Building it up in Brantford
They are continuing to build in Brantford. But it is not a tear down rebuild. More accurately, it is ongoing maintenance and construction designed towards keeping a top notch Ontario Hockey League program in the game.
Yes, the Brantford Bulldogs still have some game.
To be sure, It has been full throttle ahead for unrelenting general manager Spencer Hyman and the OHL Bulldogs of Brantford. 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 masterfully moved to restore the roster and restock the Brantford draft barrel with a series of signings and trades.
Hustle bustle Hyman has been the busiest of any GM in the league during this off season, beginning with the plentiful signings of plum American born prospects with future National Collegiate Athletic Association commitments.
One of the prime time prizes is Abe Barnett, a 6 foot 3, 200 pound hulk of a defenseman with a late 2008 birth date. Barnett, who has a future NCAA commitment to the University of Michigan, has spent the past two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program.
A product of the Chicago Mission AAA program, Barnett was originally taken by the Ottawa 67’s at the 2024 OHL priority selections draft. Brantford acquired his OHL rights from Ottawa for an excess third round pick at this past January’s OHL trade deadline.
Barnett’s signing by Brantford followed a flurry of four free agent acquisitions by the Bulldogs of elite American born players with NCAA commitments, notably forwards Nathan Hauad, Owen DeGraff, Xavier Lieb and Jason Musa. Hauad, DeGraff and Lieb have 2008 birth dates while Musa was born in 2007.
Hauad has a future commitment to UConn and DeGraff and Lieb are both Penn State recruits. Meanwhile, the year older Musa, who was originally slated to play in the NCAA at UMass in ’26-27, instead signed an OHL card with Brantford. All four players starred with teams in the Tier 1 junior level United States Hockey League in ’25-26, making their shift to the OHL a coup for both the league and Brantford.
Then, once the OHL trade window re-opened on June 1, Hyman went to work to not only restock the Brantford draft jar but add even more elite level youth.
For example, Hyman shipped off numerous 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. As part of the deal with Owen Sound, Brantford obtained 2008 birth year defenseman Jet Kwajah. Kwajah played in the USHL in ’25-26 and has a future NCAA commitment to Ferris State.
Hyman also found more fresh faces in separate flips with the Flint Firebirds by getting huge 2008 birth year defenseman George Komadoski and 2009 birth year forward Brayden Lappalainen.
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 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.
To be sure, Hyman’s off season work was well planned by him and his hockey operations staff. Not only did Brantford sign all of that top American talent in giving up little to nothing in return, the Bulldogs now have more than a full package of picks — 16 in total — heading into this weekend’s 15 round OHL priority selections draft. Impressively, Brantford has three picks in the first two rounds alone — 20th, 31st and 40th overall.
“What we were able to get for Leenders, Egorov and the others restocked our draft cupboard. Having signed the free agents that we did allowed us to make the moves that we made. As the GM ,I will always be aggressive in doing what I can to keep our team competitive and moving forward,” Hyman relayed to Hockey News Windsor.
Hyman’s frantic off season of player acquisitions and draft capital recovery also featured the hiring of a new head coach as Michael Babcock — son of Stanley Cup champion coach Mike Babcock — was brought in to replace Jay McKee, who landed a job in the American Hockey League.
