Luca Del Bel Belluz

OHL’s Draft Eligible Statistical Leaders as of February 28, 2022

Posted on March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 by Dominic Tiano

Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs. Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images

The month of February has seen a change in the statistical leaders among players eligible for the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. It was more to do with lost games being made up and the gap in games played between different teams than it had to do with players picking it up or others dropping off.

Look no further then the point leaders. For almost the entire season it’s been either Tucker Robertson of the Peterborough Petes or Luca Del Bel Belluz of the Mississauga Steelheads at the top. Don’t look now but here comes projected number one pick Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs who sits in between the pair. I don’t think it will be too long before Wright is all alone at the top.

It’s no different for defencemen. Ty Nelson of the North Bay Battalion has been at the top of defencemen scoring since the first puck drop. Now he’s been passed by February’s Defenceman of the Month and Rookie of the Month Christion Kyrou of the Erie Otters as well as Pavel Mintyukov of the Saginaw Spirit and Gavin White of the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Offensively, it appears there are three tiers at the top of the draft class for defenders: The first tier has Kyrou all alone as it looks like he will begin to run away with it. That’s followed by the second tier of Mintyukov, White and Nelson. They are also a clear group ahead of the third tier.

In the crease, it’s been a season long battle between Brett Brochu of the London Knights and Patrick Leaver of the Oshawa Generals and I suspect that’s how it will be right up until the last whistle.

Here’s a look at the statistical leaders in different categories. As a reminder, we are including first year and second year eligible players where in the past we’ve only done first year eligible players. While we take great care in compiling stats, please refer to the OHL Website for official stats.

Points Leaders
Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Luca Del Bel Belluz	Mississauga Steelheads	51	26	38	64
Shane Wright	Kingston Frontenacs	43	21	41	62
Tucker Robertson	Peterborough Petes	47	26	31	57
Avery Hayes	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	30	23	53
Matthew Maggio	Windsor Spitfires	44	24	28	52
David Goyette	Sudbury Wolves	48	21	28	49
J. R. Avon	Peterborough Petes	44	19	30	49
Nolan Burke	Sarnia Sting	45	27	19	46
Kyle Jackson	North Bay Battalion	31	20	25	45
Deni Goure	Owen Sound Attack	48	21	23	44
Goal Scoring Leaders
Player	Team	GP	G	GPG
Avery Hayes	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	30	0.67
Nolan Burke	Sarnia Sting	45	27	0.60
Luca Del Bel Belluz	Mississauga Steelheads	51	26	0.51
Tucker Robertson	Peterborough Petes	47	26	0.55
Matthew Maggio	Windsor Spitfires	44	24	0.55
Shane Wright	Kingston Frontenacs	43	21	0.49
David Goyette	Sudbury Wolves	48	21	0.44
Deni Goure	Owen Sound Attack	48	21	0.44
Kyle Jackson	North Bay Battalion	31	20	0.65
Nolan Dann	Sarnia Sting	43	20	0.47
Assist Leaders
Player	Team	GP	A	APG
Shane Wright	Kingston Frontenacs	43	41	0.95
Luca Del Bel Belluz	Mississauga Steelheads	51	38	0.75
Michael Buchinger	Guelph Storm	46	33	0.72
Ty Nelson	North Bay Battalion	51	32	0.63
Gavin White	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	31	0.69
Christian Kyrou	Erie Otters	47	31	0.66
Tucker Robertson	Peterborough Petes	47	31	0.66
J. R. Avon	Peterborough Petes	44	30	0.68
Matthew Maggio	Windsor Spitfires	44	28	0.64
Jake Karabela	Guelph Storm	46	28	0.61
Defencemen Point Leaders
Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Christian Kyrou	Erie Otters	47	13	31	44
Pavel Mintyukov	Saginaw Spirit	47	10	28	38
Gavin White	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	7	31	38
Ty Nelson	North Bay Battalion	51	6	32	38
Michael Buchinger	Guelph Storm	46	4	33	37
Samuel Mayer	Peterborough Petes	47	9	18	27
Rodwin Dionicio	Niagara IceDogs	43	6	20	26
Kasper Larsen	Mississauga Steelheads	40	5	21	26
Sam Sedley	Owen Sound Attack	47	3	23	26
Kirill Kudryavtsev	Soo Greyhounds	50	3	23	26
Plus/Minus Leaders
Player	Team	GP	+/-
Avery Hayes	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	+33
Ryan Humphrey	Hamilton Bulldogs	47	+33
Isaiah George	London Knights	44	+29
Luca Del Bel Belluz	Mississauga Steelheads	51	+25
Gavin White	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	+18
Shane Wright	Kingston Frontenacs	43	+17
Jorian Donovan	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	+16
Jake Karabela	Guelph Storm	46	+16
Ty Nelson	North Bay Battalion	51	+16
Ben Roger	Kingston Frontenacs	43	+15
Penalty Minutes Leaders
Player	Team	GP	PIM	M/G
Landon McCallum	Sudbury Wolves	47	68	1.45
Samuel Mayer	Peterborough Petes	47	60	1.28
Ryan Humphrey	Hamilton Bulldogs	47	59	1.26
Roberto Mancini	Saginaw Spirit	46	58	1.26
Marc Boudreau	Sudbury Wolves	53	57	1.08
Faceoff Leaders (minimum 240 faceoffs)
Player	Team	GP	FOA	FOW	%
Owen Beck	Mississauga Steelheads	51	1009	606	60.1
Jacob Maillet	Windsor Spitfires	47	541	316	58.4
Stuart Rolofs	Oshawa Generals	43	248	142	57.3
Tucker Robertson	Peterborough Petes	47	1132	642	56.7
Danny Zhilkin	Guelph Storm	44	752	425	56.5
Max Namestnikov	Sarnia Sting	45	418	234	56.0
Braeden Kressler	Flint Firebirds	23	394	218	55.3
Landon McCallum	Sudbury Wolves	47	512	281	54.9
Nolan Burke	Sarnia Sting	45	479	259	54.1
Amadeus Lombardi	Flint Firebirds	49	612	330	53.9
Minumum 60 faceoffs
Shooting Percentage Leaders
Player	Team	GP	Shots	Goals	SH%
Braeden Bowman	Guelph Storm	39	68	19	27.9
Kyle Jackson	North Bay Battalion	31	73	20	27.4
Dean Loukas	Saginaw Spirit	44	56	15	26.8
Nolan Burke	Sarnia Sting	45	103	27	26.2
Thomas Johnston	Ottawa 67’s	39	52	13	25.0
James Jodoin	Windsor Spitfires	28	25	6	24.0
Beau Jelsma	Barrie Colts	45	105	25	23.8
Tucker Robertson	Peterborough Petes	47	120	26	21.7
Avery Hayes	Hamilton Bulldogs	45	141	30	21.3
Hunter Haight	Barrie Colts	41	95	19	20.0
LONGEST POINT STREAK
Player	Team	From	To	GMS	PTS
Nolan Dann	Sarnia Sting	11/5	11/27	11	15
LONGEST GOAL STREAK
Player	Team	From	To	GMS	G
Tucker Robertson	Peterborough Petes	10/28	11/7	5	7
LONGEST ASSIST STREAK
Player	Team	From	To	GMS	A
Stuart Rolofs	Oshawa Generals	2/11	2/24	7	9
Goaltenders Leaders – Goals Against Average
Player	Team	GP	Min	GA	Avg
Brett Brochu	London Knights	39	2306	102	2.65
Max Donoso	Ottawa 67’s	16	889	40	2.70
Dom DiVincentiis	North Bay Battalion	19	996	48	2.89
Patrick Leaver	Oshawa Generals	34	1920	97	3.03
Jacob Oster	Guelph Storm	21	1145	59	3.09
Samuel Ivanov	Soo Greyhounds	26	1432	81	3.39
Pavel Cajan	Kitchener Rangers	29	1690	102	3.62
Nolan Lalonde	Erie Otters	38	2504	157	3.76
Goaltending Leaders – Save Percentage
Player	Team	GP	SH	SVS	SV%
Brett Brochu	London Knights	39	1191	1089	0.914
Patrick Leaver	Oshawa Generals	34	1106	1009	0.912
Max Donoso	Ottawa 67’s	16	437	397	0.908
Pavel Cajan	Kitchener Rangers	29	1011	909	0.899
Dom DiVincentiis	North Bay Battalion	19	465	417	0.897
Jacob Oster	Guelph Storm	21	523	464	0.887
Michael Simpson	Peterborough Petes	29	879	776	0.883
Samuel Ivanov	Soo Greyhounds	26	677	596	0.880

LALONDE AND JOHNSTON NAMED OHL TOP PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Dominic Tiano

Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League today announced Top Performers of the Week for the week of regular season games ending Sunday, January 9, 2022.

Spitfires’ Wyatt Johnston Named OHL Player of the Week

Dallas Stars prospect Wyatt Johnston of the Windsor Spitfires is the OHL Player of the Week, recording two goals and six assists for eight points in two games along with a plus/minus rating of plus-6.

Johnston helped the Spitfires climb to within two points of the West Division-leading Soo Greyhounds, defeating them in back-to-back games on the road. Johnston earned first star honours in Windsor’s first action since Dec. 28th on Saturday, scoring while adding three assists in a 5-2 win. He added another goal and three more helpers in Sunday’s 10-4 victory over the Greyhounds, picking up second star recognition in his fourth 4+ point outing of the season. He also extended his current point streak to seven games.

An 18-year-old native of Toronto, Ont., Johnston has climbed into a tie for second in OHL scoring with 54 points (20-34–54) in 29 games. His 1.86 points-per-game are the third-most in the League while his 127 shots on goal have him tied for third. Johnston was selected by the Dallas Stars with the 23rd overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft. He was originally Windsor’s first round (6th overall) pick in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection from the Toronto Marlboros U16 program.

Johnston is the OHL’s first player to claim Player of the Week honours twice this season.

Other candidates from the past week include Windsor Spitfires teammate Matthew Maggio who recorded seven points (3-4–7) in two games on a line alongside Johnston. Mississauga Steelheads forward Luca Del Bel Belluz was also in the running with seven points (2-5–7) in three games.

2021-22 OHL Players of the Week – Regular Season:
Jan. 3 – Jan 9: Wyatt Johnston (Windsor Spitfires)
Dec. 27 – Jan. 2: James Hardie (Mississauga Steelheads)
Dec. 13 – Dec. 19: Ty Tullio (Oshawa Generals)
Dec. 6 – Dec. 12: Lucas Edmonds (Kingston Frontenacs)
Nov. 29 – Dec. 5: Wyatt Johnston (Windsor Spitfires)
Nov. 22 – Nov. 28: Brennan Othmann (Flint Firebirds)
Nov. 15 – Nov. 21: Brandon Coe (North Bay Battalion)
Nov. 8 – Nov. 14: Antonio Stranges (London Knights)
Nov. 1 – Nov. 7: Shane Wright (Kingston Frontenacs)
Oct. 25 – Oct. 31: Tucker Robertson (Peterborough Petes)
Oct. 18 – Oct. 24: Rory Kerins (Soo Greyhounds)
Oct. 11 – Oct. 17: Calum Ritchie (Oshawa Generals)
Oct. 4 – Oct. 10: Jack Thompson (Sudbury Wolves)

Otters’ Nolan Lalonde Named OHL Goaltender of the Week

Nolan Lalonde of the Erie Otters is the OHL Goaltender of the Week, securing back-to-back wins with a 1.44 goals-against average and .957 save percentage in a pair of weekend contests.

Lalonde helped the Otters extend their winning streak to four, turning aside 67 of the 70 shots he faced to defeat the Kitchener Rangers in consecutive road wins. He made 27 saves and stopped four of five shootout opponents in a 3-2 win over the Rangers on Friday. Lalonde returned to the crease on Saturday, making a season-high 40 saves as the Otters prevailed over Kitchener 4-1 to earn second star recognition.

An 18-year-old from Kingston, Ont., Lalonde leads OHL rookies with nine wins, also posting a 3.59 goals-against average and .888 save percentage in 24 games this season. The 6-foot-1, 186Ib. goaltender was assigned a ‘C’ rating by NHL Central Scouting on their latest Players to Watch list for the 2022 NHL Draft. Lalonde was selected by Erie with their third round (49th overall) pick in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection.

Also considered for the award this week, Niagara IceDogs netminder Josh Rosenzweig went 2-0-0-0, recording his first career OHL shutout to go with a 2.00 goals-against average and .945 save percentage. Montreal Canadiens prospect Joe Vrbetic of the North Bay Battalion made 71 saves across a pair of wins, recording a 2.37 goals-against average and .934 save percentage.

2021-22 OHL Goaltenders of the Week – Regular Season:
Jan. 3 – Jan. 9: Nolan Lalonde (Erie Otters)
Dec. 27 – Jan. 2: Joe Ranger (Mississauga Steelheads)
Dec. 13 – Dec. 19: Owen Bennett (Guelph Storm)
Dec. 6 – Dec. 12: Mack Guzda (Barrie Colts)
Nov. 29 – Dec. 5: Leevi Merilainen (Kingston Frontenacs)
Nov. 22 – Nov. 28: Tye Austin (Peterborough Petes)
Nov. 15 – Nov. 21: Ben Gaudreau (Sarnia Sting)
Nov. 8 – Nov. 14: Joe Vrbetic (North Bay Battalion
Nov. 1 – Nov. 7: Roman Basran (Mississauga Steelheads)
Oct. 25 – Oct. 31: Patrick Leaver (Oshawa Generals)
Oct. 18 – Oct. 24: Jacob Oster (Guelph Storm)
Oct. 11 – Oct. 17: Brett Brochu (London Knights)
Oct. 4 – Oct. 10: Tucker Tynan (Niagara IceDogs)

About the Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is a proud member of the Canadian Hockey League which is the world’s largest development hockey league with 60 teams in nine Canadian provinces and four American states. In addition to the OHL, the CHL is made up of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The CHL supplies more players to the National Hockey League and U SPORTS than any other league.

OHL WRITERS’ DRAFT ELGIBLE PLAYERS OF THE MONTH: DECEMBER 2021

Posted on January 2, 2022 by Dominic Tiano

The Ontario Hockey League had to postpone more games than anyone wanted to see in December due to the COVID-19 Protocols, but there were some pretty good performances that should not be ignored.

Pavel Cajan of the Kitchener Rangers. Photo by Luke Durda/OHL Images

In previous season, I looked for one performance that I would feel comfortable saying that player was the Player of the Month. But because of the lost season one year ago and the number of players re-entering the NHL Entry Draft in 2022, I decided for this year to select one forward, one defenceman and one goaltender. Here we go.

Up front, It’s Mississauga Steelheads forward Luca DelBelBelluz who scored 4 goals and 9 assists in 9 contests in the month of December and a whopping 31 shots on goal. He had 4 multi point games including a four-assist night against North Bay on December 29 and he was held off the scoresheet in just two contests.

DelBelBelluz now has 15 goals and 21 assists on the season and sits second in points on the Steelheads just two points behind James Hardie. Among draft eligible players, he is third in points, tied for third in goals and second in assists and easily leads all draft eligible players in plus/minus with a plus-27.

Also considered were a pair of Hamilton Bulldogs. Avery Hayes had 6 goals and 7 assists in 9 games while Ryan Humphrey had 3 goals and 8 assists in 9 games. Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs had 3 goals and 7 assists but played in just 4 games because of the World Junior Championships and the Fronts being in COVID protocol.

On the blueline I could have gone a number of different ways but settled on Kirill Kudryavtsev of the Soo Greyhounds. The 5’11, 200-pound Russian scored once and added 6 assists in 7 games for the Greyhounds raising his totals to 2 goals and 16 assists in 28 games on the season.

I gave the nod to Kudryavtsev because I liked his all-around game. He was kept off the scoresheet in 2 of those 7 games, but the Greyhounds were 0-1-1 in those games. In the 5 games he registered a point? 4-0-1. He is an important player on the Greyhounds blueline as a rookie.

Also considered were Saginaw Spirit defenceman Pavel Mintyukov with 3 goals and 5 assists in 10 games, Samuel Mayer of the Peterborough Petes with 3 goals and 3 assists in 7 games, Ty Nelson of the North Bay Battalion with 8 assists in 9 games and Rodwin Dionicio of the Niagara IceDogs with a goal and 5 assists in 5 games.

The decision in net was the easiest and that was Pavel Cajan of the Kitchener Rangers. The draft re-entry netminder simply gives the Rangers a chance every time he mans the crease. He went 4-1-1 in the month of December with a stellar .919 save-percentage.

In his only regulation loss, Cajan stopped 32 of 34 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Windsor Spitfires. In his only other loss – in overtime- he stopped 34 of 38 shots in a 4-3 OT loss to the Soo Greyhounds. On the season Cajan has a save-percentage of .904 – third among draft eligible goalies and a goals-against-average of 3.23 – fifth among draft eligible goalies.

Also considered was North Bay Battalion netminder Dom DiVincentiis. In 4 appearances he went 1-2-0 with a .909 save-percentage

FORWARDS

December – Luca DelBelBelluz – Mississauga Steelheads

November – Kyle Jackson – North Bay Battalion

October – Tucker Robertson – Peterborough Petes

DEFENCEMEN

December – Kirill Kudryavtsev – Soo Greyhounds

November – Gavin While – Hamilton Bulldogs

October – Ty Nelson – North Bay Battalion

GOALTENDERS

December – Pavel Cajan – Kitchener Rangers

November – Patrick Leaver – Oshawa Generals

October – Brett Brochu – London Knights

Luca Del Bel Belluz – Mississauga Steelheads – Player Profile

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Dominic Tiano

HT	WT	DOB	POS	SHOOTS	OHL DRAFT	NHLCS	COUNTRY
6’1”	178	11-10-2003	C	Left	51^st 2019	C Prospect	CANADA

SEASON	LEAGUE	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
2018-2019	Under-16	Toronto Red Wings	31	20	12	32	18
2019-2020	OHL	Mississauga Steelheads	58	1	5	6	8
2020-2021	OHL	DID NOT PLAY

I feel that NHL Central Scouting’s ranking of a C-Prospect for Luca Del Bel Belluz if the Mississauga Steelheads was the result of the lost Ontario Hockey League season of a year ago due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It has affected many players throughout the OHL and I wonder how things may be different had they OHL played. That said, it could all change come draft day in June.

Luca Del Bel Belluz of the Mississauga Steelheads. Photo by Terry Wilson, OHL Images.

At 6’1, Del Bel Belluz has some good size but he is a lanky 178 pounds. He’s getting top line minutes and opportunities on the powerplay and his production has not disappointed. He currently leads Mississauga in assists with 17 and is second on the team in goals (14) and points (31) in just 26 games. He trails James Hardie by just one point. His 5 game winning goals leads the team easily. His 14 goals come on just 77 shots on goal for an 18.2 shooting-percentage, also tops on his squad.

There is much more to like about Del Bel Belluz than just his name. He is extremely creative with the puck, protects it well, has excellent vision and an uncanny ability to buy time and space for himself and his teammates. He is as effective at dishing the puck on his backhand as he is on his forehand. He can play the forecheck and cycle game very effectively. He’s not the hardest worker on the ice, but you can’t knock his effort.

Del Bel Belluz is effective in his own zone as well. He understands where the center needs to be and he gets there. He has somewhat of a long reach and is very effective in getting his stick in lanes and taking away opportunities. He can sometimes be overpowered by players his size, and this is where adding some bulk will help improve that part of his game.

His game is not all perfect. Skating, or more specifically his mechanics, needs some work. Some tweaking there will help him generate more power in both his first steps and overall speed. If he could have a separation gear, there’s no telling what he may be capable of. And that’s the thing with skating. As you move up in levels of hockey, the skating coaches improve but sometimes it’s not easy getting a player to change his mechanics when he’s been skating the same way for years.

Only time will tell if he can improve, but I know he will put the effort required into it. He’s trending up in the scouting world and I would bet that as of now, he is probably a mid to late second round pick.

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