OHL is in the offing
Hot fun in the summertime will soon turn to ice. For example, It doesn’t matter if you are up north in Sault Ste. Marie, in the mid to lower Michigan regions of Flint and Saginaw, or in the southwestern Ontario areas of London and Windsor, first pucks will drop on Ontario Hockey League training camps in late August.
In fact, not only do training camps get underway towards the end of next month but the OHL exhibition slate begins on August 30, which is less than a month before the September 25 start to the 2024-2025 regular season.
At any rate, following is a look at five teams from the Western Conference who are a mix of intrigue and attraction ahead of the ’24-25 OHL season. Teams are listed in alphabetical order.
Flint Firebirds. As a solid sign of it being an up and coming team, No. 8 seed Flint gave no. 1 seed London a tough time in the first round of the ’24 playoffs before bowing out. To be sure, Flint has plenty of returning skill and depth in place ahead of the ’24-25 season led by a number of National Hockey League draft picks that include workhorse goalie Nathan Day, standout defenseman Tristan Bertucci and forwards Kaden Pitre, Nathan Aspinall and ex Soo Greyhound Connor Clattenburg.
And to add to the veteran presence that was already in place, Firebirds’ general manager Dave McParlan went on an off season shopping spree and peddled a boat load full of draft picks — many that were stockpiled from previous trades — to bring in seasoned, dependable skaters such as forward Chris Thibodeau from the Kingston Frontenacs and forward Evan Konyen and defensemen Matthew Mania and Nolan Collins from the Sudbury Wolves.
Behind the Flint bench, Paul Flache is being billed as a young, high end coach who did an exceptional job as a first year head master in ’23-24. Look for Flache and the Firebirds to fly high in the Western Conference in ’24-25.
London Knights. When was the last time that London was not a contender? As some OHL teams always seem to be building — but never finishing — the reigning OHL champions are perennial contenders with a peerless coach/management team of Dale Hunter and Mark Hunter and a player development formula that is second to none.
Meanwhile, the list of top notch talent that the Knights can return for another run in ’24-25 is — for the umpteenth year in a row — as good as any in the entire OHL. The list of stud players that can return to the Knight shift in ’24-25 is a cast that features forwards Denver Barkey, Easton Cowan and Sam O’Reilly and defensemen Sam Dickinson and Oliver Bonk. Cowan, O’Reilly, Dickinson and Bonk are all first round NHL draft picks and Barkey is an NHL third rounder. Say no more.
It is quite possible that Cowan could stick in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs in ’24-25 — and one of the aforementioned others could also make the jump as an underage skater. But the fact remains that as of right now, the Knights are poised to again be an OHL force to be reckoned with in ’24-25.
Saginaw Spirit. Despite losing to London in the OHL Western Conference finals the Spirit took full advantage of being the host entry at the ’24 Memorial Cup tournament to edge the Knights with a last minute goal in what was a thriller of a national championship game.
Building the team to play host to — and ultimately win — the Memorial Cup championship did come at quite the price for Saginaw, however. (Which was well worth it.) Spirit general manager Dave Drinkill mortgaged the future — and sometimes over paid — by trading off a whack of future draft picks to solidify the strength of the Spirit for what would become Memorial Cup glory.
Heading into the ’24-25 OHL season, Saginaw still has some key parts in place, including superstar defenseman Zayne Parekh and forward Michael Misa, who is a budding star. The Spirit also stands to return a pair of overages in heart and soul forward Calem Mangone and Memorial Cup championship goalie Andrew Oke.
But with Drinkill as the GM staring at an emptied draft cupboard, does he recoup some of the traded picks by dealing one or two of his star players? Does he do the unthinkable and trade the still young Parekh — as a defenseman, he has 62 goals, 91 assists, 153 points in 140 OHL games with Saginaw, playoffs included — who was a first round pick, ninth overall, by the Calgary Flames at this year’s NHL Draft? Does he trade Mangone, who wouldn’t fetch nearly as much for Parekh but still be worth several draft picks in return?
Days of decisions loom for Trader Dave and the Spirit.
Soo Greyhounds. If Charlie Schenkel — as is being speculated — returns as an overage to team with the younger Landon Miller then the Soo will have a 1-2 duo of big goalies that could be the best in the entire OHL. The Greyhounds do have other potential goalie options in their system though and if one of them is deemed being capable of backing up Miller — who was a fourth round pick by the Detroit Red Wings at this year’s NHL Draft — then the Greyhounds could move the overage Schenkel for a nice return.
Elsewhere in the lineup, despite faced with losing a lot of offensive firepower and defense dependability to graduation the Greyhounds have the capabilities to be a tad above a middle of the pack crew in the OHL’s Western world in ’24-25. Returning skaters of high note — excluding potential overages — include NHL draft pick defenseman Andrew Gibson and forwards Justin Cloutier, Marco Mignosa, Travis Hayes and Brady Martin.
Worth keeping on eye on is forward Christopher Brown, who the Soo took in the first round, 16th overall, of the 2022 OHL priority selections draft. Through two full seasons to date, Brown has only 12 goals, 26 assists, 38 points in 135 games, including playoffs. He was subsequently bypassed entirely at this year’s NHL Draft. Do the Hounds move on from Brown? Or does he become another highly touted first round pick who matured a little later than others?
Windsor Spitfires. Led by new head coach Greg Walters, the Spitfires are a good team in the making. Walters has been an OHL head coach for four seasons — two with the Oshawa Generals and two more with the Owen Sound Attack — and has never had a losing record with teams that mostly overachieved.
In the minds of many, Windsor is poised to go from missing the playoffs in ’23-24 to being among the upper echelon of the Western Conference in ’24-25. And Walters as the incoming head coach, has a nice table set up for him.
Key components for Windsor in ’24-25 — not counting overage possibilities — include forwards Liam Greentree, Cole Davis, A.J. Spellacy and Jack Nesbitt as well as a blue line brigade that currently contains Anthony Cristoforo, Connor Walton, Tanner Winegard, Carson Woodall et al. Greentree (first round) and Spellacy (third round) were both picked at this year’s NHL Draft.
Meanwhile, the eyes of the hockey world will be on hulking forward Ethan Belchetz, who Windsor made the first overall pick of this year’s OHL priority selections draft. Big kid Belchetz has the words “power forward OHL star” written all over him.
A major question mark does loom between the pipes. Is former Niagara IceDogs’ second rounder Joey Costanzo ready to become a legitimate starter in his third OHL season — or do the Spitfires look to someone else?
The Spitfires do have a potential dark horse waiting for his opportunity. He is 6 foot 3, 200 pound goalie Carter Froggett, who Windsor took in the sixth round of the 2022 OHL priority selections draft. Since being drafted by Windsor in ’22 from the the Elgin-Middlesex Under 16 Chiefs, Froggett has played for the London Jr. Knights of the Under 18 level Hockey Alliance and the London Nationals of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League. He also got into two OHL games with the Spitfires in ’23-24.
Regardless of position, do not be surprised if the Spitfires are active in the OHL trade market at points ahead. Spitfires’ general manager Billy Bowler is one of the best at his job in the OHL. He has shown that he knows how to build a contender and he has shown that he knows how to do a rebuild. A steely eyed, stare down GM who thinks ahead and puts his emotions aside, Bowler is not afraid to pull the trigger on major trades, even if it means dealing with teams in his own division.