OHL’s Draft Eligible Statistical Leaders: December

I’m not sure where to begin.

In what I (and others) thought would be a back and forth seesaw battle between Ryan Suzuki of the Barrie Colts and Arthur Kaliyev of the Hamilton Bulldogs, flipping the calendar to January has proven otherwise. At least for now since we are just entering the second half of the season.

The potential first round picks for the 2019 National Hockey League Draft in June were virtually neck and neck through October and November, although Kaliyev had a small separation when November closed out.

Suzuki hit a wall in December scoring just 3 goals (with two of those coming on New Years Eve) and 3 assists in 10 games while Kaliyev posted 5 goals and 9 assists to open up a 16-point lead in the scoring race. And don’t look now, but here comes London Knights’ Connor McMichael, who posted 8 goals and 9 assists in 9 games to take over second spot from Suzuki.

One season ago, the top ten points leaders among first time draft eligible players finished with 59 points or higher. This season, just 5 players are on pace to break that mark.

Kaliyev (26) and McMichael (25) have a comfortable lead in goals over Philip Tomasino (16) of the Niagara Ice Dogs. McMichael however leads Kaliyev in goals-per-game. Both are on pace to beat Andrei Svechnikov’s 40 goals from a season ago but one must remember that Svechnikov hit the mark in just 44 games.

Offence from the defence isn’t as high end as a year ago, but there’s more depth. Thomas Harley leads all draft eligible defenders with 29 points. That puts him on pace to finish just ahead of Rasmus Sandin’s third place totals from a season ago. However, the other 9 defencemen scoring leaders this season are on pace to finish better then the fourth-place finisher a season ago, Giovanni Vallati of the Kitchener Rangers.

Here are the first time draft eligible leaders in a variety of statistical categories:

(While we strive for accuracy, always refer to the OHL Website for official stats)