A.J. Spellacy

July 2025 – A.J. Spellacy posted 18 goals and 19 assists over 62 games with Windsor this season, then chipped in three more points in five playoff appearances. He played mostly in a depth role, but you could see flashes of impact in tighter, more physical matchups. His edge, energy, and ability to play in different spots already stand out. If he takes another step next season, you can start to see a path to a bottom-six NHL role. He is headed back to Windsor for a third OHL campaign, where the focus will be on smoothing out the edges in his game. The Blackhawks clearly see something, they signed him to his ELC back in January. Still raw, but the tools are in place. Puneet Sharma

June 2024 – Spellacy was selected by the Hawks at pick #72. Pat Quinn

June 2024 — Playing in the shadow of fellow big forward Liam Greentree this season was A.J. Spellacy, who barely cracked half a point per game in Windsor’s middle six but showcased a decent amount of runway. Blistering speed combines with his raw power to make him one of the most powerful net-drivers in the draft, and his puck protection mechanics are already quite refined. One of the main culprits that leads to this archetype of prospect fizzling out is an overreliance on pace and raw strength to keep the puck, but in Spellacy’s case, the shielding details are there. Arm out, knees bent, outside edge stable, it’s a good foundation. He lacks the high-end reads to be a better playmaker right now, but Spellacy is a relatively recent full-time hockey-committed prospect. The bet on Spellacy is that with enough time, he can improve his reads and turn the flashes of playmaking and offensive zone spacing into day-in-and-day-out tools to create offense in an NHL middle six. Hadi Kalakeche

Final ranking: 86th