Blackhawks CHL Prospect Update, 6/1: Vanacker and Behm finish strong; Pridham not signing?

We\'ve finally arrived at the final prospect update of the season, delayed into June because the Kitchener Rangers -- and one of the Blackhawks prospects on the roster -- kept their season going as long as possible by reaching and winning the CHL\'s Memorial Cup on Sunday night.

And we\'re going to start with the Blackhawks prospect who featured in that game because of some recent news involving him.

Forwards

Jack Pridham (RW) | Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

Stats: 90 points (46 G, 44 A), 54 PIM, 248 SOG in 65 regular season games; 17 points (2 G, 15 A), 16 PIM, 76 SOG in 18 postseason games

Here\'s where we were going to write a bunch of things about Pridham and his excellent season with the Memorial Cup-winning Rangers. Then this happened:

Goes without saying at this point, but told Jack Pridham will not be signing with the Blackhawks ahead of tomorrow's June 1 deadline.

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) June 1, 2026

Not official yet, of course, but it seems inevitable now based on other reporting that\'s come out in the last week. So what are the Hawks missing out on now that they won\'t have their third-round pick (No. 92 overall) from the 2024 NHL Draft?

Well, he did rack up a ton of points this season and was second to another player in this update for the OHL lead with 46 goals. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound forward was also one of the OHL\'s speediest players.

But it\'s also worth noting that Pridham turned 20 in October, so he spent the last 6-7 months piling up points in a league largely comprised of teenagers while no longer being one himself. It feels somewhat akin to an NCAA senior who wins the Hobey Baker Award by taking advantage of being two or three or four years older than most of their opponents, an advantage that evaporates in the professional ranks -- often along with their production.

This isn\'t to say that Pridham won\'t find his way to the NHL one day and become a solid player. It\'s just that this may not be as big of a loss as it may initially seem based on Pridham\'s numbers this season. The most curious part of all this will be in the discovery of why Pridham opted against signing with the Blackhawks.

Nathan Behm (LW/RW) | Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

Stats: 86 points (38 G, 48 A), 41 PIM, 238 SOG in 67 games

Behm\'s season ended a few months ago and he only appeared in two of the Blazers\' four postseason games because of an injury without scoring a point as Kamloops was swept by the Kelowna Rockets.

Behm was one of the Blazers\' top weapons all season long, finishing second on the team in points and assists and third in goals. He closed the regular season in fine fashion, posting a couple of three-point games during the month of March: one on the 7th in Vancouver and the other in the 20th at home against Vancouver again.

Here\'s one of those points from March 20, as Behm skates into the open ice made available during 4-on-4 play:

NATHAN BEHM!! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PLAY FROM THE BLAZERS!!! @blazerhockey | @NHLBlackhawks | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ZYBD6Wi7sK

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 21, 2026

Another goal with a similar profile: Behm finding open space in the low slot:

#Blackhawks prospect Nathan Behm with his 37th goal of the season! Now tied for 10th in the WHL. pic.twitter.com/PpqwDpwba7

— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) March 18, 2026

Behm showed off his playmaking ability this season as well, with the primary assist below as one of the examples:

🎥HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT🎥

Unreal dish from Nathan Behm, and an even better finish from JP Hurlbert 🤩 @blazerhockey | #WHLHoN | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/UMK9e7ieZg

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 8, 2026

And one more Behm goal, this one at the end of a quick-developing counterattack:

Business as usual for Nathan Behm ✅ pic.twitter.com/NyPjrTHf7t

— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) March 8, 2026

It\'s been a very good season for Behm, who turned just 19 years old in April. He\'s likely to move up the list on any Blackhawks prospect rankings as a result of this season, although plenty of runway still exists between him and a possible NHL arrival. A journey to desert is next for Behm, who\'s committed to play at Arizona State next season. A successful transition to the NCAA game would continue the current upward trajectory of Behm\'s hockey stock.

Blackhawks draftee Nathan Behm is set to suit up in the Maroon and Gold 🔱

The former Kamloops Blazer totaled 183 points (81G, 102A) across three WHL seasons, including a career-high 86 points (38G, 48A) in 2025-26, as he officially begins his next chapter as a Sun Devil… pic.twitter.com/K0xbsEWac6

— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) May 26, 2026

Marek Vanacker (C/W) | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)

Stats: 82 points (47 G, 35 A), 33 PIM, 246 SOG in 60 regular season games; 18 points (8 G, 10 A), 12 PIM, 64 SOG in 15 postseason games

Vanacker continued piling up the points over the final few months of his season with Brantford, ending it as the OHL leader in goals with 47, including 17 on the power play -- another league-best. The production didn\'t stop in the postseason, either, as Vanacker\'s 18 points in 15 playoff games were produced at a similar rate -- 1.20 points per game -- as they were in the regular season: 1.37 PPG. Age is always the caveat to consider when players rack up points in the CHL, and Vanacker did turn 20 in April while playing in a league largely comprised of teenagers. But there\'s only one player who can lead a league in goals each season, and Vanacker claiming that crown shouldn\'t be ignored.

There are a lot of Vanacker goal clips to highlight, so let\'s again walk through the various ways in which Vanacker proved capable of scoring this season. Here\'s his net-front presence during a power play leading to an easy rebound goal:

Vanack strikes back🐶

Marek Vanacker puts the @BulldogsOHL back in front with a power play marker. #OHLPlayoffs | #BFDvsBAR | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/fpstS7xi1R

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) May 1, 2026

This is another PPG, but it\'s more about Vanacker skating into open space to create the opportunity and then burying his own rebound:

Who else but Marek Vanacker🤔

The #OHL goal-scoring leader puts the @BulldogsOHL up one in Game Two! #BFDvsBAR | #OHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/3gzuXkeB80

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 24, 2026

Here\'s a backdoor tap-in during a 5-on-3:

2nd goal of the night and Marek Vanacker is back in the lead for the most goals in the OHL with 46, surpassing Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham pic.twitter.com/xeIbpeMIsK

— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) March 19, 2026

A 5-on-5 goal but with a similar story as one above: net-front presence, this time allowing Vanacker to deflect a point shot into the net:

Marek Vanacker, the net-front attacker‼️

He tips in his 45th goal of the season to move into a tie for the #OHL lead! @BulldogsOHL | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/zaIJMUVb51

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 18, 2026

You get the point, right?

Vanacker signed with the Hawks two years ago, soon after the Hawks picked him No. 27 overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. The professional ranks are next for Vanacker, although we\'ll find out in September whether that\'s going to be with Chicago or Rockford. It would seem like expectations for Vanacker in 2026-27 can be similar to what former Brantford teammate Nick Lardis experienced in 2025-26, that a season which begins in Rockford but ends in Chicago could be considered a success overall.

Parker Holmes (LW) | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)

Stats: 17 points (6 G, 11 A), 37 PIM, 41 SOG in 49 regular season games; 1 points (1 G), 13 PIM, 9 SOG in 11 postseason games

Factoring in the playoffs, Holmes had just one point over the final 19 games of his OHL season, although there were a few extended layoffs for Holmes due to injuries which seemed to affect his production after tallying a point in six of seven games during the first half of January.

Here is Holmes\' lone postseason goal, which came off a wrister from the slot that hit the post and eventually ended up across the goal line:

Holmes from range 🎯 #BFD https://t.co/eMYaq9QbHf pic.twitter.com/mzAMzminXw

— Brantford Bulldogs (@BulldogsOHL) April 15, 2026

Obviously not the most productive stretch for Holmes, a massive 6-foot-4, 228-pound forward who is approriately from a town called South Mountain. The now 19-year-old will need to have a far more productive season in 2026-27 before any serious discussions of a professional career beyond junior leagues can be entertained.

AJ Spellacy (RW/C) | Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Stats: 32 points (13 G, 19 A), 63 PIM, 110 SOG in 51 regular season games; 8 points (3 G, 5 A), 18 PIM, 32 SOG in 13 postseason games

Much of the discussion around Spellacy will be settled this fall when his professional career is expected to begin, with the 20-year-old already signed to his entry-level deal. Before we revisit that topic, though, a quick summary of his season. Spellacy\'s 32 points in 51 games check in at a 0.63 points-per-game rate, which is only mildly better than the 0.60 PPG and 0.57 PPG, respectively, he had in the prior two seasons. Spellacy also produced at the same rate in the postseason -- 0.62 PPG -- which is a positive sign.

And there are some eye-catching highlights from Spellacy this season, primarily this beauty of a goal from an incredibly difficult angle -- and on the backhand! -- against Pridham\'s Kitchener Rangers:

When Patrick Kane did this everyone freaked out.

But when AJ Spellacy does it no one seems to care.

I care #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/4rYEDKtFWg

— The Blackhawks Cowboy (@BHawkCowboy) May 2, 2026

There was also this solo effort to steal a puck and put it into the net from mid-April:

Whata play by AJ Spellacy tonight sheesh pic.twitter.com/naw0UjnogM

— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) April 15, 2026

And here\'s a shorthanded goal from the PK specialist:

AJ Spellacy with a shorthanded snipe🎯

The #Blackhawks prospect puts the @SpitsHockey up one on the penalty kill! #WSRvsGUE | #OHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/JhTDYJ8asG

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 28, 2026

Spellacy\'s efforts this season earned him rave reviews from other teams in the league as well, based on the results below from a poll of coaches in the OHL\'s Western Conference:

A quick stroll through projected Windsor lineups throughout the season saw Spellacy\'s name bounce all over the top three lines, even with a brief appearance in the 1C role. Versatility like that certainly isn\'t a bad thing, and the high praise above from other coaches in the OHL suggests Spellacy is certainly doing a lot of things right. Still, it\'d also be fair to expect more production in a juniors league from a player if the belief is that they have a future in the NHL -- which the Blackhawks certainly seem to believe, based on the way Spellacy\'s been discussed for the last few years.

Everyone likely knows the Spellacy story by now, a former two-sport standout who had Division-I college football offers before opting to focus his talents on hockey. Perhaps the obvious physical gifts will finally merge with the raw hockey skills that were still developing due to his relative lack of time on the ice compared to other prospects who were all-in on hockey from a much younger age.

The good news is that all of these discussions are done, because the time for talk has ended. Spellacy will turn pro this fall and we\'ll finally get to see if the player who\'s been projected -- a prototypical fourth-liner who\'s a ferocious forechecker thanks to his speed and physicality while also being an excellent PKer -- is also the player who arrives at training camp.

Defense

Ashton Cumby (LD) | Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)

Stats: 17 points (4 G, 13 A), 92 PIM, 65 SOG in 59 regular season games; 0 points, 2 PIM, 3 SOG in 5 postseason games

Cumby continues to be very large at 6-5 and 216 pounds. His production remained modest throughout the season, with this goal from late March coming on a seeing-eye point shot that ended up in the net:

ASHTON CUMBY LETS IT FLY FROM THE POINT… AND TIES THE GAME!!!! 🫡 @SeattleTbirds pic.twitter.com/r5DzYcQ48H

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 21, 2026

He displayed some decent mobility on this goal:

SMOOTH & SNEAKY👀

Ashton Cumby scores his 4⃣th goal of the season and cuts the Giants' lead in half!✂️ @SeattleTbirds pic.twitter.com/Us7bEq4cDF

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 16, 2026

Not much else to share on Cumby beyond the news that dropped in the last week regarding his next hockey steps, which will be taken in Rockford after he signed a two-year deal with the IceHogs . The 2025 sixth-round pick of the Hawks seems to be well off any radars of future NHL rosters at this point, but playing in Rockford does present him a better opportunity to catch the eyes of someone in the organization.

Ty Henry (LD) | Erie Otters (OHL)

Stats: N/A

Henry sat out the entire hockey season after suffering an injury during the Blackhawks\' rookie camp back in September. The 2024 sixth-rounder (163rd overall) will look to get his career back on track at the University of St. Thomas beginning this fall.

D Ty Henry has committed to UST. Plays for the Erie Otters but hasn’t appeared in games due to injury. Was selected in the 2024 draft in the 6th round to the Chicago Blackhawks. pic.twitter.com/K4s8GjNRAx

— CCHA WATCH (@CCHAWatch) December 18, 2025

USHL Bonus!

Mason West | Fargo Force (USHL)

Stats: 25 points (10 G, 15 A), 12 PIM, 84 SOG in 38 regular season games; 6 points (2 G, 4 A), 33 SOG, 6 PIM in 9 postseason games

Fargo\'s season ended in mid-May with a loss to the Sioux Falls Stampede in the Western Conference Finals. Each lineup from the postseason showed West skating in a second-line center role and he continued producing at a largely similar rate as he did in the regular season.

Below are West\'s postseason goals:

WHAT A RESPONSE FROM MASON WEST🤯 pic.twitter.com/jkXyPGaTkx

— Fargo Force (@FargoForce) May 9, 2026

Mason West gets us on the board! pic.twitter.com/L2zCvqf9pW

— Fargo Force (@FargoForce) May 2, 2026

It\'s been a decent season for West overall, one that was again limited by his delayed arrival to the ice after playing quarterback for his high school football team in Edina during the fall. West heads to Michigan State next, where we\'ll likely get a better impression of where West is and how far he has to go before we can talk about a possible NHL arrival for the 2025 first-round pick.

Talking Points