Schaefer with his first "big night" since returning from mono, 2 goals and 2 assists. Now has 8 points in 6 games
Impressive! For reference Parekh was about 1.5 ppg and Dickinson 1.0 ppg. If Schaefer ends up around 1.3 ppg while continuing strong defensive play in a 6'2 frame with his mobility, that'll certainly be worth of a top 5 pick. It's rather unusual to go north of 1.2 PPG as a draft eligible OHL guy- Parekh, Bouchard, and DeAngelo in the past 11 years.
Of course, some guys have played more OHL seasons in their draft year, while teammate skill, coaching style, and prime PP opportunities all play major roles in production.
Top scoring 1st round draft eligible OHL d-men:
2024: 7th overall Parekh (1.5 ppg), 11th overall Dickinson (1.0 ppg), 31st overall Danford (.5 ppg)
2023: 22nd overall Bonk (.6 ppg)
2022: 10th overall Mintyukov (.9 ppg)
2021: 8th overall Clarke (1.1 PPG in D+1 year, no D0 year), 31st overall Mallioux (.75 PPG in D+1 year, no D0 year)
2020: 6th overall Drysdale (1.0 ppg)
2019: 18th overall Harley (.85 ppg)
2018: 10th overall Bouchard (1.3 ppg), 21st overall Merkley (1.1 ppg)
2017: 32nd overall Timmins (.9 ppg)
2016: 9th overall Sergachev (.85 ppg), 16th overall Chychrun (.8 ppg), 18th overall Stanley (.25 ppg)
2015: None
2014 1st overall Ekblad (.9 ppg), 19th overall DeAngelo (1.4 ppg)
Net net, as a team lacking a #1 d-man of the future, Schaefer definitely bares watching. I'd love for Martone or Schaefer to be the BPA available when we pick, but if it is Misa or Hagens, that's cool too.