Ontario Hockey League needs top players to commit
When the Petes selected Will Cuylle with the third overall pick in the draft, a lot of opinions arose about what was “best” for all involved.
Whether it would be best for Cuylle’s development to play elsewhere, whether it would be best for the Peterborough to have Cuylle the player or a slew of draft picks they could acquire via trade.
There is a sentiment that it would be best for the league that a player be forced to report to the team that drafted him or sit out. It’s clear that from the OHL’s perspective, what’s best is that high end players such as Cuylle end up in their league. The “defected player” system put in place by the OHL, allowing teams to trade players for picks is there for this reason, as much as it is to promote parity within the league.
In an ideal world, players would go to the club that drafts him — we saw this in the instance of Cole Perfetti, the fifth overall pick in the draft who was rumoured to have a wish list of clubs but reported to the Saginaw team that drafted him. If he hadn’t reported, the league would rather see him in his OHL destination of choice than going the USHL/American College route.
The USHL has emerged as a legitimate alternative to the
OHL. In the 2018 NHL draft, 24 players, including 8 Europeans who are increasingly joining the league, were selected. More players were drafted from that league than the WHL or QMJHL and that number doesn’t account for U.S. college bound players who were drafted from Canadian Jr. A leagues and American high schools. Only the OHL had more players drafted, with 35, but the gap is closing.
Some players, such as Logan Hutsko get drafted once they are already enrolled. Hutsko is an American who was drafted by the Petes in the sixth round of the 2015 draft. He played with the U.S. National Development Team Program in the USHL before heading to Boston College, where after a standout freshman season, he was selected in the third round by the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
Hutsko is just one recent example of a college bound player drafted by the Petes who did not report to Peterborough but went on to be drafted to the NHL. Cameron Crotty, Matt Cairns, Jake Walman and Steve Santini are among others who could have made a significant impact had they reported to Peterborough.
At an even greater impact to the league is Jack Hughes. Hughes is American but grew up in the Toronto GTHL system and will be the first player selected in this years’ NHL draft. Despite being drafted in the first round by the Mississauga Steelheads — the closest thing to a Torontobased OHL team — Hughes also elected for the American route, with a commitment to Michigan.
The OHL prides itself on being the best development league there is and even instituted an “exceptional status” rule to ensure that the likes of Aaron Ekblad, John Tavares and Connor McDavid get in the league early. When they don’t get players like Hughes, or to a lesser extent Cuylle, it hurts.
With competition to attract elite junior players fiercer than ever, the OHL must do what it takes to maintain the reputation and talent level of the OHL. The league needs top players to commit, even if it isn’t to Peterborough.