Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection Mock Draft 2019

[OSA]

The Pastujovs are Americans. An opportunity to play US National Development program (or on a USHL club team) followed by NCAA for 4 years is likely more appealing than 4 years of OHL followed by CIS in a foreign country (Canada). Understandable, to be honest.

Anyway, back to hockey ..... I’ve spent some time over the last week taking in a few of the OHL Cup games (about half a dozen) and have to say that the 03 group is hard for me to evaluate — and I’m well connected to the birth year and have seen a ton of games over the years. High end talent is close to other birth years but in my view the depth is markedly shallower. Maybe in 2-3 years I’ll have to eat those words — who knows.

The issue is this festering narrative that a kid like Pastujov has such better educational opportunities going the NCAA route. Unless the kid is going to Harvard or Yale etc, the narrative is bull shit. If you want the experience of playing at a big school and want to live the College lifestyle....great. But don't tell us you're going to play for the Wisconsin Badgers because if the superior education that would otherwise be unavailable to you should you choose to go the OHL route. A kid that plays 4 years of hockey in the OHL has 4 years of school paid for. If he has the grades, he can attend a school like McGill. The education at McGill will be as good or better than any non-Ivy League school. Guaranteed.

In terms of the NCAA being what Americans want, I get it and, generally speaking, I certainly don't have any issue with it. But when a high end 16 year old prospect becomes a low end NHL prospect, I think its not unreasonable to infer that there was some sort of developmental misstep along the way.

 

[Ryan Christensen]

Pete's have the 1st pick in round 2 I think I would take Avon there why not draft a local kid there .

 

[Savard18]

Flint isn't going anywhere anytime soon. People are already putting their deposits on next year's season tickets. I've talked to Rolf Nilsen, people on the staff, billets, and....people close to the coaching staff. Some kid isn't likely to talk to Wellwood and Company and decide not to report because he read bs relocation rumors on some message board. People also seem to act like Flint stopped playing games after the 25 game mark. It wasn't nearly the same team after Christmas break, Wellwood was still playing catch-up to the rest of the league and they spent the entire season decimated by multiple major injuries to big time players. Sure, some kids are going to say no to Flint. Some kids are going to say no to Windsor and Kitchener and the Soo too. Flint will get guys and I don't think they'll have to reach far to get them if at all. They just sold-out well past capacity as a 19th place team. They'll be fine. Attendance will be fine. The franchise will be fine.

 

[Savard18]

Ok..... Tom Brady is a really good football player and all.....but the Pastujovs are hockey players......... Soooo maybe the Pastujov boys could have played for the Soo Greyhounds....or Oshawa Generals....you know....two OHL teams that the two greatest hockey players of all time each respectively played for.


Anyway, you're the one that threw out "top notch education" as if to insinuate that a "top notch education" was somehow unavailable to an OHL player. Now that we've tossed our list of billionaires into the ring, I think the conclusion is that a degree from Notre Dame or UM isn't any better than a degree from Queens, McGill or U of T. Hopefully it was just an oversight on your part and that you didn't really believe there weren't any actual good Universities in Canada.

I'm mostly on YOUR side of the argument here, but if you show up looking for a job in the States (I think we can agree more Canadians move to the States for employment than vice versa...for now at least) and two mostly equal applicants apply for a job. The UofM kid gets that job over the McGill kid 10 times out of 10. I don't know anybody who goes to college just for the education. Don't get caught up in "just" Ivy League either. I got a kid who just did those rounds and I'll put UChicago, Stanford, UofM, MIT, where my kid goes to school and others up there or even above Ivy League schools depending on what they're majoring in. I'm also saying that as someone who doesn't like UofM.

 

[TcNorth]

You cannot go wrong education wise at McGill, Michigan, or Queens.

 

[FireBird71]

The issue is this festering narrative that a kid like Pastujov has such better educational opportunities going the NCAA route. Unless the kid is going to Harvard or Yale etc, the narrative is bull ****. If you want the experience of playing at a big school and want to live the College lifestyle....great. But don't tell us you're going to play for the Wisconsin Badgers because if the superior education that would otherwise be unavailable to you should you choose to go the OHL route. A kid that plays 4 years of hockey in the OHL has 4 years of school paid for. If he has the grades, he can attend a school like McGill. The education at McGill will be as good or better than any non-Ivy League school. Guaranteed.

In terms of the NCAA being what Americans want, I get it and, generally speaking, I certainly don't have any issue with it. But when a high end 16 year old prospect becomes a low end NHL prospect, I think its not unreasonable to infer that there was some sort of developmental misstep along the way.

Every year there are guys who were top prospects at one time whose game has gone south playing in the CHL...so don’t play yourself

 

[Wolfman Jack]

Mock drafts right!

WJ

 

[OSA]

I'm mostly on YOUR side of the argument here, but if you show up looking for a job in the States (I think we can agree more Canadians move to the States for employment than vice versa...for now at least) and two mostly equal applicants apply for a job. The UofM kid gets that job over the McGill kid 10 times out of 10. I don't know anybody who goes to college just for the education. Don't get caught up in "just" Ivy League either. I got a kid who just did those rounds and I'll put UChicago, Stanford, UofM, MIT, where my kid goes to school and others up there or even above Ivy League schools depending on what they're majoring in. I'm also saying that as someone who doesn't like UofM.

Congratulations, you must very proud of your daughter/son. That’s quite an accomplishment.

I would add UC Berkeley in there too (my opinion is that U of M doesn’t belong in the same elite group as those other 4 schools). For the purposes of this discussion, however, they’re omitted because they don’t have hockey programs. The Ivy League schools do.

When comparing the value in the US of a standard BA from UM vs standard BA from McGill, I will assume that you are correct. (although a prospective employer worth his salt may want to investigate the academic standards of McGill before he makes a final conclusion as well as what the potential value of being educated abroad could bring to the company). I’m not sure that this rule applies universally however. If we’re discussing more specialized degrees, like a B. Eng, for example, I would venture a guess that a B. Eng from the University of Waterloo would hold as much or more value no matter where you go than a B. Eng from UM.

 

[OSA]

Every year there are guys who were top prospects at one time whose game has gone south playing in the CHL...so don’t play yourself

Right, and if there was a high end prospect whose older brothers went to the CHL and bottomed out, I might suggest that kid at least consider an alternative developmental route that might be better for him hockey-wise. I would not say, however: “by going this alternative route you’d be guaranteed a top notch education that you wouldn’t get by going the same route that your brothers went” because I would be lying.

 

[Wolfman Jack]

Change the title of this thread! Way off topic.

WJ

 

[Savard18]

Congratulations, you must very proud of your daughter/son. That’s quite an accomplishment.

I would add UC Berkeley in there too (my opinion is that U of M doesn’t belong in the same elite group as those other 4 schools). For the purposes of this discussion, however, they’re omitted because they don’t have hockey programs. The Ivy League schools do.

When comparing the value in the US of a standard BA from UM vs standard BA from McGill, I will assume that you are correct. (although a prospective employer worth his salt may want to investigate the academic standards of McGill before he makes a final conclusion as well as what the potential value of being educated abroad could bring to the company). I’m not sure that this rule applies universally however. If we’re discussing more specialized degrees, like a B. Eng, for example, I would venture a guess that a B. Eng from the University of Waterloo would hold as much or more value no matter where you go than a B. Eng from UM.

Right. It very well may be certain Canadian Universities hold more weight than UofM in many degrees. UofM medical though (possibly others, I don't know) are highly regarded. Law, political future, business? Ivy League all day. Engineering? I would think RPI, RTI, Michigan Tech might be the way to go. I'd think you'd have to weigh the odds of your kid playing pro and when. Ready for NHL/AHL at 18-19-20? OHL all day with the School option as an insurance measure. Not ready for NHL/AHL until 20-21-22-23? Probably NCAA. Pro career unlikely or risky. I'm going OHL. It's guaranteed at least per year, maybe Gold package safety net. You go to BU, UofM or whatever and blow out your knee or develop concussions issues? Good luck trying to find a solid job with your 1-2-3 years of completely useless college study unless you got $ to pay for the rest of your degree because that school will cut you quick as hell. I know because two of my best friends got tossed from their programs after serious injuries. In most scenarios, I'm going OHL and if need be, enjoying living in Ontario while picking up a solid Canadian degree. My kid looked at those too, it just wasn't as cost effective as other options.

 

[NOA]

Change the title of this thread! Way off topic.

WJ

^^

 

[EON]

Not a mock draft thread, just the typical OHL/NCAA argument again, closed. If someone wants to start a thread directly about that argument or a thread with mock drafts, go for it.