door opened—it was how Reid would respond.

Kapetanovic said he wouldn’t describe it as a cut, but he also acknowledged how it could eat at someone. “That can eat at someone, but Chase is very mentally tough,” Kapetanovic told The Detroit News. “And he was raised extremely well by his parents, who did a fantastic job.”

That theme has shown up anytime Reid is asked what kept him going.

Reid’s father, RJ, works as a Penske salesman. His mother, Magyn, is a competitive dance teacher and insurance agent. It was Magyn who delivered the line Reid repeats: “If you want it, you gotta get it.”

Reid said his mother also taught him to embrace where you are. “My mom always said, ‘If you want it, you gotta get it,’” Reid said. “I want to play in the NHL, and that’s always been my goal. … My mom taught me in my younger ages to just embrace the moment wherever you are. and where you are is where God put you.”.

Reid wound up 1,100 miles from home in North Dakota.

Bismarck coach Garrett Roth described the feeling of being sent away like this. “He’s almost on an island, moving away from home,” Roth told The News. When Roth would speak with Reid’s parents, he said the questions weren’t about playing time or development. They were about his mental state, and how he was handling adversity being cast so far from home.

Reid didn’t sulk. He embraced the opportunity with the Bobcats.

On a veteran team, he came in as the seventh defenseman in the rotation and leaned into the role. Roth said coaches had to urge him to take risks. He played simple. Teammates, drawn to his leadership, gravitated toward the newcomer.

“He was so humble,” Roth said. “He came in and he just wanted to be part of our group. He wanted to do whatever he could to earn ice time.”

As the season moved, Reid climbed the depth chart into the top four. His game opened up—more dynamic plays, then more scoring. He finished with six goals and six assists in 18 games with the Bobcats. Seven of those points came in his final weekend in Bismarck. a turnaround Kapetanovic said felt bigger than just one league stretch.

“It got to a point where even us as a staff, I was like, Chase isn’t going to be here much longer,” Kapetanovic said.

That lift carried into Reid’s next decision.

Instead of returning to the USHL, Reid chose a different route when New NCAA rules allowed players to go to the Canadian Hockey League. Bismarck approved his transfer to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.

This time, he made an impression quickly.

Fellow freshman Ethan Belchetz—who played for the Windsor Spitfires and is a first-round draft candidate himself—said Reid was noticeable right away. Reid’s name didn’t carry the current reputation when he joined the Greyhounds, but once there, it didn’t take long for him to stand out.

He scored 40 points in 39 games after his call-up, and added three assists in five playoff games. He was also named first-team all-rookie in the OHL. There were nights when he was thrown into heavy minutes, sometimes playing 30 minutes a night.

Reid credits more than competition for that leap. He said playing alongside some of the best players in the world helped him succeed at that level.

He pointed specifically to Brady Martin, the fifth overall pick of the Nashville Predators last season—someone Reid said he remembers from having his draft party on the family farm in Ontario. Martin also took Reid back to that family farm for a visit.

Reid said Martin set an example for him. “He works like a dog every day on the ice and in the weight room as well,” Reid said.

As Reid doubled down, the results followed. He became a workhorse, logging 30 minutes of ice time in some games. He scored 48 points in 45 games last season, plus six points in 10 playoff games for the Greyhounds.

The NHL dream that seemed distant a year earlier felt real again. Reid said that even when life pushes back, the goal can still be reachable.

“No matter how much life throws in your face, it’s always possible to do what you want to do in life,” Reid said. “I want to play in the NHL, so I’ve never given up on that.”

Now, the path moves closer to home.

Before the NHL comes college, and Reid won’t have to travel as far as Bismarck or Sault Ste. Marie. He’s headed to Michigan State.

Michigan State fits his story in more ways than distance. Reid gives the backend a playmaking presence who can quarterback a power play and help control the pace of play at both ends.

For Reid personally, Michigan State is also tied to family. An aunt went to school there, and he called the proximity a deciding factor. He said being close to home matters after years of moving around for juniors.

“Just being close to home,” Reid said. “Moving away all over the states for juniors and stuff like that and then having the opportunity to play at a school that’s an hour-and-a-half from home. It was pretty much a no-brainer. And all the opportunities and facilities they have there pretty much gave me every reason to want to be a Spartan.”.

The Michigan State coaching setup also includes strength and conditioning coach Will Morlock. Reid said Morlock’s transformations of players such as Charlie Stramel and Porter Martone have given him a world-class reputation.

Reid, listed at 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, is excited to work with Morlock. He said he already experienced that coaching before this month’s NHL Combine.

“Working with him before the combine definitely helped,” Reid said. “He brought me in and just kind of threw me right in. I started working out and put on a couple pounds and (I) was definitely getting stronger. It was noticeable, so it was really cool. I can’t wait to get started this season.”

The excitement is shared by a loaded freshmen group.

Reid will join teammates including Belchetz, OHL leading scorer Nikita Klepov, plus fellow first-round hopefuls Jack Hextall and Brooks Rogowski. Goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen is also part of the class.

Klepov said Reid is one of the toughest players he faced in the OHL last year. He described Reid’s skating, the way he makes puck decisions, and the overall style that makes him hard to play against.

“He skates really good, and his decisions with the puck and just the way he plays — he’s a really good player,” said Klepov, who played for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit and coach Chris Lazary last season. “It’s obviously very nice to have him on your line than play against him.”

On draft weekend, all of them are relishing what comes with the NHL Draft process—especially Reid, who can enjoy the moment with the family that backed him through years of uncertainty.

His parents and younger brother are in Buffalo for this weekend’s festivities. There’s even a possibility he could be picked by the host team, which acquired the fourth overall pick from the Chicago Blackhawks in a trade.

Reid said the mood around him is pure anticipation.

“I think everyone’s just super excited,” Reid said. “We’re all excited to go walk the red carpet tomorrow to come into the draft and just show everyone that no matter how much life throws in your face, it doesn’t matter and that everything’s possible.”

Chase Reid Michigan State Spartans 2026 NHL Draft Buffalo KeyBank Center Waterloo Black Hawks NAHL Bismarck Bobcats Soo Greyhounds Brady Martin Will Morlock