2009 Born for the 2025 OHL Draft

[Jordan Malette]

Hey everyone. I'm the man behind the OHL Draft work at PuckPreps and was pointed to this thread for obvious reasons lol.

I just want to say that if anyone ever wants to have a discussion about how I go about things or have a conversation about a player, I'm all ears. Feel free to DM me on twitter and I'm more than happy to have a conversation. We may not agree on everything but I put a lot of time / effort into this so I'm always happy to share my thoughts / hear other perspectives with others interested in this stuff.

Aside: I watched McGregor plenty in U15 and both he and Freeman are on my list, just not mentioned in the article as I didn't go player by player mentioning everyone.

@JordanMalette

 

[OHL4Life]

To be fair I don’t disagree with any of the names he mentioned it’s just evident he doesn’t follow draft classes until September of the U16 season. He doesn’t know who anyone is that didn’t play, or didn’t play well in the Titans tournament and that leads to him missing top end kids like McGregor.

Its fascinating to me that he didn’t mention a kid like Freeman as a big point getters at tournaments have been overvalued dramatically in his previous rankings.

in other words, he doesn’t know what he’s doing and doesn’t go there games. a month before the draft Fitzgerald was scoring 2 goals a game for he past month every time he played and was at like 24. we all know Ethan belchez drama. he’s a kid with no experience and blindly maki g a list, which anyone can do. Didn’t make it valuable. he has no one to tell him what he’s wrong or right about and when someone says what he needs to do to improve, he cries

 

[OHL4Life]

Hey everyone. I'm the man behind the OHL Draft work at PuckPreps and was pointed to this thread for obvious reasons lol.

I just want to say that if anyone ever wants to have a discussion about how I go about things or have a conversation about a player, I'm all ears. Feel free to DM me on twitter and I'm more than happy to have a conversation. We may not agree on everything but I put a lot of time / effort into this so I'm always happy to share my thoughts / hear other perspectives with others interested in this stuff.

Aside: I watched McGregor plenty in U15 and both he and Freeman are on my list, just not mentioned in the article as I didn't go player by player mentioning everyone.

@JordanMalette

look at the feedback last year. Appreciate your passion but you got to get it to games, your lists will suffer until you do. you can’t do it alone and without ppl with experience to let you know what your missing or what you need to improve on, you're a ship without a sail. there are tones of guys who are in the same boat as you that find the ability to go to games all over Ontario like OHL guys do, and OHL guys give them all the time of day, they get hired by teams. Neutral zone is at every tournament and are now used by OHL scouts, they do it the right away, if they can do it, so can you, if you try.

there is a reason nhl teams have gotten rid of video scouts for the most part, it’s not nearly as accurate as in person. do you want to make a list, or do you want accuracy and improvement. Draft eligible kids bust thier ass all year to get noticed and put in a ton of work to get to where they are, if your going to judge and rate them, I would suggest it’s only fair you do the same, but maybe I’m old and from a different ‘school’.

 

[Jordan Malette]

look at the feedback last year. Appreciate your passion but you got to get it to games, your lists will suffer until you do. you can’t do it alone and without ppl with experience to let you know what your missing or what you need to improve on, you're a ship without a sail. there are tones of guys who are in the same boat as you that find the ability to go to games all over Ontario like OHL guys do, and OHL guys give them all the time of day, they get hired by teams. Neutral zone is at every tournament and are now used by OHL scouts, they do it the right away, if they can do it, so can you, if you try.

there is a reason nhl teams have gotten rid of video scouts for the most part, it’s not nearly as accurate as in person. do you want to make a list, or do you want accuracy and improvement. Draft eligible kids bust thier ass all year to get noticed and put in a ton of work to get to where they are, if your going to judge and rate them, I would suggest it’s only fair you do the same, but maybe I’m old and from a different ‘school’.

I appreciate your feedback and certainly understand doing most of this by video isn't the norm and puts me on an island. I've gone to my fair share of games/tournaments and I think my work (reports and rankings) are at the very least on par, if not better off when I do it over video. I don't intend to convince anyone of this as I know it's unpopular, but a lot of what I do wouldn't be possible if I were to be mainly in person. It may not be the way others do things, but it's what I find works best for me.

All I ask is for people to approach my work with an open mind. There's a long list of reasons why my rankings may be different than consensus / what happens on draft day, and at the bottom of that list is watching games in person vs. video. I've never claimed to be perfect or better than anyone at this, but giving me the benefit of the doubt that my opinions and rankings have an incredible amount of time and thought behind them is all I can hope for.

At the end of the day, I'm just a guy sharing my perspective. Whether people want to agree with me or disagree with me is their choice, but that can be done so respectfully.

 

[OHL4Life]

I appreciate your feedback and certainly understand doing most of this by video isn't the norm and puts me on an island. I've gone to my fair share of games/tournaments and I think my work (reports and rankings) are at the very least on par, if not better off when I do it over video. I don't intend to convince anyone of this as I know it's unpopular, but a lot of what I do wouldn't be possible if I were to be mainly in person. It may not be the way others do things, but it's what I find works best for me.

All I ask is for people to approach my work with an open mind. There's a long list of reasons why my rankings may be different than consensus / what happens on draft day, and at the bottom of that list is watching games in person vs. video. I've never claimed to be perfect or better than anyone at this, but giving me the benefit of the doubt that my opinions and rankings have an incredible amount of time and thought behind them is all I can hope for.

At the end of the day, I'm just a guy sharing my perspective. Whether people want to agree with me or disagree with me is their choice, but that can be done so respectfully.

ok, so let me ask you, why can’t you just go out to games? I see everyone else doing it in your position, what makes you different?

why do I have to drive 4 hours to Whitby silverstick and manage missing family for 3 days because it’s the that way to get info and accurate viewings on kids, but you don’t think you have to do that?

 

[ScoutLife4]

ok, so let me ask you, why can’t you just go out to games? I see everyone else doing it in your position, what makes you different?

why do I have to drive 4 hours to Whitby silverstick and manage missing family for 3 days because it’s the that way to get info and accurate viewings on kids, but you don’t think you have to do that?

It sounds like he's either trying to change the landscape of scouting or is just lazy and cheap.
If its the first he has a model that will fail.
If its the second he is wasting his time in hockey.

Video scouts will never admit how much of the big picture they are missing not attending live games. -It's not even close to being the same and if it was you wouldn't have 10 or so NHL scouts at almost every OHL game and AHL game.

There may not be much or any money in scouting for Major JR players but a lot of scouts like Kiana Scott have spent a lot of their own money to gain the experience needed to land NHL roles.
I doubt NHL clubs are out there busting down doors to hire video scouts that don't attend live games that they never interact with in scout rooms.

Jordan - You are missing one of the most important parts and any hope of getting in with a pro organization.
The networking in scout / media rooms. -I cannot stress enough how important it is to get you're name out there and meet people if you ever want to work for a league or team.

 

[Jordan Malette]

As a single person trying to cover this massive project as best as I can, watching these 40+ team tournaments over video enables me to watch way more games than I otherwise could if I were there in person, and that increased volume of viewings is the primary reason I choose not to attend.

I could go in person and bounce around watching a period of each game that's going on at once, but there are so many things I'm going to miss, and if I miss something, it's on me and me only as I don't have a team of guys there with me. After a tournament, I strive to produce as in-depth reports as possible, and the last thing I want to do is write something incorrect after only seeing a player for 2-3 shifts in one period of a game, so I bust my butt off watching every team as many times as I can. The time efficiencies of video and tools like Instat just enable me to watch more games, take more in-depth notes, and deliver higher-quality reports, which is why it works best for me and what I do.

There are a few smaller events this year that I'm trying to get to, but as for the bigger marquee tournaments with four games going on at once, I've gone in the past, and video just makes the most sense for me. As I said, I'm not here to convince anyone that my way is superior or that teams should change their ways, this is just what works best for me doing what I personally do. If you want to dismiss me and all the effort I put in solely for that reason, it's unfortunate, but I can't stop you.

 

[BigDevs93]

To be fair to Jordan, his list isn't all that bad, although it's probably too early for rankings anyways. I will agree that going to games in person allows you to evaluate players much better and on a deeper level. But everyone gets guys wrong, Neutral Zone had Frossard and Perrier in the top 17 last year at the end of the year, and guys like Vaughan outside the top 25, Challenger and Carey outside the top 35, Cali outside the top 45.

Regardless, he's putting his name on things and has expressed an openess to answer questions from people and have an open dialogue. Much better than people who hide behind phony anonymous lists on Elite Prospects!

It'll be interesting to see different lists throughout the year as there's a lot of high-end talent this year, and a note for people who "stat" watch: teams don't draft based on production, they draft based on potential.

 

[OHL4Life]

As a single person trying to cover this massive project as best as I can, watching these 40+ team tournaments over video enables me to watch way more games than I otherwise could if I were there in person, and that increased volume of viewings is the primary reason I choose not to attend.

I could go in person and bounce around watching a period of each game that's going on at once, but there are so many things I'm going to miss, and if I miss something, it's on me and me only as I don't have a team of guys there with me. After a tournament, I strive to produce as in-depth reports as possible, and the last thing I want to do is write something incorrect after only seeing a player for 2-3 shifts in one period of a game, so I bust my butt off watching every team as many times as I can. The time efficiencies of video and tools like Instat just enable me to watch more games, take more in-depth notes, and deliver higher-quality reports, which is why it works best for me and what I do.

There are a few smaller events this year that I'm trying to get to, but as for the bigger marquee tournaments with four games going on at once, I've gone in the past, and video just makes the most sense for me. As I said, I'm not here to convince anyone that my way is superior or that teams should change their ways, this is just what works best for me doing what I personally do. If you want to dismiss me and all the effort I put in solely for that reason, it's unfortunate, but I can't stop you.

ive been doing this for about 35 years. ive een it all. somehow, amazingly, there have been many 'single' persons that have been able to go out and do a very good job at covering the draft and being accurate, starting with Nick Sinclair back in the old iss days. somehow he was able to go out in person to all these tournaments and put out a very good product. he moved on from that to be the director of scouting for sarnia, eventually the gm and now is a full time scout with the la kings. others since then lafortune, thacker,, etc have all done the same. i dont know how they managed to do it if its so hard, but they did, and based on where they are in the hokey world now, they seem to have gained respect. if they did it, and have done it, why cant you? its a coop out to say you cant, because others have, it just takes work, if your willing. i get that you think you work hard, and thats fine, but if you work just as hard at doing it the right way, youll gain a ton of more respect.

secondly, i have a live barn account, i look at the video feeds, i dont know how you have a clue who has the puck. london is a bubble/fishhole feed, the players in the defensive zone are about 70 percent smaller then the players in the middle of the ice. the toronto feeds are the same, the big rink in scotia looks either automated or controlled by the timekeeper and is so jerky and back and forth that you cant keep track of what is going on. so again, these kids are working their ass off to get noticed, but instead of doing the same, you choose to sit on your couch with poor feeds and awful quality of vidoe. certainly your prerogative, but its not the best way to view these kids, its simply not. the video feeds are poor and dont give you the best view of the kids, let alone allow you to see what the video does not show. there are tons of independent scouts who seem to get that and go out, you dont, your choices lead to the feedback you get, sorry, but thats how it is.

the alliance showcase was a perfect way to watch and often had zero games going on, not the 4 games at once that seems to cause you anxiety. you could relax and watch 80 percent of a game and move onto the next one. but you didn't go. Clarington is home to the next showcase next weekend, ill drive the 5 hours from windsor to go for two days, itll be the same thing where you can see 70/80 percent of the entire game on each game, but you wont be there (if you are, ill give you credit, but your past history shows that you wont). you can do what you want, but in doing so you are leaving yourself open to criticism (believe me you got it last year with your rankings, no one knows who you are so there isnt any grace given).

no one will give you grace if they dont see you working, sitting on the couch without coming out is what choice you have made, and fine. i have to ask what your goal is, if you want to scout with teams in the future, your going about it the wrong way and honestly even digging yourself a bit of a hole. but with youth comes ignorance and i get that the new generation doesnt want to hear things like that, so that is what it is.

 

[OHL4Life]

on a separate post, here is what i think jordan is missing with his lists. its his list, so thats fine, but here is why i think he struggles with accuracy and posting. he is posting what he likes, which is fine, but what he likes is a disconnect from what ohl teams, and hockey itself is looking for. if he had someone with him or if he was out more, im sure hed learn that and get feedback from others, perhaps hes too arrogant to listen, maybe not, but thats on him.

jordan and his list is focused on small, soft skill. he puts players who are 5'7 or 5'8 but skilled ahead of the bigger, compete skill. thats why guys like fitzgerald and belchetz are barely ranked as top 10/15 guys despite all the ohl teams drooling over them. and now they are producing way better then someone like valentini, who is not producing as high of a rate within a secondary league to the ohl. on the back end, guys who are 5'7 dont get drafted in the top 100, thats because if you look at the history of small defenceman, they just have to be so special, the ohl, alot becuase this is whats happening in the pro ranks, dont have the appirate for soft skill on the back end.

he can and im sure will continue to rank the way he wants, thats cool, i wont argue that. but what i will tell fans and parents is that the ohl isn't looking for a 5'7 defenceman who is under a point a game in u16, those guys dont go all that high, if at all. so if you see them within the top 100 of a list, take a breath and look at the histry of the draft, they truly need to be special. if your a 5'8 forward and produce, you need to be higher end then the bigger buy by a decent margin, because the league right now wants size and compete with a bit less skill if thats what it takes vs the 5'7 crafty smart guy that cant win a battle. this is why guys like belchetz and fitzgerald where going 1-2 a week before the draft, are they the most pure skill, maybe not, but they battle, compete and tat ability matched with the size and high end skill they have allow them to outproduce the smaller skiled guys as they get older.

its not about what you are today, ohl scouts dont care what you do now, its about projecting who the best players will be at 19, and often, the smaller skilled guys are not nearly as good because the size catched up to them and they are topped out, the bigger guys (with skill) can win battles and compete hard.