Attached is a link to the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket. The tournament serves as a showcase for some very high-end prospects. That is always the case, but it has been enhanced this season thanks to the CHL alumni in the mix. In fact, 11 prospects competing in the tournament are ranked by TSN as being in the top 50 affiliated NHL prospects, 3 of whom (Martone, Reschny & Smith) are former CHL players. Those 11 players are as follows:
Porter Martone, MSU (PHI) (#3)
Trey Augustine, MSU (DET) (#5)
Michael Hage, UM (MTL) (#6)
Charlie Stramel, MSU (MIN) (#15)
Cole Reschny, UND (CGY) (#24)
Vaclav Nestrasil, UMass (CHI) (#26)
Max Plante, UMD (DET) (#27)
Jackson Smith, PSU (CBJ) (#34)
Ethan Wyttenbach, Quinnipiac (CGY) (#39)
Eric Pohlkamp, Denver (SJS) (#45)
Will Horcoff, UM (PIT) (#50)
In addition to the above-listed players who already went through the draft process, competing in the tournament will be projected 2026 first-round picks Gavin McKenna of Penn State and Keaton Verhoeff of North Dakota, also CHL alums. Also, there are numerous high-quality drafted players not listed in the top 50, such as Michigan’s Jayden Perron (CAR 2023 3rd round, 94th overall) and North Dakota’s EJ Emery ( NYR 2024 1st round, 30th overall). Finally, a number of sought-after undrafted free agents will compete in this event, among them Perron’s UM teammate TJ Hughes and Emery’s UND teammate Jake Livianage.