The draft today was pretty good but I do have a concern over the number of flyer picks taken in the past two OHL drafts. Jones is terrific, but...is he worth picking 18th overall if you're only going to get 2 seasons at the most? What if you could have drafted another Harrington or another Tierney at 18? Both 4 year players who finished their junior careers as a # 1 d-man and # 1 center, respectively. London looks to be trying to build a super squad with these Americans coming in to support current Knights like Marner, Dvorak, MacDonald, DeFarias, Kreiss, etc. It's a little risky because you're not exactly sure when Werenski or Tkachuk will report (if they ever do) and Jones might miss the boat if he doesn't come in year 2 when other cornerstones start to graduate to the NHL.
Just remember, Memorial Cup bound teams, or even Robertson Cup teams are not built with a nucleus of American players showing up 2 calendar years after being drafted. London's had three championship seasons here, and they've all been built with exceptional drafting and devlopment of Ontario kids starting as London Knights at age 16 or 17 at the latest. They play together for multiple seasons and aren't patched together at age 18. There have been some great additions later on like Tinordi and Watson, but I'm not sure if London currently has enough committed players at age 16-17 to begin the devlopment of a contending team in 2 years.
Probably not a popular opinion here, but just an alternative viewpoint...
)
