2027 NHL Draft’s Kane Barch leaves USNTDP to join London Knights

A future NHL prospect is changing his path of development.

According to Jeff Marek, host of The Sheet onDaily Faceoff, 2027 NHL Draft-eligible prospect Kane Barch is going to be leaving the U.S. National Team Development Program and will be joining the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League for the 2026-27 season.

Barch spent just one season with the USNTDP, spending just about all of the 2025-26 campaign with the Under-17 team, though he did make one appearance with the U-18s. In 54 games against college and international teams, he posted seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points. In 36 regular-season games in the United States Hockey League, Barch registered two goals and eight assists for 10 points, with a plus/minus of -20.

The native of Plano, Texas, also represented his country at the 2025 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge, posting an assist in four games as the United States took home the bronze medal.

Barch joins the prestigious Knights program that is consistently one of the best teams in the OHL, let alone the entire Canadian Hockey League. Heading into his draft year, he could use it as an opportunity to bolster his stock, playing on a team that’s expected to make another deep run next spring.

This won’t be the first time the 17-year-old will play north of the border. He spent some of his minor hockey years with the Huron Perth Lakers, including a 2022 appearance in the prestigious Quebec PeeWee Tournament. In his lone full U-16 season in 2024-25, he led Alliance Hockey with 36 assists, totaling 23 goals and 59 points in 30 games, adding four points in five games at the OHL Cup.

Barch is currently committed to the University of Michigan, as he’s expected to join the Wolverines in the fall of 2028.