frontenacs add to kingston skyline with towering first-rounder logan prud'homme, gain prospect depth on blueline
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kingston 2026 first-round selection logan prud'homme (left) stands alongside hockey hall of famer doug gilmour at slush puppie place in kingston on friday, june 12, 2026. (photo by jan murphy/the kingston whig-standard)
the kingston frontenacs were among the youngest teams in the ontario hockey league last season, often losing physically battles to bigger teams.
the frontenacs might again be a younger team than most, but logan prud’homme, kingston’s first-round pick in the 2026 ohl priority selection, will single-handedly go a long way to addressing any size disadvantage up front.
prud’homme, who scored 37 goals in 72 games playing for the under-16 and prep teams at upper canada college last season, was the tallest prospect selected in the opening round of the ohl draft of under-16 players — the league’s website list him at six-foot-seven and 220 pounds. according to his ucc teammate and sarnia first-round pick max franzen, prud’homme is an inch taller than his advertised altitude.
when the frontenacs turn came around at 10th overall friday night at slush puppie place, they brought in kingston native and former gm doug gilmour to make the selection and that almost made for a sight gag, the hockey hall of famer coming up to the 16-year-old’s armpit. prud’homme’s discreet and practiced dip for the handshake made the effect less pronounced. for prud’homme and coach troy mann to see things eye-to-eye, the teen will be asked to take a seat.
“from our interview with logan, we could tell he’s a very humble young man who’ll come here to learn,” kingston gm kory cooper said. “he comes from a phenomenal family and we were really impressed with his maturity.”
“he’s obviously a guy that draws your attention,” kingston scouting director aaron van leusen said. “he raised his game in the big tournaments and scored important goals for his team.”
franzen pointed to one of the most significant games on the ucc schedule as the most telling example of prud’homme’s talent: a match-up against shattuck-st mary’s, the fabled minnesota prep school that counts sidney crosby, jonathan toews and nathan mackinnon among its alumni. “we were down 3-1 to shattuck in the third period and then logan scored a hat trick, the game-winner in overtime,” franzen said. “he’s so skilled. that was a real statement game for him — he stepped up.”
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prud’homme did his best to avoid any boastfulness about the memorable game. “i had a couple of bounces go my way,” he said when prompted.
defenceman gavin godick, kingston’s third-round pick, 46th overall, from the markham waxers, has played against prud’homme and described him as “a handful.” roche added: “with that long reach, you have to be really cautious and try to back off and take up space.”
van leusen praised prud’homme’s skating ability, often a knock on most young, lanky prospects. “we saw a progression (in his skating) as the season went along,” he said. “he’s going to put the work in to develop all aspects of his game.”
prud’homme grew up in nepean and played minor hockey in the ottawa area before going to ucc for the 2025-26 school year. “i met the coaches and the guys at the school, and i loved the winning culture they had there,” he said. “i think we had the toughest schedule in north america last season, and i really think that prepared me to play at the next level.”
prud’homme seemed excited about the prospect of stepping into the frontenacs lineup next season — an easier commute than ucc for those in his circle in nepean. “i have family in kingston and the kingston area,” he said. “i’m sure there were cheers for that when i was picked.”
the frontenacs had a cluster of four picks in the first 46 of the priority selection, which the franchise hosted at slush puppie place friday and saturday.
with kingston’s first pick in the second round, 23rd overall, gm cooper selected centre roman vanacker of the brantford 99ers. the consensus ontario top 100 had vanacker ranked 16th among prosects in the province. the kingston draftee is the younger brother of marek vanacker, a chicago blackhawks first-rounder who scored a league-leading 47 goals with the brantford bulldogs last season.
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“roman was one of the guys that we liked all the way through the season,” cooper said. “he’s a very highly competitive player with a high hockey iq. as the end of the first round was playing out he was one of the names that we were focused on, hoping he’d be there at no. 23.”
with their second pick in the second round, no. 39 overall, the frontenacs selected shane roche, a right-handed defenceman with the toronto marlboros who was ranked 24th in the province on the consensus ontario list. and with the 47th pick kingston took godick, who was in fact ranked one slot above roche on the same list.
“we tracked them a lot and they’re both really good nhl prospects,” cooper said. “big, mobile defencemen who can close fast. both are high-end greater toronto hockey league prospects and guys we expect to play big roles for us for the next few seasons.”
kingston had 16 picks across the two days of the priority selection, nine forwards, five defencemen along with goalie nathan ferris of the quinte red devils in the 13th round.
the prevailing wisdom going into this year’s priority selection is that the talent pool along the blueline was deeper than in most years, but if the frontenacs were inclined to address a particular need on the back end with their first two picks, prud’homme and vanacker were too promising to pass up.
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