Brantford on the rebound
It is full steam ahead for general manager Spencer Hyman and the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. With the Bulldogs having lost to the Barrie Colts in Game 7 of this year’s Eastern Conference finals and with multiple impact players poised to graduate to the pro ranks for the ’26-27 season, Hyman has quickly moved to restore the roster and restock the Brantford draft cupboard with a series of signings and trades.
With the OHL temporarily opening the trade window on June 1, Hyman has been the busiest of any GM in the league. He has shipped off four veteran players — including both of his now overage goalies from the ’25-26 season — in trades with the Owen Sound Attack, Sarnia Sting, Erie Otters and Kingston Frontenacs for draft picks and younger prospects.
Add in the fact that Brantford also recently signed several top American born free agents who have future National Collegiate Athletic Association commitments and the Bulldogs are suddenly on the rebound ahead of next season.
Notably, in trading both of his holdover 2006 birth year goalies — Ryerson Leenders was shipped to Owen Sound and David Egorov was dealt to Erie — Hyman has thus cleared space for the highly regarded Maksim Corovic to take over the net in Brantford.
The 6 foot 3, 195 pound Corovic, who has a 2008 birthdate, was a fifth round draft pick by Brantford in 2024. After playing in a couple of OHL games for the Bulldogs in ’25-26, Corovic went on to become goalie of the year in the Ontario Jr. Hockey League for the Collingwood Blues.
Hyman, as the Brantford GM, has clearly shown confidence in Corovic by dealing away both Leenders and Egorov.
“Corovic is a stud goalie,” Hyman relayed to Hockey News Windsor. “He is going to be a good one in our league. And what we were able to get for Leenders, Egorov and the others restocks our draft cupboard. Having signed the free agents that we did allowed us to make the moves that we have made thus far. I will always be aggressive in doing what I can to keep our team competitive and moving forward.”
And one gets the feeling that the hustling Hyman may not be done dealing.
