How Will The New U18 OHL Draft Impact Hockey?
Left to right: Owen Lalonde, Ryan Merkley, and Connor Roberts were the first 3 players selected in the 2016 OHL Draft – Photo by Aaron Bell/ OHL Images
How will this impact Junior C, Junior B, and Junior A?
This is a tough one. Junior C likely will take the biggest hit. Why would a player step into Junior C, when they can play a faster, more skilled game in Major Midget AAA, and still have a shot at the OHL? More unfortunate, is that current Junior C 16-year-olds, let’s take Eric Carter as an example with the Dresden Kings, aren’t eligible for this years draft. Many players considered fringe prospects last year would likely have been prime prospects this year, however some chose the Junior route. A transition year would have been a logical step.
Junior B and Junior A are likely to be less impacted. Let’s be honest, more often than not, the 16-year-old players on these teams are already OHL drafted. Even if you aren’t an OHL pick, if a Junior B or Junior A team offers a card to an undrafted player, it’s the best possible development route, so it’s unlikely a player would turn down the opportunity. With that in mind, erase the prestige of hearing your name called in this draft, and OHL teams will still find the most talented players available, including those in Junior B.
Will Junior C continue on with 16-year-old cards in the future? This move pretty much writes Junior C off as a developmental league. Players who choose Junior C in their 16-year-old season will undoubtedly now be already drafted players, or local products who plan to spend the duration of their Junior career in C or B.
But what about Chatham-Kent players?
It’s been since the 1993-1994 age group that Chatham-Kent offered a Major Midget ‘AAA’ team. That was a group featuring players such as Michael Verboom, Cody Trowell, Trevor Richardson, and Nate Pietens. All went on to fantastic Junior careers. Since then, Chatham-Kent players have had to opt to play ‘AAA’ hockey in Sarnia, Windsor, compete for a local Junior C spot, or most often, play Major Midget ‘AA’.
With the new draft, it would make sense for the Chatham-Kent Cyclones, and other ‘AAA’ programs who don’t offer a Major Midget program, to do everything in their power to offer a Major Midget team, and keep the door of possibility open for their players.
Will this result in more programs that are less competitive? Probably. Will this result in more players competing at a purely developmental level? Definitely. And that’s the purpose of minor hockey. Remember, when a coach teaches only systems, and boring, skill deprived forechecks, development is hindered. Minor hockey is meant to be fun, and to develop.
Let’s hope the Cyclones can get on board with this, which will begin with finding a qualified and willing coach.
Will Major Midget players drafted crack the OHL?
It’s unlikely this move makes an immediate impact on the number of players moving from Major Midget ‘AAA’ into the OHL. That number to be clear, is very small. It will definitely give more players the recognition of the draft that they desperately want, but it’s not likely to change the overall development model of Ontario hockey. The best players, with some exceptions and mistakes, will be drafted in their Minor Midget season. Those players will step directly into the OHL, and into Junior B and Junior A teams to develop. A few others will continue to play Major Midget or Junior C. From this secondary crop, the goal will continue to be to move to Junior B or Junior A the following year, and then onward to the OHL…
What about the college route?
If anything, some might see this draft as a move to keep kids away from the NCAA route, and keep them in OHL systems. The more players who can get a call up, or are wined and dined (without the wine) by OHL teams, the less top talents will head across the border. The draft is the first step in getting young players to buy into the OHL dream. Many late bloomers head to the NCAA for further development. As the OHL snaps up more of this group, a small change could, over time, be noticed. But who knows if this factored into the decision to create this draft.
Have a question? Have a comment? Let us know below.
I was involved in some of these meetings when I coached at the U17 all-star game back in December. This is all good information, except for the part about Chatham trying to get back into Major Midget AAA. The OHA has a plan to reduce the number of Major Midget AAA teams in Ontario by half, from over 50 current teams to around 20-25 teams. Chatham will never be considered for another team, as they are considered not strong enough. You will probably see only Windsor and London have a team in this area in the near future.
Just FYI.
This has also created some jockeying by USA hockey, as now they have changed the USHL rules to allow 2 additional Canadian players to each team that will not be considered import players. They currently allow 4 import players per team.
The minor hockey Alliance of Ontario not only took the Cyclone major midget program away but also Sun County Panthers and the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs as well. The current Cyclone board has and currently been investigating on ways to get the major midget program back. Mr. Hamilton is correct when he states the governing body wanted to reduce the number of major midget programs in the province. As you can see, the Cyclones have been on board as to get the program back
You would hope that with this new draft, the next step for the OHF, and subsidiary bodies like the Alliance would consider adding new programs. Kids are going to want to stay out of Junior C for this opportunity, but the socio-economic gap of who can travel over an hour multiple days per week for practices is going to be a barrier to some. Not to mention there are just only so many roster spots to go around, it doesn’t feel right to close the door on kids who are 16. If there is ever anything CKSN can do to support the Cyclones, let us know.