NHL prospers from OHL pipeline
About one-fifth of pro league’s players in 2019-20 came from the junior loop
Ten players who competed in the Ontario Hockey League received a graduation present this year when the Tampa Bay Lightning ended the pandemic-interrupted National Hockey League season with a Stanley Cup title.
While COVID-19 denied the Canadian Hockey League’s three loops, including the OHL, the opportunity to compete for the Memorial Cup championship, the NHL was able to get back on the ice by playing out of bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto. Games were played without spectators.
A total of 228 OHL alumni, including 12 who wound up their junior careers with the Niagara IceDogs, appeared on NHL rosters during the 2019-20 regular season and playoffs. That number represents about 21 per cent of all players who competed in the NHL last season.
Forward Carter Verhaeghe, now with the Lightning, became the third former IceDog in two years to hoist the Stanley Cup. Defencemen Vince Dunn and Alex Pietrangelo, who wrapped up his OHL career with the Barrie Colts after parts of two seasons in Niagara, captured a Stanley Cup championship with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
Also seeing action in the NHL in 2019-20 were Niagara alum Andrew Agozzino, F, Anaheim; Dougie Hamilton, D, Carolina; Tom Kuhnhackl, F, New York Islanders; Alex Nedeljkovic, G, Carolina; Jamie Oleksiak, D, Dallas; Brendan Perlini, F, Detroit; Brett Ritchie, F, Boston; Jason Robertson, F, Dallas; Ryan Strome, F, New York Rangers; and Jack Studnicka, F, Boston.
Strome topped the IceDog graduates in production with 18 goals, 41 assists for 59 points in 70 games. He was followed by Pietrangelo, 16 goals, 36 assists, 52 points, 70 games; Hamilton, 14 goals, 26 assists, 40 points, 47 games; Dunn, nine goals, 14 assists, 23 points, 71 games; and Verhaeghe, nine goals, four assists, 13 points, 52 points.
Leading all NHL clubs with OHL graduates were the Chicago Blackhawks, with 12 on their final roster. The Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs had 11 apiece, while the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks each had 10 grads as did the Stanley Cup finalist Dallas Stars.
Leading all OHL teams with 34 graduates playing in the NHL this past season were the London Knights, with 34. Earning the dis
tinction of being the second mostproductive pipeline were the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, with 22, including St. Catharines native Conor Timmins.
The Barrie Colts and Kitchener Rangers each graduated 15 players who competed in the NHL this season.
Three players — Liam Foudy, F,
London; Thomas Harley, D, Mississauga Steelheads; Nick Robertson, F, Peterborough Petes — appeared in the NHL while playing a full season in the OHL.
Nick Robertson is the younger brother of former IceDog Jason Robertson.
Detroit Red Wings defenceman Trevor Daley, Sault Ste. Marie, and
Philadelphia Flyers forward Chris Stevens, Kingston Frontenacs, were the former OHLers who announced their retirement at the end of the 2019-20 season.