Getting an idea of which prospects to follow during the season before the draft is generally easy: Look at what the OHL / QMJHL draft orders looked like in the Spring of 2023. Or in the case of the WHL, the 2022 draft (the WHL drafts players a year early, but they don't go into the WHL until they're 16).
You can also check the pre-season rankings, whether that's with Bob McKenzie, or the other miscellaneous draft sites such as McKeen's.
Speaking of McKeen's, they have a pre-season list of players to watch from all regions of the world. Here are three CHL leagues:
McKeen's Jeremy Tremblay provides a profile of the top 10 QMJHL players eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft.
www.mckeenshockey.com
McKeen's Director of Scouting, Brock Otten, profiles an early top ten prospects for the 2025 NHL Draft from Ontario.
www.mckeenshockey.com
McKeen's Adam Tate profiles the top ten prospects to watch for the 2025 NHL Draft in the WHL as we enter the season.
www.mckeenshockey.com
In the Q, there's two early to mid first round picks in Desnoyers & Guité, with Charbonneau / Huang probably early 1st to mid 2nd. After that, too early to tell, we'll have to see how the season plays out.
The WHL's got another good year, but honestly, I'd just track Gavin McKenna and Landon Dupont. If those two are coming to play in your city, you have to go watch them. Two future NHL superstars. Dupont has exceptional status and won't be draft eligible until June 2027, but it's not going to take much time before he starts running the WHL.
The OHL's always going to be good. With four players that are probably being taken in the top 10 to 15ish in Porter / Schaeffer / Misa / Spence, there's no shortage of talent. Then maybe 4-5 other first rounders.
www.tsn.ca
