Height: 6’3”

Weight: 185 Pounds

Date of birth: June 10, 2000

Hometown: Barrie, Ontario

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Left

OHL Draft: Round 2, 26^th overall, 2016 Priority Selection

NHL Central Scouting pre-season: B Prospect

NHL Central Scouting mid-term: 3rd overall, North American Goaltenders

NHL Central Scouting final rank: Not available at present

Coming into the 2017-2018 season, Mississauga Steelheads’ goaltender Jacob Ingham was considered by many to be near the top of the draft class and rightfully so. But the Ontario Hockey League class isn’t as strong as a season ago that saw Michael DiPietro (Windsor Spitfires) and Matthew Villalta (Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds) get drafted into the National Hockey League while Kaden Fulcher (Hamilton Bulldogs) and Kyle Keyser (Oshawa Generals) showing enough to get free agent deals with the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins respectively.

Ingham’s competition this season comes from Jordon Kooy of the London Knights and Nick Donofrio of the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Ingham would play his minor midget hockey with the Barrie Colts during the 2015-2016 season posting a 1.73 goals-against average in 15 games. He would get a taste of Junior A hockey with the Orangeville Flyers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

The scouting report from OHL Central Scouting at the time read as follows:

Jacob is a very good technical goaltender. He gets out to the top of his crease and challenges shooters, is very athletic, moves very well in his crease and has the ability to make the big desperation save when he has to. Jacob is mentally strong as he doesn’t let goals against get to him. He battles and competes to see pucks and finds them in scrambles. He always seems to make the big save when his team needs it. Jacob will be a goalie to watch moving forward in the OHL. 

Last season Ingham appeared in 31 games for the Steelheads and posted a respectable 2.69 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. He would be named to the OHL First All-Rookie squad at the end of the regular season. He would man the net in 6 playoff games for the Steelheads and post a 2.68 goals-against average but a very disappointing .876 save percentage.

Ingham would also represent Canada at the World Hockey Challenge Under-17, helping Canada Black capture a silver medal. In 5 appearances he posted a 2.15 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.

It appeared the book on him from Central Scouting was correct and then this season happened.

Something happened to the technique we saw a season ago. The opposition was able to exploit differences in his game. Where he had previously played big in his crease, he was being beaten up high. While he is very athletic, his post-to-post movement seemed to have changed and he would get caught “cheating” off the short side post.

Ingham’s ability to fight through traffic also appeared to take a step back. He had trouble finding the puck in battles out front and that would leave the bottom of the cage exposed as he tried to fight for sight of the puck.

The Steelheads liked to play a run-and-gun game, and who could argue with the offensive firepower they possessed. But it would often lead to odd-man rushes and long breakaway attempts and when they needed a big save, they just weren’t getting it.

As previously mentioned, Ingham is very athletic. He gets out to the top of the paint quickly. His post to post movement is also very quick. He has shown an ability to control his rebounds. His glove hand could use some improvement.

With Ingham, it will all come down to coaching. He has an excellent work ethic and there is no doubt he will put in all the work required. It will come down to working on and tweaking his technique.

I can’t help but feel his season has hurt his draft stock.

Stat page of Jacob Ingham from Elite Prospects