Top OHL Prospect Tanner Adams Traded for 17 Draft Picks in Blockbuster Steelheads-Wolves Deal

Tanner Adams is still two years away from being NHL-draft eligible, but the hype around the 16-year-old prospect is already strong enough that he brought back 17 draft picks in an OHL trade on Friday night.

Two months after the Brampton Steelheads selected Adams with the No. 3 pick in the 2026 OHL draft, they flipped him to the Sudbury Wolves for a package of 17 picks from 2027 to '30.

Sudbury is technically only giving up 15 picks with the other two coming from the OHL, including a comp pick that will be No. 5 overall in the 2027 draft.

The trade appears to have been part of a strategic play from Brampton's side.

Per The Athletic's Scott Wheeler , it was "widely known" before the draft that Sudbury was Adams' preferred destination in part because it's the closest OHL team to his hometown.

Since the Wolves didn't make their first pick until No. 5, Brampton grabbed Adams two picks before they went on the clock. The Steelheads turned it into a cache of future selections they can use to build their roster going forward.

Sudbury, meanwhile, will be hoping Adams can provide a boost for the 2026-27 season. It finished last year as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and was swept by the Brantford Bulldogs in the first round of the playoffs.