2008 Born for the 2024 OHL Draft

[LeProspector]

It would be great to know who the favours / relationships picks are. There were definitely some names on that list that made me scratch my head.

All you have to do is look at the stats of the player. A forward with 8 points got picked.

 

[hockeylegend11]

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Would they walk on for any training camps?

If they they are all 08 born not allowed to attend any OHL camp unless drafted.

 

[ohloutsider]

All you have to do is look at the stats of the player. A forward with 8 points got picked.

Family and friends rounds, 10 through 15. Your going to see some " favors" at that point. Hockey old boys club is a well oiled machine.

 

[Alias519]

for sure there are 'favours' in the late rounds.

Oshawa took a kid, who's dad is a scout for the team
London took a kid who's dad is a minority owner in the team
(I'm sure both were just coincidences though)

I'm sure the list is 10-15 deep, at least, and I'm sure it's that way every year

 

[Knownothing]

for sure there are 'favours' in the late rounds.

Oshawa took a kid, who's dad is a scout for the team
London took a kid who's dad is a minority owner in the team
(I'm sure both were just coincidences though)

I'm sure the list is 10-15 deep, at least, and I'm sure it's that way every year

Windsor took a previous coaches son, undersized forward with 8 pts last season.

Windsor took a previous coaches son, undersized forward with 8 pts last season.

Had to be a US flyer that would have been better used for that pick.

 

[Puckluk]

This was our first experience with a draft as a parent. Huge life lesson learned this weekend, unfortunately.
It is nice to hear that others, who are more objective, also saw this.

 

[LDN]

This was our first experience with a draft as a parent. Huge life lesson learned this weekend, unfortunately.
It is nice to hear that others, who are more objective, also saw this.

Please elaborate

 

[BiffTannen]

This was our first experience with a draft as a parent. Huge life lesson learned this weekend, unfortunately.
It is nice to hear that others, who are more objective, also saw this.

Honestly, the key here really is to be a top 1-7 round pick. After that point the draft is just a big stew full of random players being picked as U.S. flyers, friends of owner, and the odd picked based on the player having one really good quality (ie. he's big player or goalie, he's super fast but small, he's extremely tough but with holes in his game etc.)....Once the 7th round is done the "draft" is over. The best thing is not to dwell and talk about how your son got "screwed". Truth is he's just not good enough to be a top half of the draft pick, just pretend those other rounds dont exist.

 

[OHL4Life]

parents are not objective, im sorry your not. you all believe the best in your sons and see the best, not always the worst. i get it ive been there myself. the draft isn't about now for 90 percent of the kids, its about 18 months from now. are there 20 kids that were favours, sure, but if your son is as good as you say he is, then he will be pushing hard for the u18 draft or back in the main draft next year, there were 3 (i think) 07s taken this weekend. its black and white. tons of undrafted kids do well the following year, 99 dont, so well see if your right next year.

 

[Puckluk]

Honestly, the key here really is to be a top 1-7 round pick. After that point the draft is just a big stew full of random players being picked as U.S. flyers, friends of owner, and the odd picked based on the player having one really good quality (ie. he's big player or goalie, he's super fast but small, he's extremely tough but with holes in his game etc.)....Once the 7th round is done the "draft" is over. The best thing is not to dwell and talk about how your son got "screwed". Truth is he's just not good enough to be a top half of the draft pick, just pretend those other rounds dont exist.

In this case, the draft should only be 7 rounds. It seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy, they take "anyone" after round 7 (ish) and at the same time, after round 7 there is no one worth looking at....no wonder. We were realistic and had his u18 year already organized so definitely not a "we got screwed" mentality. But a life lesson in things you cannot control and that who you know really does get you further ahead.

 

[Puckluk]

parents are not objective, im sorry your not. you all believe the best in your sons and see the best, not always the worst. i get it ive been there myself. the draft isn't about now for 90 percent of the kids, its about 18 months from now. are there 20 kids that were favours, sure, but if your son is as good as you say he is, then he will be pushing hard for the u18 draft or back in the main draft next year, there were 3 (i think) 07s taken this weekend. its black and white. tons of undrafted kids do well the following year, 99 dont, so well see if your right next year.

I agree, not objective in regards to our own player. I am not only talking about our player, I don't think he is top 10 rounds. I agree that he will be pushing hard for U18 draft and this experience showed him how hard to push - life lessons.
I just cannot understand some of the choices, how does 1 player from an OMHA winning team not get drafted but kids with 0 points and minimal minutes per game get drafted? 15 kids go but that 1 doesn't. As mentioned several times on this thread, we know lots of picks were favours but it was at the cost of a deserving player (not my player). Again, I really enjoy learning from this site and by no means want to be a complaining parent - that isn't my objective. I was simply feeling validated in feeling like things didn't add up in many circumstances.

 

[OHL4Life]

I agree, not objective in regards to our own player. I am not only talking about our player, I don't think he is top 10 rounds. I agree that he will be pushing hard for U18 draft and this experience showed him how hard to push - life lessons.
I just cannot understand some of the choices, how does 1 player from an OMHA winning team not get drafted but kids with 0 points and minimal minutes per game get drafted? 15 kids go but that 1 doesn't. As mentioned several times on this thread, we know lots of picks were favours but it was at the cost of a deserving player (not my player). Again, I really enjoy learning from this site and by no means want to be a complaining parent - that isn't my objective. I was simply feeling validated in feeling like things didn't add up in many circumstances.

but that’s the world. there are business owners who hire their kids to run things that they are not qualified for. managers pick guys or girls they like for promotions over more desirable candidates. why do you expect different here, and honestly, does it really matter that much? 15 kids missed out on being 15th round picks? how many 15 round picks among to anything?

In this case, the draft should only be 7 rounds. It seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy, they take "anyone" after round 7 (ish) and at the same time, after round 7 there is no one worth looking at....no wonder. We were realistic and had his u18 year already organized so definitely not a "we got screwed" mentality. But a life lesson in things you cannot control and that who you know really does get you further ahead.

no we don’t, that’s just silly.

 

[bobber]

I think there are players taken after round 7 that have made an impact in the OHL.
Not sure what the actually priorities are that scouts look for in a future OHL player. It's more of a projection as to what type of player they think a kid will turn into in a couple afrer years of Major A. I think it's the same with pro hockey. They are drafting 18 year olds and trying to project how they will develop as pros. They only have 7 rounds. I remember a few decades ago a Triple A team in Kitchener where the only player drafted by the OHL was a call up from Double A who stuck with the team because he was huge and could skate. He went on the the NHL.

 

[OHL4Life]

I think there are players taken after round 7 that have made an impact in the OHL.
Not sure what the actually priorities are that scouts look for in a future OHL player. It's more of a projection as to what type of player they think a kid will turn into in a couple afrer years of Major A. I think it's the same with pro hockey. They are drafting 18 year olds and trying to project how they will develop as pros. They only have 7 rounds. I remember a few decades ago a Triple A team in Kitchener where the only player drafted by the OHL was a call up from Double A who stuck with the team because he was huge and could skate. He went on the the NHL.

parents do t have the mindset of scouts . suggesting no one after the 7th round matters is an emotional reply to his own situation

 

[OMG67]

This was our first experience with a draft as a parent. Huge life lesson learned this weekend, unfortunately.
It is nice to hear that others, who are more objective, also saw this.

Meh. No worries. It is a sport that is fun first. The main objective is to build character. You get punched in the face, you get back up. It is all part of the character building. It is how you respond that matters.

No one likes a quitter but at the same time you need to be realistic. When hockey at this level is over, the focus needs to remain positive but in a different direction. Take that same determination and apply it to something different. The lessons learned at this age combined with the discipline it takes to compete at the highest levels are life skills that are transferable well into the future.

 

[digicamo]

parents do t have the mindset of scouts . suggesting no one after the 7th round matters is an emotional reply to his own situation

I have coached AAA for many years and unfortunately, the emotional response from this parent is all too common in this world as I'm sure you've seen from your experience as well. The problem is it's easy for them to justify their emotions because there are clearly players picked that aren't necessarily as deserving as some others, which happens every year. I completely agree with your business analogy but we all know that's too reasonable for most hockey parents lol

 

[ScoutLife4]

I have coached AAA for many years and unfortunately, the emotional response from this parent is all too common in this world as I'm sure you've seen from your experience as well. The problem is it's easy for them to justify their emotions because there are clearly players picked that aren't necessarily as deserving as some others, which happens every year. I completely agree with your business analogy but we all know that's too reasonable for most hockey parents lol

I think its a really big eye opener post U16 when the dream starts to deteriorate a bit.
I've seen parents take it a lot harder then the kids.

The bottom line is there is somewhere between 300-500 people evaluating these kids for the OHL draft when you take into account the OHL, Teams, and private agency's.
There is so many eyes on these kids it's hard to just get missed if the talent is there.
Some kids also develop slower and the big jump happens later in the teens.

Sometimes kids take different paths, Jr A, NCAA/ USports and then turn pro.
I'm not sure if you guys have seen some of the NCAA facilities but they far supersede OHL teams in a lot of cases so its only considered a failure if the child and parents allow it to be one.

 

[OHL4Life]

that’s just it, do we miss some? Sure do, let’s say it’s 10 a year, seems a touch high but we’ll go with that. so that’s what, 1.5 percent of the undrafted kids make it to be a depth or better OHL player?

at some point it’s not everyone else fault, it’s not the OHL, it’s not favours, it’s that the player for whatever reason is just not shown enough.

 

[StormWatcher]

This was our first experience with a draft as a parent. Huge life lesson learned this weekend, unfortunately.
It is nice to hear that others, who are more objective, also saw this.

The majority of those 10th-15th round "favour" picks will never see the ice/be on the roster.

Allow this lesson to be that your kid can only control how hard he works. Keep working hard instead of blaming others, and opportunities to showcase that and keep playing hockey will come up.

Edited to add: And most OHL players don't even turn pro, so also a good opportunity to not make hockey "life" and tell your kid you're proud of them even if hockey doesn't turn into a career. School, friends... more to life.

 

[FireBird71]

I think there are players taken after round 7 that have made an impact in the OHL.
Not sure what the actually priorities are that scouts look for in a future OHL player. It's more of a projection as to what type of player they think a kid will turn into in a couple afrer years of Major A. I think it's the same with pro hockey. They are drafting 18 year olds and trying to project how they will develop as pros. They only have 7 rounds. I remember a few decades ago a Triple A team in Kitchener where the only player drafted by the OHL was a call up from Double A who stuck with the team because he was huge and could skate. He went on the the NHL.

Amadeus Lombardi

 

[Ringing Iron]

The draft isn't as black and white as many people believe.

There are a lot of factors at play. There is no doubt there are a lot of favour picks which will include sons of people in the game but the agents themselves also get favours done as well. Example - Agent A gets their top player X to a team and then gets repaid a favour later in the draft by getting one of their lesser talents drafted (deservingly or not). It's not a perfect world. This is especially true for teams that don't have an easy time attracting top prospects.

To say the draft doesnt matter past round 7 is wrong. There were some good picks in the second half of the draft. I am assuming there are always 1 or 2 (or more) picks spoken for to fulfill the "favours".

It's cliche but there's truth that the draft doesnt really matter. Players need to work twice as hard after the draft. Those that do will turn out to be the good ones. The ones that don't are simply players who were once "drafted" and then fizzled.

There will always be good players that don't get drafted but that doesn't mean teams didn't like them or never wanted to draft them. It might be a matter of not having enough picks left to take them.

 

[OMG67]

I think some are referencing issues but it gets dumped on the OP. That parent clearly stated the kid is likely not capable at the OHL level but it would have been appreciated if the effort was validated through at least being a draft pick, late or otherwise.

I don’t get the sense this particular parent is doing anything other than trying to understand some of the extended politics of the system in place.

The reality is the politics starts at age 6! This is just an extension of it. Validating that all the hard work and relative success paid off with a late round draft pick would go a long way to softening the blow, especially in the face of some ridiculous picks.

That said, the kid is 15 years old with loads of growth still ahead. Head down, work hard for two more years and see what happens. We’ve seen kids like Giroux go undrafted in the OHL, float across the border into Quebec and have an illustrious career after playing a few season in the Q. Sam Mayer was a 3rd round U-18 pick. There aren’t a lot of examples but enough to motivate kids to continue to work hard. And, as I said in a previous post, that hard work translates into a brighter future if the focus is shifted in the right direction outside hockey. Life lessons are important.

 

[Houndzfan20]

Amadeus Lombardi

Hounds have had a few in the last few years as well.

Allard - 7th. played for team canada
Clattenburg - 10th - will be a force the next year or two
Savard - 11th - had a good career.

it can be done.

 

[OHL4Life]

I think some are referencing issues but it gets dumped on the OP. That parent clearly stated the kid is likely not capable at the OHL level but it would have been appreciated if the effort was validated through at least being a draft pick, late or otherwise.

I don’t get the sense this particular parent is doing anything other than trying to understand some of the extended politics of the system in place.

The reality is the politics starts at age 6! This is just an extension of it. Validating that all the hard work and relative success paid off with a late round draft pick would go a long way to softening the blow, especially in the face of some ridiculous picks.

That said, the kid is 15 years old with loads of growth still ahead. Head down, work hard for two more years and see what happens. We’ve seen kids like Giroux go undrafted in the OHL, float across the border into Quebec and have an illustrious career after playing a few season in the Q. Sam Mayer was a 3rd round U-18 pick. There aren’t a lot of examples but enough to motivate kids to continue to work hard. And, as I said in a previous post, that hard work translates into a brighter future if the focus is shifted in the right direction outside hockey. Life lessons are important.

big I would suggest that those parents probably push to get thier kids jobs and call in favours to get better opportunities for their kids in the business world. why are they onto do that there, but feel that 15/20 parents doing the same thing here are offside?

 

[StormWatcher]

big I would suggest that those parents probably push to get thier kids jobs and call in favours to get better opportunities for their kids in the business world. why are they onto do that there, but feel that 15/20 parents doing the same thing here are offside?

Two reasons: Entitlement and late stage Capitalism.