Few developmental hockey leagues are as competitive as the OHL. From all across Ontario and the eastern United States – and sometimes from all around the world – teenagers come to prove themselves under some of the brightest lights junior hockey can afford. Given this, not everyone makes the cut out of training camp, even the eminently capable.
Among the notably left out is a group of NHL draft-minus-one players who, for lack of ice-time or physical immaturity, have been assigned to their OHL team’s affiliate in the GOHL. Some of them are all but ready to leap now but lack the consistent role and opportunity, while others need more time to adjust physically to a faster and more creative game.
Let’s take a look at five players on track to succeed in the OHL sooner rather than later; the traits will help them, and the areas that need improving to achieve it.
Evan Fitzgerald’s drive
The types of players that are making waves in the modern, size-isn’t-everything NHL have started to shift. While towering defencemen and big, physical forwards are still in demand as ever, a new space is being carved for a particular breed of hardworking, undersized forward. The Elmira Sugar Kings’ Evan Fitzgerald, selected 41st overall by the Kitchener Rangers in the 2026 OHL Priority Draft, fits that archetype to a T.
Fitzgerald’s impact on the game extends well beyond the scoresheet. He’s an agitator and an aggressive play-driver at both ends, a player with surprisingly advanced physical tools given his size (measured at 5-foot-10, 161 pounds). In the offensive zone, he joins the attack with the rest of his line but cuts in the hardest, driving deep to pressure defencemen with a hit or by close body contact and following them behind the net when they try to evade him. He drives opponents off the puck by cutting to their inside and reaching into their pocket with his stick.
In the defensive zone, his physical play and positioning are just as noteworthy. He has a quick, powerful stride and weaponizes his speed bursts to cut in against opposing forwards, pressuring them to the wall and off the puck with the same fervour as he does in the offensive zone. He’s very effective in his efforts to remove the puck from opposing forwards, and enters every physical battle as if he’s six inches taller and fifty pounds heavier than he is – with the expectation and determination to win.
One's work rate is an underrated trait in developing forwards, especially those who lack obvious physical standout traits (like size), which can cause them to be overlooked for more refined players. Fitzgerald never stops moving, never stops pressuring his opponents off the puck, and never stops trying to push the pace of play. That will translate to higher levels regardless of whether he’s on the bottom line or the top one, and, as he matures, it could take him very far.
Quinn Roberts’ sense
The lowest-drafted player on this list, Waterloo Siskins centre Quinn Roberts was selected 144th overall in the 2026 OHL Priority Selection by the Niagara IceDogs. Roberts anchors Waterloo’s first line, playing in between veteran wingers Drake Neal and Jacob Middleton (not that one), landing fourth on his team in points at the time of writing with 14 in 16 games.
As a centre between a pair of high-octane wingers, Roberts doesn’t immediately pop to the untrained eye. He’s not unusually aggressive physically or a flashy puckhandler; his first step needs improvement, and he’s not fond of breakaways. Upon careful viewing, however, he has subtler abilities that are more indicative of longer-term success than the ability to land a highlight-reel play now and again, as mentioned in this game report.
“Roberts is a fluid skater once he gets to top speed, but often his first step was behind the play, forcing him to be the third man out of the defensive zone and limiting his work to the cycle. He timed his puck touches to be in situations with less physical pressure – high in the zone on the cycle, a zone exit with possession. His pivot from front to back is good and allowed him to deceive some opponents in the defensive zone. Was successful as an offensive distributor from high in the zone as well. His sense of time and space is good enough to put him on the OHL track, but if he doesn’t learn how to create or operate under pressure, his upside is limited.”
Roberts has an excellent sense of space and time. While he’s not afraid to initiate battles, coming up against an opponent and quickly removing the puck from their stick, he avoids putting himself in situations where physical pressure can easily be used against him – per Hudl/InStat Hockey – he lays nearly twice as many hits as he is victim to. He floats from low to high and east to west in the offensive zone, putting himself in the path of his teammate’s passes to move the puck around more quickly and releasing the puck as quickly as it came to him. He frequently seems to disappear from his opponents’ awareness and reappear, as if by magic, with a chance. Since his speed limits his potential for rush chances, he takes his time exiting the zone defensively, making sure he and his defencemen’s ducks are all in a row.
Acceleration and weight are the keys to Roberts’ success at the next level. He has the mentality to become an excellent supporting centre to a strong group of wingers, and a good first step would enable the creation of a second stream of offence to him off the rush.
Jack Samek’s vision
Selected 37th overall by the London Knights in 2026, Jack Samek sits second in the GOHL in scoring – not just for rookies, but for all players, nestled in between overager Ryan Hodkinson and 2007-born Reid Gammage. From my viewings, it’s pretty clear to see why he’s running away with the 2010-born scoring race: he makes scoring look easy.
Samek is always involved with the play. When he’s on the ice, he’s going to touch the puck – if he’s in the defensive zone, he attacks the direction of the play until he runs into it at the same time the offence does. He attacks his opponent with the stick, surrounding them and adding a few taps to their stick or the puck until the puck is free.
If he’s attacking, he pushes the puck out of the zone and speeds with it into his opponents’ territory, ready to fire off a shot or pass to create a more dangerous chance. He generates a lot of chances off the rush, pressuring high in the defensive zone to free the puck without any bodies behind it and moving quickly into the offensive zone. This clip against the Listowel Cyclones plays out seemingly once a period for Samek (No. 83 in white):
His ability to consistently win battles and his above-average speed are positives, but what separates Samek from his peers is his ability to read and anticipate the play. He’s almost always one step ahead, tucking himself neatly into gaps in his opponents’ defensive structure in order to grant himself more time with the puck, stepping into lanes, and anticipating which opponents are going to be caught off guard by his sudden desire to dispossess them of the puck. The game seems to move slower around him; he feints and ducks around other players with regularity. He exhibits quite starkly the mental pace required of a player with ambitions of becoming a producer in the OHL.
John Kanyo’s grace
While he’s on the GOHL roster for the Brantford Titans right now, 65th-overall 2026 pick John Kanyo is the only player on this list who can boast the honour of playing an OHL game this season, suiting up in a contest for the Brantford Bulldogs earlier this year against the Soo Greyhounds. Kanyo played only nine and a half minutes (according to Hudl/InStat Hockey), in contrast to the higher-event hockey and role he plays back in Jr. B.
Kanyo starts with a skating stride that can only be described as graceful – his movements are efficient, and his pivot from back to front is tight, effortless, fast but never hurried. He patrols laterally with as much ease, staying steady on his feet. The ease of pivot combined with a relatively low top speed – his main weakness is his occasional predisposition to being beaten in games of speed around the outside – almost makes it look like he trained to figure skate, where less emphasis is placed on high top speed or “power skating” and more is placed on ability to rotate over a point and control the depth of edge, both of which he does well.
With and without the puck, this ability to move pays dividends for Kanyo. He is never afraid to push an opponent outside or pressure them, and the ability to turn on pace with an opponent means he’s rarely caught looking or too far out of position. He’s almost always the first man back into the defensive zone when his team retreats (frequently, since they’re 2-15-1). He gets into the way of shooting lanes and stands up opponents, readying himself to push them over or hit them hard. At 6-foot and 179 pounds, he’s got a good frame already for his age and should become even more effective at the physical intricacies of the game as time goes on and he adds strength.
In the offensive zone, he typically stays around the blueline, patrolling for stray pucks; he’s excellent at keeping pucks in the zone and maintaining what little offensive zone time the Titans summon. With the puck, he turns away from opponents into open ice, tossing a shot towards the net to move it up for his forwards. His scoring chances are usually point shots, the dangerous ones when his opponent has been lured out of position and he’s all alone with the goalie.
It’s not worth mentioning Kanyo at all without discussing his attitude: with every shift, he plays with chutzpah, as if he’s meant to be there. He’s not an overconfident risk-taker, but he doesn’t shy away from big assignments or get intimidated or turned around by onrushing opponents. He doesn’t wither or change his attitude if the game’s not going well for his team – he’ll move the puck up ice anyway, making the long stretch pass for a rush chance or a faster zone entry. In the OHL, the speed and strength of competition can expose younger, less experienced defencemen. But if Kanyo’s nine-and-a-half minutes against the Soo and his games as a Brantford Titan are any indication, that should be the last thing he has to worry about.
Braden Reilly’s shot
It almost feels like cheating to include Kitchener Rangers first-round pick Braden Reilly, a forward for the Cambridge RedHawks. As the reigning Sutherland Cup champions, Cambridge has no shortage of talent for Reilly to play with, including the GOHL’s third-best scorer Gammage and its highest-scoring defender Jack D’Arcy. However, half the battle of producing is goal-scoring ability, something the quality of teammates can only bump up to a certain degree. Reilly is well outpacing that.
Reilly’s tools are all at an extremely high level for his size. He grabs the puck in the neutral zone and rushes into the offensive zone, using a deep knee bend and explosive, powerful extension to give him strong acceleration and a high top speed without losing dexterity or turning ability. When he has the puck, he shoots, and he shoots hard, as mentioned in this game report:
“Excellent night for Reilly in his second GOHL game, leading all Cambridge forwards in ice-time (according to Instat Hockey). He starts with an explosive skating stride stemming from extension of the hip and keeps low to the ice, leaning over to reach for pucks. One of the first goals of the game was scored by him on a breakaway. He shows off his release on multiple occasions, which fires off lightning-fast without looking laboured. He handles the puck easily, pressures opponents on the forecheck, and when he’s attacking with the puck, he sees ways to pass it both forwards and backwards, and doesn’t make the same choice every time.”
His release is electric and versatile, and mirrors those seen in some of the OHL’s and NHL’s most capable puckhandlers and shooters. It seems sudden and out of nowhere, from on the ice to its top speed with a shot box of about a foot.
If anything, his one weakness is his overreliance on the shot – although with a shot like his, it’s hard not to. Occasionally, it can become predictable what he’s going to do: he’s going to speed into the offensive zone, get himself open, and shoot. All three of those abilities are strong enough to make him extremely difficult to stop as a draft-minus-one prospect in the GOHL, and will no doubt be effective at layers above as well. On Thursday, Reilly was named an injury replacement to Canada Red at the U17 World Hockey Challenge, where he’ll have an opportunity to test that theory out. Adding a playmaking layer to his game will transform him from an OHL-calibre offensive threat to one who could play even higher than that.