Red Wings draft Adam Levac 108th overall

Updated 2x at 2:22 PM: With the 108th pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Red Wings selected Peterborough Petes center Adam Levac.

The NHL Network reported that today is Levac’s 18th birthday.

From EliteProspects:

Prospect profile

Adam Levac has made a career out of surprising. A fifth-round pick in the OHL, he earned a full-time role with Peterborough that fall. While it was in a depth role, there he developed his checking game. This season, he was one of the early breakout stars, becoming a top-six forward on a team in desperate need of scoring help – he delivered.

Levac’s motor is his standout trait. He’s always moving and engaging, tying up opponents, closing gaps, and battling along the walls. There’s no shortage of impactful defensive zone plays, and he’s a nuisance on the forecheck. When he wins the puck, he cuts inside and looks for passing options.

Night in, night out, Levac’s energy stood out, but it’s not his only skill. There are high-level playmaking flashes, too, as OHL regional scout Lauren Kelly detailed in a report:

“On an odd-man rush, he took advantage of space, delayed, and then passed through a kneeling defender’s legs right to an arriving Adam Novotný’s stick on the doorstep. The duo connected again in the third period, when Levac made an impressive, no-look feed off the end boards right to Novotný alone in the slot. Built some strong give-and-go rushes.”

Levac clearly has an identity, something many prospects lack. But whether he has the tools to play that identity at higher levels remains to be seen. As one of the younger players in the draft class with room to fill out physically, there’s reason to believe develop the power and play-stopping ability to push for an NHL checking role in time. Still, he may lack the special tool that teams look for, putting him on more of a pathway to play an AHL or second-tier pro role.

Regardless, we’re excited to see if Levac can surprise once again next season.

From Sarah Lindenau comes this from the Hockey News’s Jared Brown, on February 10th…

On Feb. 4, the league suspended Peterborough Petes forward Adam Levac eight games for slew-footing Ottawa 67’s defenseman Kaleb Dietsch, along with the intentional punches to the head of Dietsch after he fell to the ice.

The full details of the league’s reasoning behind his suspension can be found here. 

There’s no denying it, what Levac did was reckless, dangerous, and really was a display of negligence to the safety of his opponent. It warranted a lengthy suspension, despite having no previous history of discipline or even being seen as a dirty player. 

Levac is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. He had only 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists) in 57 games during his 2024-25 rookie season, and there wasn’t much hype around him heading into his draft season. 

NHL Central Scouting (NHLCS) graded him as a C-rated prospect in their preliminary rankings back in October. In their recent midterm rankings, NHLCS rated him the 89th-best North American skater. He’s caught the eyes of several scouts, and at this rate, it would be surprising if his name went uncalled. 

NHL scouts place a high premium on “character” when it comes to drafting. This play was far out of character for Levac. Will scouts call him out during the interview process before the draft regarding his decision-making on this play? Or will they sweep this under the rug? One scout I talked to had the following to say on the matter:

“As horrid and dangerous as that play was, I don’t see it hurting his draft stock. Levac is a player who has impressed with his work ethic this year, pushing up the Peterborough lineup. Scouts are going to focus more on his growth and development this year as a player, more than a poor choice that isn’t part of a pattern of poor behaviour or attitude.”

Update: From Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis, via Sarah Lindenau on Twitter, regarding Levac’s performance in the CHL’s Top Prospects game:

#10 Adam Levac, RW: The Peterborough Petes forward is coming off a productive December, so it made sense that he seemed to be extra motivated to keep his hot play alive. It felt like Levac was the one creating most of East’s offense early in this game. Levac has good hockey sense, makes a ton of quality passes and will take advantage of any lack of urgency shown by opponents. His linemate, Novotny, will get more love for the 2-1 East goal, but it was Levac who made the excellent pass near the boards to set it up. Levac also dropped the gloves in the third period for good measure.

Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

Red Wings draft forward Adam Levac At no. 108

In the fourth round, the Wings drafted Adam Levac, a 6 foot, 178 pound center who has been playing for the Peterborough Petes.

Levac had 15 goals and 44 points in 60 games in 2025-26, and four points in six playoff games. In 2024-25, he had 10 points in 57 Ontario Hockey League games.

He has a top-notch motor and high-energy battle level.

Update #2: Here’s MLive’s Ansar Khan on Levac:

The Detroit Red Wings could use some grit and sandpaper in their system (their roster, too), and might have gotten it with center Adam Levac, who they selected in the fourth round (No. 108) of the entry draft Saturday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

He turned 18 on Saturday.

Levac (6-0, 176) is also described as good playmaker. He had 16 goals and 44 points in 60 games with Peterborough (OHL) last season. He added two goals and four points in six games in a first-round playoff loss.

The right-shooter was suspended for eight games because of a slew-footing incident on Jan. 30. He also got into a fight at the OHL top prospects game.

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *