Probable Graduates for each OHL Team

BARRIE:

Probable Grads: 

• Aaron Luchuk (too old)
• Andrei Svechnikov (NHL)
• Dmitry Sokolov (AHL or Russia)
• TJ Fergus (too old)
• Leo Lazarev (too old)
• 1 of Just Murray/Ben Hawerchuk/Lucas Chiodo/Zach Magwood (too many OA’s)

ERIE:

Probable Grads: 

• Patrick Fellows (too old)
• Owen Headrick (too old)
• Troy Lajeunesse (too old)

FLINT:

Probable Grads:

• Maurizio Collela (too old)
• Jalen Smereck (too old)
• Garrett Forrest (too old)

GUELPH:

Probable Grads: 

• James McEwan (too old)
• Garrett McFadden (too old)
• Mark Shoemaker (too old)

HAMILTON:

Probable Grads:

• Ryan Moore (too old)
• Riley Stillman (Signed- AHL)
• Kaden Fulcher (Signed- AHL)
• Nicholas Caamano (Signed- AHL)
• Marian Studenic (Signed- AHL)
• Will Bitten (Signed- AHL)
• Justin Lemcke (too old)
• Connor Walters (too old)
• 1 of Brandon Saigeon/Nic Mattinen/Ben Gleason/Jack Hanley (too many OA’s)
• 60/40 that Robert Thomas is back (NHL)

KINGSTON:

Probable Grads: 

• Max Jones (Signed- AHL)
• Linus Nyman (Signed to play pro in Finland next season)
• Cliff Pu (Signed- AHL)
• Jeremy Helvig (too old)
• Sean Day (Signed- AHL)
• Liam Murray (too old)
• Ted Nichol (too old)
• 1 of Mitchell Byrne/Sam Field/Matt Hotchkiss/Ryan Cranford (too many OA’s)
• 50/50 that Gabriel Vilardi makes the NHL next year (LA Kings)

KITCHENER:

Probable Grads: 

• Logan Brown (Signed- AHL)
• Logan Stanley (Signed- AHL)
• Kole Sherwood (too old)
• Adam Mascherin (will be traded by FLA or taken in the NHL draft again- AHL)
• Connor Bunnaman (Signed- AHL)
• Givani Smith (Signed- AHL)
• Austin McEneny (too old)
• Mario Culina (too old)

LONDON:

Probable Grads:

• Tyler Rollo (too old)
• Shane Collins (too old)

MISSISSAUGA:

Probable Grads:

• Michael McLeod (Signed- AHL)
• Nicolas Hague (Signed- AHL)
• Mathieu Foget (too old)
• Jacob Moverare (Signed- AHL)
• Trent Fox (too old)
• Stephen Gibson (too old)
• 2 of Emanuel Vella/Cole Carter/Reagan O’Grady/Ian McKinnon/Albert Michnac (too many OA’s)
• 50/50 that Owen Tippett makes the NHL next year

NIAGARA:

Probable Grads: 

• Sam Miletic (too old)
• Johnny Corneil (too old)
• Adrian Carbonara (too old)
• 1 of Stephen Dhillon/Kyle Langdon/William Lochead/Jonathon Schaefer (too many OA’s)

NORTH BAY:

Probable Grads:

• Jake Henderson (too old)
• Jesse Saban (too old)
• Riley Bruce (too old)
• 2 of Justin Brazeau/Luke Burghardt/Julian Sime/Adam Thilander/Kyle Potts (too many OA’s)

OSHAWA:

Probable Grads:

• Kenny Huether (too old)
• Hayden McCool (too old)
• Alex Di Carlo (too old)
• Renars Krastenbergs (Pro in Europe)
• 3 of Matt Brassard/Domenico Commisso/Sean Allen/Brendan Harrogate/Cole Ceci/Eric Henderson

OTTAWA:

Probable Grads:

• Jacob Cascagnette (too old)
• Travis Barron (Signed- AHL)
• Olivier Tremblay (too old)

OWEN SOUND:

Probable Grads:

• Ethan Szypula (too old)
• Brett McKenzie (too old)
• Jonah Gadjovich (Signed- AHL)
• Jacob Friend (too old)
• 4 of Sean Durzi/Olivier Lafreniere/Kevin Hancock/Alan Lyszczarczyk/Trenton Bourque/Cole Cameron/Chase Campbell (too many OA’s)

PETERBOROUGH:

Probable Grads:

• Logan DeNoble (too old)
• Nikita Korostelev (too old)
• Alex Black (too old)
• Dylan Wells (Signed- AHL)
• 2 of Adam Timleck/Chris Paquette/Matthew Timms/Austin Osmanski/Bobby Dow (too many OA’s)

SAGINAW:

Probable Grads:

• Evan Cormier (too old)
• Mason Kohn (too old)
• Marcus Crawford (too old)

SARNIA:

Probable Grads:

• Jordan Kyrou (Signed- AHL)
• Justin Fazio (too old)
• Jonathan Ang (Signed- AHL)
• Cam Dineen (Signed- AHL)
• Michael Pezzetta (Signed- AHL)
• Connor Schlichting (too old)
• Jordan Ernst (too old)
• 2 of Anthony Salinitri/Theo Calvas/Franco Sproviero/Drake Rymsha/Mitch Eliot (too many OA’s)

SAULT STE. MARIE:

Probable Grads:

• Taylor Raddysh (Signed- AHL)
• Conor Timmins (Signed- AHL)
• Jack Kopacka (Signed- AHL)
• Tim Gettinger (Signed- AHL)
• Boris Katchouk (Signed- AHL)
• Hayden Verbeek (too old)
• Noah Carroll (too old)
• 1 of Jordan Sambrook/Keeghan Howdeshell/Mac Hollowell/Tyler Johnson

SUDBURY:

Probable Grads: 

• Alexey Lipanov (Signed- AHL)
• Kyle Rhodes (too old)
• Ryan Valentini (too old)
• Doug Blaisdell (too old)
• 1 of Drake Pilon/Darian Pilon/Cole Candella/Evan Krassey (too many OA’s)

WINDSOR:

Probable Grads: 

• Jake Smith (too old)
• Zach Shankar (too old)

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Round 1 OHL Predictions

EAST

1 Hamilton vs 8 Ottawa

The Bulldogs have by far the best depth in the Eastern Conference and it will be way too much for Ottawa to handle. Hamilton went 4-0-0 against Ottawa in the regular season and none of the games were within 3 goals, I don’t see that changing now. Ottawa doesn’t have a bad roster but Olivier Tremblay will get exposed in this series.

Prediction: HAM 4-1

2 Barrie vs 7 Mississauga

I think Mississauga had a chance to win this series before Svechnikov got suspended and now that he’s gone for 4 games, I think it’s a real possibility. Barrie is run by their top end talent (Svechnikov/Sokolov/Luchuk) but Mississauga’s is arguably even better (M.McLeod/Tippett/Hague). Mississauga needs to get off to a good start and go 3-1 or at worst 2-2 with Svechnikov out. This series will likely come down to who gets hotter between Lazarev and Vella. I don’t think either one of them are anything special, but Barrie’s back end is deeper so I think they take it in game 7, but this is the potential upset series in the East.

Prediction: BAR 4-3

3 Kingston vs 6 North Bay

Kingston has had some injury troubles that have hurt them since they made all the big trades so their record doesn’t look so good in the 2nd half, but they’re starting to get healthy again and will be too deep for North Bay in this series. Kingston having more depth, the best player (Vilardi) and the better goalie, has me thinking this series will end in 5 games.

Prediction: KGN 4-1

4 Niagara vs 5 Oshawa

This will be the best East series in my opinion. Niagara has the higher scoring top forwards but Oshawa has more depth and a better goalie. Most of Niagara’s top players (Miletic, Jones, Thomas, Dhillon., Corniel, Carbonara) have all really struggled in the playoffs whereas Studnicka, Keyser, Commisso, Krastenbergs all have really good career playoff numbers. The big difference maker to me will be special teams and since Jan 1st the Gens had one of the best PP’s in the OHL at over 26%. Carbonara alone will give the Gens a bunch of PP attempts and whether they can do anything with them could decide the series.

Prediction: OSH 4-3

WEST

1 Sault Ste. Marie vs 8 Saginaw

Your typical 1 vs 8 series. Sault Ste. Marie is so much deeper and so much better in almost every category. Saginaw would be happy to win a game.

Prediction: SSM 4-0

2 Kitchener vs 7 Guelph

Guelph has some good pieces but they’re all at least a year away from making a big difference in the playoffs I think. That coupled with how bad Guelph was the last month of the season and how Kitchener is finally healthy, I think KIT makes short work of them in this series.

Prediction: KIT 4-0

3 Sarnia vs 7 Windsor

Sarnia’s roster is so much better than Windsor’s in almost every single category. Windsor has arguably the best goalie in the league, which will steal them a win I think, but unless he’s going to post a .970 save %, they don’t have much of a chance to win the series.

Prediction: SAR 4-1

4 Owen Sound vs 5 London

I like Owen Sound to win this series because of what London did at the deadline. They traded away Thomas, Pu, Miletic, and Jones. Obviously that was a calculated plan and they knew they weren’t going to win this year so you can’t fault them for it, but it will be the reason they lose this series. The only chance London has is that Raaymakers badly outplays Lafreniere, which is very possible. But even if that does happen, I think OS just has so many more weapons and they’ll win.

Prediction: OS 4-1

Oshawa vs Niagara- Round 1 Preview

Season series: 1-1

Oct 6: NIA 5, OSH 4 (OT)

Oct 26: OSH 4, NIA 3 (SO)

Advantage: Neither

Special Teams:

OSH PP: 18.8% (14th)

NIA PP: 19.5% (12th)

OSH PK: 74.9% (18th)

NIA PK: 80.1% (7th)

Advantage: Niagara

However, since January 1st, the Generals had a PP % of 26.7% (31/116) which would’ve had them ranked 1st in the league if they did that in the 1st half too.

Starting Goalie:

Kyle Keyser (28-13-2), 3.16 GAA, .904 save %

Stephen Dhillon (28-16-10), 3.36 GAA, .898 save %

Advantage: Oshawa

Top Scorers:

NIA:

Sam Miletic: 36 G, 56 A, 92 P

Akil Thomas: 22 G, 59 A, 81 P

Kirill Maksimov: 34 G, 46 A, 80 P

Ben Jones: 30 G, 49 A, 79 P

OSH:

Jack Studnicka: 22 G, 50 A, 72 P

Allan McShane: 20 G, 45 A, 65 P

Domenico Commisso: 23 G, 39 A, 62 P

Kenny Huether: 23 G, 39 A, 54 P

Advantage: Niagara

Although something to keep an eye on is that Miletic+Thomas+Jones have combined to play 26 OHL playoff games and none of them have scored a goal (combined for only 2 points total)

 

 

 

Roster Makeup:

OSH:
97s: 3
98s: 7
99s: 4
00s: 5
01s: 2

NIA:
97s: 3
98s: 4
99s: 10
00s: 2
01s: 2

Advantage: Oshawa, they have the older roster

NHL Drafted/Signed Players:

NIA:

Ben Jones (VGK)

Kirill Maksimov (EDM)

Sam Miletic (PIT)

OSH:

Jack Studnicka (BOS)

Kyle Keyser (BOS)

Matt Brassard (VAN)

Advantage: Wash, 3-3

Projected OSH Lineup:

F:

Krastenbergs-Studnicka-Noel

McShane-Commisso-Huether

McCool-MacLean-Antropov

Harrogate-Henderson-Wong

D:

Ennis-Brassard

Brewer-Blacker

Allen/Di Carlo-Gross

G:

Keyser

Projected NIA Lineup:

F:

Miletic-Thomas-Singer

Corneil-Jones-Maksimov

Philip-Langdon-Johnson

Castleman-Tomasino-Carbonara

D:

Roberts-Hunter

Ham-MacPherson

Schaefer-Constantinou

G:

Dhillon

OHL Trade Deadline Grades: Western Conference

Erie

• Although it would’ve been nearly impossible for Erie to have a bad deadline (even the bad GM’s could’ve gotten a ton in return for Raddysh), Erie also added ’00 born D-man Luke Beamish to go with ’01 Fowler and 5 2nds+2 3rds. If they had’ve moved Sambrook by himself, I think they probably could’ve gotten more for him (look at the Dineen return) but Erie has shown that they’re really good at drafting, so they’ll settle for the picks. Dave Brown also did a good job of making the current roster pretty bad (Maksimovich/Lodnia will still steal some games) and I’d expect a top 3 overall pick coming for Erie in the next draft.
• Deadline Grade: B+

Flint

• Love the return they got for Mattinen. McCourt alone would’ve been a decent return and they got 2 2nds and a 5th on top of that. Flint’s biggest move came at the end of November but being able to add McCourt and Roberts (along with a bunch of picks) to an already young team was a nice job by Barclay Branch. Now they’ll need to convince some of the top guys to come to them with these high picks they’ll have, and that will start with Quinton Byfield.
• Deadline Grade: B+

Guelph

• Guelph’s only trade had them getting 2 2nds for Givani Smith. I like the deadline for them because they clearly have a plan, which is that next year they’ll be very active. They kept their young core in tact and moved Smith, because he won’t be back next year, for a good return. Guelph has set themselves up to be much more active next year’s deadline, which sounds easy, but not every team is able to realize when their window is and not make a silly trade for short-term gains but will hurt you down the road (i.e. Niagara-Miletic)
• Deadline grade: B

Kitchener

• Kitchener had a very, very risky deadline. Their big get was Logan Brown, who is currently out with an injury, and has been for 2 weeks now. But the even bigger risk in my opinion was trusting Mario Culina to be your goalie for a long playoff run. While I do think that Culina is a pretty good goalie, Kitchener will need him to be better than “pretty good” when they’re in rounds 2 and potentially round 3 against Fazio (Sarnia) and Villalta (SSM). I do like Kitchener’s roster, but with all the big name players that were on the market, there would’ve been other guys I would’ve traded my ’01 first round pick+2 2nds+3rd+5th for, and I would’ve paid a little more and got a more proven guy as my goalie, since this is looking like a “must win” year for KIT. While it wasn’t a trade, getting Michael Vukojevic to sign was massive. I don’t know if it will play as big of a factor this season, but down the road he’ll become one of the best D-men in the OHL. He’s going to be a monster.
• Deadline Grade: B-

London

• London haters should probably just skip this one. My god did Rob Simpson ever rob Kingston in the Pu for Dunkley trade. Not only did he get an ’00 forward who’s already over a point per game but he also got a 2nd and a 3rd in the deal. Only doing that move would’ve been a good deadline, but that wasn’t even close to all. They also got future superstar Connor McMichael (along with 4 2nds and a 3rd) for Robert Thomas, who might not even be back in the OHL next year. And then got Popov+2nd+3rd for rental Max Jones and got 3 2nds for rental Sam Miletic. 2 elite young forwards, an above average young forward and 8 2nds+5 3rds for 3 guys who definitely won’t be back next year and then a 4th guy who has a very good chance of not being back next year? Only London could pull that off, wow.
• Deadline Grade: A+

Owen Sound

• Traded Matt Struthers+2nd for Brett McKenzie as their only move. Very puzzling deadline from Dale DeGray. For the 2nd year in a row, DeGray refused to pay up for any huge moves and for the 2nd straight year, a great roster on paper is going to get wasted. This poor rating isn’t really because of what DeGray didn’t do at the deadline, but more what he didn’t do the months before the deadline, because honestly by the time January hit, it was too late for him to make any big moves, OS had already lost too much ground. Owen Sound still has no OHL level starting goalie and will see a bunch of players graduate, including Jonah Gadjovich, Brett McKenzie, and Jacob Friend. Unless he wants to be mediocre every year, eventually DeGray is going to have to adapt to the times and pay up at a deadline or his teams will keep being behind and be playing with one hand tied behind their backs.
• Deadline Grade: D+

Saginaw

• I thought Saginaw could’ve added some younger big names with all the picks they have stocked up, but them not doing anything just shows their being patient and letting this young roster keep playing and they’ll make the big moves in the future. The only move they made was to add Reilly Webb for 2nd+5th but they still have a million 2nds and 3rds to play with in the next 5-8 years.
• Deadline Grade: B

Sarnia

• They added some really good players without paying the huge price that some of the other teams did. They managed to get Cam Dineen, Jonathan Ang and Michael Pezzetta without trading away Jamieson Rees. 3 of their B/C level younger players and 5 2nds+3rd+2 4ths were all it took to get 3 really good players that will help for their playoff run. It’s impressive considering that Cam Dineen is one of the best defenceman in the league, Jonathan Ang might be the fastest skater in the OHL and can absolutely dominate for stretches and Michael Pezzetta is the type of player that is super valuable come playoff time. Keeping Rees and also making the roster good enough to give them a chance come playoff time made this a great deadline for Nick Sinclair.
• Draft Grade: A

Sault Ste. Marie

• I was honestly expecting Sault Ste. Marie to do a little more if we’re being honest. Not that they really needed to, but they were linked to just about every big name out there and then just made the 1 trade with Erie. If you’re a SSM fan then the Tammela trade was a very low risk, high reward move by Raftis because if Tammela never comes then it costs you nothing and if he does come then you get an NHL drafted skill player for just a 3rd round pick. But if you’re not a SSM fan then you’re wondering why SSM might have wasted 1 of only 2 Euro spots with a guy who has played 2 games in the last 2 seasons. The OHL playoffs are dominated by the guys who are willing to get dirty and play tough, and that seems to be as far from Jonne Tammela’s m.o. as there could possibly be. But hey, maybe he just got really unlucky and is getting healthy now and is going to show the OHL what kind of player he really is. That’s what Raftis is hoping for at least. While the deadline wasn’t anything crazy for SSM, they didn’t even need to make a move to be the best team in the league, and that’s just a testament to the unbelievable drafting that they’ve done, especially in the ’98 born draft.
• Deadline grade: B

Windsor

• They were able to get an ’01 born rookie 1st round D-man+2 2nds+3rd+5th for an injured star and an OA D-man, while also getting an ’01 born rookie 1st round F+4 2nds+3rd for a guy who hasn’t played at all this season with a back injury and a D-man who’s gone after this year. They draft cupboard was completely empty coming into this deadline and now it’s looking a lot better and they didn’t even have to move Michael DiPietro.
• Deadline Grade: A-

Projected Final Standings, ft @Gens_Brandon

East:
Generals Updates: 1- Hamilton

• They went all-in this year and it will pay off with 1st place in the East. Robert Thomas will be the best player in the Eastern Conference and the additions of Caamano/Moore on F and Mattinen/Stillman really help round out their depth, which is the best in the East.

Brandon: 1- Hamilton

• With additions like Robert Thomas on the front end, and Nicolas Mattinen on the back end, it will be hard for other teams in the East to make up any ground. Currently with a 10 point lead over the Kingston Frontenacs, and a 7 point lead over Barrie Colts, I believe they have themselves a safe enough cushion to remain 1st in the Eastern Conference.

Generals Updates: 2- Barrie

• I really don’t understand the Lipanov move, but they’re still the best team in the Central division. They’re not in a great spot this year because of the very small window where they’ll have Svechnikov (probably just this season) and lack of draft picks, but they should still be able to get the 2 seed I think.

Brandon: 2- Barrie

• While already being the highest scoring team in the Eastern Conference the top line is only going to get better now that Svechnikov is back from the WJHC and Sokolov added at the deadline. While the Ice Dogs are only 2 points behind, currently with a game in hand, I believe the Colts will be able to pull away slightly, because of their ability to score goals.

Generals Updates: 3- Kingston

• Nobody mortgaged their future more than Kingston this deadline, and while I don’t think it was smart, it will result in an exciting rest of the season for the Fronts. I think they’re the 2nd best team in the East, but because of division winners being 1/2, they finish 3rd.

Brandon: 3- Kingston

• By definition, the most all-in team in the Eastern Conference this season. With the additions made they will easily be able to pull ahead of Niagara for 3rd overall in the conference. Guys who know how to win in Pu, Jones, Vilardi, and Day will add something the Fronts have often lacked moving into the postseason; experience. They will make it close with Hamilton but will need a big second half.

Generals Updates: 4- Niagara

• I really don’t get the Miletic move, especially because they didn’t do anything else to add before/after that trade. They could get a home playoff series in round 1, although I think they’re by far the most likely team to get upset in the first round.

Brandon: 4- Niagara

• Rounding out home ice in the East, the ice dogs will pretty well stay where they are, dropping only behind Kingston by the end of the season. By adding Sam Miletic from the London Knights, the IceDogs will add an extra punch of scoring, something they have slightly struggled with this season.

Generals Updates: 5- Mississauga

• James Richmond was put in a terrible position because of no trade clauses, which forced him to buy (although he only really shopped in the discount bin). Because of the terrible start they had, I don’t expect them to get a home playoff series, although their 2nd half will be much better than their 1st half.

Brandon: 5- Ottawa

• The team that has had highs and lows came into the deadline with a record of 2-6-1-1 in their past 10 games. The team made some decent additions in Merrick Rippon, Shaw Boomhower and Jacob Cascagnette from the Mississauga Steelheads. Only 5 points behind the Oshawa Generals, I believe they will string enough wins together to find themselves playing Niagara in the 1st round… again.

Generals Updates: 6- Ottawa

• If they get even decent goaltending, they could finish as high as 5th, but I just don’t trust Olivier Tremblay. The 5-8 seeds will be the most contested in the Eastern Conference, but I think Ottawa finishes in the 6th seed.

Brandon: 6- Oshawa

• Playing .500 hockey much of this season, the Generals pretty well stayed put at the OHL deadline. While they have played good hockey as of late, they have a tough 2nd half schedule that includes 7 games against the Kingston Frontenacs that will be very hard to pull wins from.

Generals Updates: 7- Oshawa

• The Gens could finish as high as 5th, but because Mississauga added and Ottawa is just so much deeper, I think the Gens finish 7th. Although I am very excited to see how this team starts playing once they finally get their head coach back behind the bench for the 1st time this season (should be sometime soon).

Brandon: 7- Peterborough

• To the dismay of many Pete’s fans, GM Oke did very little at the deadline, making one splash in trading away Jonathan Ang. Despite losing one of their top forwards, a change in coaching scenery will help push the team into making the playoffs this season.

Generals Updates: 8- Peterborough

• Probably in the worst spot of any Eastern Conference team. They’re too good to tank (Wells/Korostelev will steal a bunch of points by themselves) but also not good enough to really make any kind of noise. Can’t see them missing the playoffs, but also can’t really see them finishing higher then 7th.

Brandon: 8- Mississauga

• One of the most up and down teams in the entire OHL this season, the Steelheads made small additions to their squad that I believe will make them better. Very easily I believe they could finish ahead of Peterborough, but also could see them only making the final spot. Players like Ryan McLeod, Owen Tippett and goaltended Jacob Ingham are expected to have bigger and better 2nd halves.

Generals Updates: 9- North Bay

• Trading away Dineen and McKenzie will likely see the Battalion fall out of the playoffs, but I don’t think they fall below SBY.

Brandon: 9- North Bay

• A team that stayed pretty quiet at the deadline, I cannot see Mr. Stan Butler squeaking his team into the postseason. With only 2 more goals than Sudbury for 9th in goals scored (128) in the East, and on the higher end of goals against (153), there are simply too many factors working against the Battalion team.

Generals Updates: 10- Sudbury

• They have an 8 point head start on North Bay for last right now. I think 9th is the highest that they could finish, but I think they end up in the last spot in the Eastern Conference and end up picking 3rd overall in the draft next year.

Brandon: 10- Sudbury

• Same story different year, it seems for the lowly Sudbury Wolves. Just as they so frequently have done, the Wolves were big sellers at the deadline trading away captain Michael Pezzetta, Troy Lajeunesse and Dmitry Sokolov. The Wolves have the lowest goals scored (126) in the East, 2nd fewest in the league. Same goes for their goals against (165). There’s always next year, right Sudbury?

 

West:
Generals Updates: 1- Sault Ste. Marie

• By far the best team in the OHL (probably the CHL). There’s no chance that they don’t finish 1st in the West. If they don’t win the Memorial Cup this season, then they should consider it a failed season.

Brandon: 1- Sault Ste. Marie

• Very hard to argue that anyone will be able to stop the Greyhounds this season. Adding two of the best available players in Taylor Raddysh and Jordan Sambrook at the deadline only made there roster better, and stronger. Leading the league with the most goals (187), and fewest scored against (108) speaks for itself. They Greyhounds also currently hold a 17 point lead over Sarnia, and 21 point lead over Kitchener.

Generals Updates: 2- Kitchener

• Will be fighting with Sarnia for the 2nd most points in the West, but because they’ll win their division, Kitchener will finish 2nd place, although their goaltending worries me.

Brandon: 2- Kitchener

• In a season in which the Midwest division is not as incredibly strong as it has been in recent years, the Rangers will be able to take the division and finish 2nd in the Western Conference. While they were able to make their team better with additions such as Logan Brown and Givani Smith, the Rangers did not ruin their future to do so. Do they have enough to compete with the Soo come playoffs? Maybe not, but they will not experience much of the same drop.

Generals Updates: 3- Sarnia

• The pickups of Dineen, Ang and Pezzetta will be huge for them going forward. I’m already excited for a 2nd round playoff series of Sarnia vs Kitchener.

Brandon: 3- Sarnia

• Rounding out the to-be expected top 3 in the West, the Sting made key additions to their roster to make the team even better. Michael Pezzetta, Jonathan Ang, and Cam Dineen help fill the holes that the Sting had before the deadline. The key to their success moving forward will be the ability to win the games they are expected to win against lower seeded teams, something they have struggled to do on occasion.

Generals Updates: 4- Saginaw

• Didn’t do much at the deadline, but are one of the most exciting young teams in the league. 4th place could very well be either Saginaw or Guelph, but I’m going to pick Saginaw because they seem to get the most of their young players.

Brandon: 4- Saginaw

• Following a few rough seasons, the Spirit will not only make a return to the postseason, but they will also host at least one round. Quietly winning many games in the west this season, the team will take advantage on London and Windsor selling this year. I mean hey, a 6 goal comeback against the then #1 ranked Sting counts for something right?

Generals Updates: 5- Guelph

• A good 2nd half from guys like Toropchenko and Hillis (as well as Popovich keeping up his hot play) could very well see Guelph finish has high as 4th, but I have them in the 5th spot in these projections because of the lack of consistency from Guelph’s top guys.

Brandon: 5- London

• A team that despite selling their 4 best players in Pu, Jones, Thomas, and Miletic will still finish in the top half of the conference. What people need to realize is that the players they brought in at the deadline are still fantastic young players. Give it a year or two and the Knights will be the talk of the OHL, and maybe even the CHL once again.

Generals Updates: 6- Windsor

• Owen Sound has a considerably better roster than Windsor, but Michael DiPietro (he is the team) has a 9 point head start and he’ll steal enough games that I can see WSR staying ahead of OS and finishing 6th.

Brandon: 6- Windsor

• A year removed from their Memorial Cup Championship, the Spits will finish at 6th in the west. The team made big trades in order to better themselves moving forward but still have one of the best goalies in the OHL in Michael DiPietro who is extremely capable of winning this team games moving forward.

Generals Updates: 7- Owen Sound

• Hard to believe how bad they’ve been this season when you look at how good their roster is. Adding Brett McKenzie at the deadline should help a bit, but even without him, they should be much better than they were in the 1st half. Goaltending will obviously be the huge key for them, and I just don’t trust Lafreniere or Guzda

Brandon: 7- Owen Sound

• Coming off a franchise year last season, the Attack have found themselves without an OHL calibre starting goaltender, which has them finishing this low in the standings. With scoring capabilities on the roster they will not having trouble continuing to put the puck in the net, but with the now injured Olivier Lafreniere they will struggle to keep the puck out of their own net.

Generals Updates: 8- London

• A very, very young team now after trading Pu+Jones+Thomas+Miletic and not getting Mete. Because their 15 points up on Erie already, I don’t think there’s any chance that London misses the playoffs, but I think they fall to 8th.

Brandon: 8- Guelph

• Despite the teams ahead of them being sellers, I do not see the Storm finishing any higher than 7th, but most likely finishing 8th by the end of the season. Currently 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 have had it rough lately. Goal scoring has been a bit of an issue in Guelph with only 132 goals for, trading away Givani Smith will only make it more difficult to score the necessary goals to win.

Generals Updates: 9- Erie

• After trading Raddysh+Sambrook and having the worst goaltending combo in the league (in my opinion) I don’t expect Erie to get many points going forward. But I also don’t expect them to fall below Flint. I’d pick Erie to get the #2 overall pick in next year’s draft.

Brandon: 9- Erie

• Knowing the team needed to sell off this season, the Otters did exactly that and will miss the playoffs for the first time in 4 seasons. Scoring has not been that bad of an issue for Erie but taking Sambrook and Raddysh out of the lineup will make it more difficult to score. As well, OHL Champion goaltended Troy Timpano has left the team leaving a bit of a void in net.

Generals Updates: 10- Flint

• I don’t think Flint wins many more games the rest of the season. They’re definitely my pick to pick 1st overall next year and they can just hope that Quinton Byfield is willing to report.

Brandon: 10- Flint

• A team that cannot score (111) and cannot keep them out (180) is simply going to finish last in the West and the OHL. The team has sold off their best players throughout the season including Ryan Moore, Nicholas Caamano and Nicolas Mattinen, are not going to win very many games moving forward. It is clear to everyone that Flint wants Byfield, but will Byfield want Flint?

OHL Trade Deadline Grades: Eastern Conference

Barrie

• They were in a pretty bad spot because of their lack of draft picks and very small window to win with Svechnikov likely leaving after this season. Their only move was Sokolov for Lipanov, which I don’t really understand. Both guys are likely gone after this year and are very similar players. Lipanov already had chemistry with Svechnikov, so now you’re just hoping that Sokolov can develop the same chemistry that the other two already had? I think they’re the 3rd best team in the East, and when it’s a “must win” year, that isn’t great news.
• Deadline Grade: C+

Hamilton

• If you’re going to go all-in, go all-in. And they did. Robert Thomas is my pick for best player in the Eastern Conference and for the rest of this season, that is a great trade. But if we’re looking into the future, I don’t really like it all that much. Thomas has a legit shot to make the NHL next year and never be in the OHL again, and Connor McMichael is a future superstar of the OHL. If you just traded a future superstar (and picks on top of that) for a couple months of Robert Thomas, that’s going to really hurt if Hamilton doesn’t win it all this year, and even with how good HAM is, I don’t think anyone gives them a real shot again SSM.
• Deadline Grade: B (bumped up to a A- if Thomas is back in the OHL next year)

Kingston

• I’ll be honest, I hate what Kingston did this deadline. I get that Helvig is really good, but they had such a good, young core and they completely threw that out the window and made their “window to win” to only this season, and they’re not even the best team in the Eastern Conference. The Vilardi trade I liked because he’ll be back next year (although Day won’t be) and the Jones for Popov trade I also liked, but my god did KGN ever get robbed in Pu for Dunkley+2nd+3rd. Dunkley is already almost as good as Pu, and will be in the league for at least 2.5 more seasons, maybe even 3.5. That trade won’t take long to come back to bite them.
• Deadline Grade: B-

Mississauga

• From the outside looking in, you’d think James Richmond (Steelheads GM) was crazy for adding small and not selling off his stars at this deadline, but when you start to hear some of the horror stories about the trades he had lined up but we’re nixed because of no trade clauses, it’s pretty tough to blame him. Cole Carter and Reagan O’Grady are two really good depth pickups and the Mississauga roster, although underperforming, should be really talented. So there’s a chance that this team goes on a real run in the 2nd half now.
• Deadline Grade: B-

 

Niagara

• They traded away Shankar and you’re thinking okay, they understand that next year they’re going to be really good and it makes sense to build around that. And then they go and trade 3 2nds to get OA Sam Miletic and do nothing else and you’re left wondering what they’re thinking. Does Miletic make them a better team? For sure. Does it make them likely to win even 1 playoff series? I’d say definitely not. And now they have 3 less high picks next year when they’re in an arms race with Oshawa and Ottawa in the Eastern Conference. Puzzling move for Billy Burke.
• Deadline Grade: C

North Bay

• It’s rare to see North Bay willing to sell away their top guys, but I think Butler did a good job of finally realizing that it needed to be done. He got a good return for Dineen and McKenzie and even added a good veteran player who will help the young guys grow in Jake Henderson. Of course, now they need to make the draft picks count, but getting 4 2nds along with 2 young players for an OA and a D is a great start to a rebuild.
• Deadline Grade: A

Oshawa

• Much like North Bay, as long as there’s a clear message, then I’m good with whatever a GM decides to do. For Roger Hunt, the message was clear that next year is the Gens year to start adding. Getting 2 2nds+3rd for Riley Stillman was a great trade for Hunt and then he could afford to stand pat because either everyone else will be back, or the little return you’d get for a guy wouldn’t be worth the potential chemistry you’d ruin from a team who has points in 7 of their last 8 games. Hunt stayed patient and didn’t trade away any guys who could be back next year and also didn’t lose sight of the goal and trade away any picks to get a rentals.
• Deadline Grade: B+

Ottawa

• Similar to the Gens, it was clear that their focus is next season. They were able to add a couple depth guys in Boomhower/Cascagnette/Rippon and then got a good haul for Stratis, just furthering their already plentiful draft cupboard for next year. Ottawa is going to be a real problem next season.
• Deadline Grade: A-

Peterborough

• Mike Oke looked like he was finally going to do the right thing and sell his veterans when he traded Jonathan Ang. Didn’t get a great return, but at least he got back a 2000 born forward. But then he did nothing else. Apparently he’s content with letting Dylan Wells, Logan DeNoble and Nikita Korostelev walk and receive nothing in return for them. The other problem to getting no picks/players for them, is now the Petes are too good to be bad, which sounds like it doesn’t make any sense, but in other words, there’s no way the Petes enter the “Byfield sweepstakes” by tanking (barring several key injures) but they’re also not good enough to make a serious run at a title. They look destine for that 6-8 range, which is not a good spot to be for a team like the Petes who’s best 3 players all won’t be returning next season.
• Deadline Grade: D+

Sudbury

• The Sokolov for Lipanov trade was pretty much a wash, but I did like the O’Grady+3rd for Stratis move. Adds a high end D-man prospect for the Wolves while not really costing them all that much. They also got a pretty good return for Pezzetta (D prospect and 2 2nds). Add in the Nizhnikov pickup a couple weeks before the deadline and the Wolves did a great job of adding young, high end players while also getting a good return for some of their veterans.
• Deadline Grade: A

Which team has the most all-time Memorial Cup Championships?

The Memorial Cup was created in 1919 to be awarded to the junior hockey champion and here are the teams who have won it the most times under the same name:

underlined = active CHL team

1st- Toronto Marlboros (7)

2nd- Oshawa Generals (5)

3rd- Toronto St. Michael’s Majors (4)

T4th- Windsor Spitfires, Regina Pats, Edmonton Oil Kings, Kamloops Blazers, Cornwall Royals, Montreal Jr Canadiens, Barrie Flyers and Winnipeg Monarchs (3)

T12th- London Knights, Quebec Remparts, Kitchener Rangers, Portland Winterhawks, Ottawa 67’s, Medicine Hat Tigers, Spokane Chiefs, Owen Sound Greys, Niagara Falls Flyers, St. Catherin’s Teepees, New Westminster Bruins and Winnipeg Rangers (2)

 

Several teams tied for 24th with 1 win each