How Does London Do It?

[dirty12]

If that’s actually the case, why did London waste a pair of 2nd round picks on them instead of just waiting and drafting them in the 14th or 15th round?

I guess the Firebirds, Steelheads, Spirit, even the Petes have been selecting players with little chance of reporting in rounds 2-4 since 2018 at least; so players like Mailloux and Stranges falling to London is less frequent.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

They've only won one title since the Bulldogs (2) arrived, so this aint on us.

 

[Otto]

They've only won one title since the Bulldogs (2) arrived, so this aint on us.

Brantford hasn't won any titles

 

[Savard18]

They've only won one title since the Bulldogs (2) arrived, so this aint on us.

Two actually I think. London won in 2015-16 the first year they were in Hamilton. Right?

 

[Maxxim1]

The Knights drafted many US players who did not report. Most recently William Moore, James Hagens and Frankie Nazar. Prior to that there were lots more.
The secret with the Knights is that they usually don't dress any 16 year olds other than their first round pick. Players like Wm. Nicholl, Jared Woolley, Oliver Bonk, Easton Cowen, Jacob Julien, and Logan Mailoux all spent their first year in Jr. B. They all got lots of ice and had no pressure to produce in their first year. When they did come up they all made an impact.

 

[donjohnson]

THIRTEENTH (13) teams in the league passed on Kasper Halttunen in the 2022 import draft and decided instead to go with no-talent hacks like Kim Gruber and something called a Tom Purdeller. What did “recruiting” have to do with those mistakes? Answer: absolutely ZERO.

You obviously don't understand how this league works...teams didn't pass on Halttunen, they skipped him because he wouldn't report to them so they drafted someone they knew he would get.

Saginaw drafted Igor Chernyshov at #56 in this year's draft. You're telling me that 55 of the 60 GM's in the CHL were too dumb to draft the #33 overall pick in this year's NHL draft??? Of course not, Saginaw likely has a relationship with the agent and the agent probably told teams he was only going to come to Saginaw.

That's how it worked for years in the OHL draft...players said they were going NCAA only and then London would pick them in the 20's and suddenly they're on the opening day roster. At least now teams can draft those guys and get a compensatory pick if they don't report but how did that work for Niagara...Dickinson still ended up on the Knights and Niagara can't figure themselves out even with getting all those picks.

The fact is, the desirable teams/coaches have an inherent advantage in this league and London is a desirable town and the Knights staff do a fantastic job (no matter how much it bothers me) so it's a no-brainer how they keep reloading every year.

 

[Sam14]

At least now teams can draft those guys and get a compensatory pick if they don't report but how did that work for Niagara...Dickinson still ended up on the Knights and Niagara can't figure themselves out even with getting all those picks.

It certainly doesn’t hurt London to have an incompetent like Darren DeDobbelaer in the league...On August 31, 2022, Mark Hunter acquired Sam Dickinson for 3x2rds, 3x3rds and a 5th.

Before the end of 2023, Mark Hunter meticulously used spare disposal parts (and OAs) to recoup every pick that he traded away to DeDobbelear... (plus Hunter got Alec Leonard and few additional picks). Today, all Niagara has to show for all that humiliation, at the hands of Mark Hunter, is OA Owen Flores.

UPDATED: Aftermath of the Sam Dickinson Trade today

By November 9, 2023, Mark Hunter was able to brilliantly accomplish this…

LONDON RECEIVED : Sam Dickinson: Alex Leonard; 3x2nd; 5x3rd; 4th; 5th;

NIAGARA HAS: Flores; Levin; Paris

 

[Donnie740]

It certainly doesn’t hurt London to have an incompetent like Darren DeDobbelaer in the league...On August 31, 2022, Mark Hunter acquired Sam Dickinson for 3x2rds, 3x3rds and a 5th.

Before the end of 2023, Mark Hunter meticulously used spare disposal parts (and OAs) to recoup every pick that he traded away to DeDobbelear... (plus Hunter got Alec Leonard and few additional picks). Today, all Niagara has to show for all that humiliation, at the hands of Mark Hunter, is OA Owen Flores.

It’s mind boggling to see how many people try to make excuses about how “players refuse to go anywhere except London” as an excuse for the useless management groups throughout the OHL.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

Two actually I think. London won in 2015-16 the first year they were in Hamilton. Right?

Good point!

 

[LeProspector]

It’s mind boggling to see how many people try to make excuses about how “players refuse to go anywhere except London” as an excuse for the useless management groups throughout the OHL.

It’s literally how the CHL drafts work. Relationships come first.

 

[donjohnson]

It’s literally how the CHL drafts work. Relationships come first.

Correct but his point was that there are crappy Owners, GM's and Coaches. Both can be true and it's why the relationships aren't there with the other teams. It took Saginaw a LONG time to become a place where players would report to and it was validated with the Memorial Cup last year. That said, we're still nowhere near the destination that London, Ottawa, Kitchener, etc. are but I'm hopeful that with the NCAA ruling that maybe we can become that place for the American guys.

 

[DWI Dale]

In my opinion their success originates in 2 places:

1) Winning breeds winning. A history of winning championships and developing pros leads to players wanting to play for your program.

2) Players manipulating the draft system with faux-threats to go NCAA or elsewhere if the "right" team doesn't pick them.

 

[three dog night]

It certainly doesn’t hurt London to have an incompetent like Darren DeDobbelaer in the league...On August 31, 2022, Mark Hunter acquired Sam Dickinson for 3x2rds, 3x3rds and a 5th.

Before the end of 2023, Mark Hunter meticulously used spare disposal parts (and OAs) to recoup every pick that he traded away to DeDobbelear... (plus Hunter got Alec Leonard and few additional picks). Today, all Niagara has to show for all that humiliation, at the hands of Mark Hunter, is OA Owen Flores.

UPDATED: Aftermath of the Sam Dickinson Trade today

By November 9, 2023, Mark Hunter was able to brilliantly accomplish this…

LONDON RECEIVED : Sam Dickinson: Alex Leonard; 3x2nd; 5x3rd; 4th; 5th;

NIAGARA HAS: Flores; Levin; Paris

London just released Leonard.

You obviously don't understand how this league works...teams didn't pass on Halttunen, they skipped him because he wouldn't report to them so they drafted someone they knew he would get.

Saginaw drafted Igor Chernyshov at #56 in this year's draft. You're telling me that 55 of the 60 GM's in the CHL were too dumb to draft the #33 overall pick in this year's NHL draft??? Of course not, Saginaw likely has a relationship with the agent and the agent probably told teams he was only going to come to Saginaw.

That's how it worked for years in the OHL draft...players said they were going NCAA only and then London would pick them in the 20's and suddenly they're on the opening day roster. At least now teams can draft those guys and get a compensatory pick if they don't report but how did that work for Niagara...Dickinson still ended up on the Knights and Niagara can't figure themselves out even with getting all those picks.

The fact is, the desirable teams/coaches have an inherent advantage in this league and London is a desirable town and the Knights staff do a fantastic job (no matter how much it bothers me) so it's a no-brainer how they keep reloading every year.

Niagara is five and one

 

[Petes1987]

London just released Leonard.


Niagara is five and one

I am pleased to see London get nothing for their excess overages. They have had teams overpay in recent seasons for their extra overages. Also in my opinion they underpaid for Michael Simpson last year.

 

[Ryan Christensen]

London better hope Elliott is the answer in net he got waived out of an entire league for a reason

 

[dirty12]

London better hope Elliott is the answer in net he got waived out of an entire league for a reason

The cost of the OA tag on a goalie is prohibitive for many teams.
Goalies probably do not average three seasons, so making NA goalies exempt might be over due. If exempt; Kingston, London, Niagara, Oshawa, Peterborough, SSM would all be better. It would benefit top, middle, and bottom teams.

 

[Opinionated]

The cost of the OA tag on a goalie is prohibitive for many teams.
Goalies probably do not average three seasons, so making NA goalies exempt might be over due. If exempt; Kingston, London, Niagara, Oshawa, Peterborough, SSM would all be better. It would benefit top, middle, and bottom teams.

But making it easier for teams to carry an OA goalie would also theoretically hinder the development and playing life for younger goalies, as they would have to wait an extra year to get playing time.

 

[dirty12]

But making it easier for teams to carry an OA goalie would also theoretically hinder the development and playing life for younger goalies, as they would have to wait an extra year to get playing time.

It would give more goalies an extended period as a starter I think. Perhaps there could be restrictions, maybe >100 starts from 16-19 would not be exempt from OA tag. Idk what or if there is a good solution, but a lot of good goalies were only starters for one season out of their first four years of eligibilty

 

[donjohnson]

The OA goalie discussion probably deserves it's own thread and is something that has probably been on the agenda and talked about for years at OHL meetings.

I have long posited that unless you've got a surefire prospect, your strategy at goalie should be to have an OA goalie because they should be a higher-quality OA than your skaters. Of course that's not always going to be the case but there are a lot fewer spots in the AHL/ECHL for goalies than there are for skaters so you're going to have good goalies returned to the OHL and good skaters may stay up in the pros.

If you exempt goalies from the 3 OA limit, it is 100% for sure going to limit the development of good young goalies and you may see them jump ship to the NCAA once the new rule is changed. Even the crappy teams will grab a journeyman OA goalie so that they aren't so crappy and coaches will play the older guy to win a handful of games at the expense of player development. You'll see fewer and fewer goalies drafted from the OHL and you'll see more movement of goalies from team to team.

My preference would be to keep the OA rule exactly the same as it is today because it encourages the playing of young goalies and soon older goalies will be able to go to the NCAA as another option to keep playing.

 

[GoKnightsGo44]

I thought I should kick this thread back up after the Knights now have had Montgomery and Halttunen report. They have traded away a grand total of a 5th round pick in acquiring Eilliot who is 6-0 since starting in the OHL. The organization has not missed and has developed outstanding prospects that we are now seeing in Medvedev, Brzustewiczs, Fagan, Jenkin, Arrowsmith, Bidgood, Van Gorp, Read, with Mitchell and Hawery looking like solid blue chips.

The ability to attract, retain and develop talent has led to this pretty ridiculous team that now has 12 NHL drafted players, including 4 firsts (Cowan, Bonk, Dickinson, O’Reilly), 1 second (Halttunen), 1 third (Barkey), 2 forths (Nurmi, Montgomery), and flyers (Julien, Sim, Nicholl, Woolley).

They still have to play the games but hard to see any team make a move to even get them to par with the Knights.

 

[dirty12]

I thought I should kick this thread back up after the Knights now have had Montgomery and Halttunen report. They have traded away a grand total of a 5th round pick in acquiring Eilliot who is 6-0 since starting in the OHL. The organization has not missed and has developed outstanding prospects that we are now seeing in Medvedev, Brzustewiczs, Fagan, Jenkin, Arrowsmith, Bidgood, Van Gorp, Read, with Mitchell and Hawery looking like solid blue chips.

The ability to attract, retain and develop talent has led to this pretty ridiculous team that now has 12 NHL drafted players, including 4 firsts (Cowan, Bonk, Dickinson, O’Reilly), 1 second (Halttunen), 1 third (Barkey), 2 forths (Nurmi, Montgomery), and flyers (Julien, Sim, Nicholl, Woolley).

They still have to play the games but hard to see any team make a move to even get them to par with the Knights.

Though possibly too dependant on continued improvement of ‘06s this season, the colts roster is every bit as impressive as the knights imo.

 

[GoKnightsGo44]

Though possibly too dependant on continued improvement of ‘06s this season, the colts roster is every bit as impressive as the knights imo.

Barrie is my pick to win the east and I do believe they will continue make some moves to improve as they already have with pickups of Wakley, Bertucci and Eliasson. I dont think they are where the Knights are but a very good squad that leverages its reputation for development to recruit and attract top talent.

 

[dirty12]

Barrie is my pick to win the east and I do believe they will continue make some moves to improve as they already have with pickups of Wakley, Bertucci and Eliasson. I dont think they are where the Knights are but a very good squad that leverages its reputation for development to recruit and attract top talent.

I’m not sure there are any big moves left for the colts to make. Add a Musty to put OA Wigle on 4th line? They are a bit handcuffed having 8 mostly too good to trade skaters and arguably leagues best BUG born ‘06.

 

[Donnie740]

I thought I should kick this thread back up after the Knights now have had Montgomery and Halttunen report. They have traded away a grand total of a 5th round pick in acquiring Eilliot who is 6-0 since starting in the OHL. The organization has not missed and has developed outstanding prospects that we are now seeing in Medvedev, Brzustewiczs, Fagan, Jenkin, Arrowsmith, Bidgood, Van Gorp, Read, with Mitchell and Hawery looking like solid blue chips.

The ability to attract, retain and develop talent has led to this pretty ridiculous team that now has 12 NHL drafted players, including 4 firsts (Cowan, Bonk, Dickinson, O’Reilly), 1 second (Halttunen), 1 third (Barkey), 2 forths (Nurmi, Montgomery), and flyers (Julien, Sim, Nicholl, Woolley).

They still have to play the games but hard to see any team make a move to even get them to par with the Knights.

London is clearly the model franchise for the CHL and I can’t understand why more teams don’t follow their blueprint.

It’s a ridiculously misguided narrative that teams need to “go all in” and give away their top draft picks in laughable overpays for 19yr olds. And then give away all of their remaining 19yr olds the following year to recoup the squandered picks while they become a bottom feeder for two or three years.