The OHL Round Up: April
Andrew Barrett
2025-05-05
This month we look at three of the top defencemen in the OHL, all coming out of the 2024 Draft. We’ll look at the biggest CHL prospect to date, to make the jump over to the NCAA, the Max Kaminsky Award winner as the OHL’s defenceman of the year, and the defenceman leading all skaters in scoring in the playoffs after the third round.
Calgary Flames – Henry Mews (D)
With his draft plus one season split between Ottawa and Sudbury, Mews made the most of what will be his last season in the OHL. The playmaking rearguard had 68 assists in 68 games played, the second most assists by a defenceman only behind Zayne Parekh’s 74 assists. Mews added 14 goals on 233 shots firing only at a 6% shooting percentage. The smooth skating Ottawa, Ontario native rarely hesitates to jump into the play on the offensive zone. He sees the ice well as the trailer coming into the zone and knows where to distribute the puck before its on his stick. His vision leads to many tap ins for his teammates and makes for an excellent quarterback on the powerplay. Going into next season Mews has committed to Michigan, becoming the biggest name so far to make the jump over to the NCAA ranks. While suiting up for the Wolverines one of the main points of his game to focus on will be his compete on the defensive end. The playmaking and smooth skating of Mews makes for an intriguing prosect who could project to be a second pairing defenceman if he is able to show strides on the defensive end of the ice.
68_Games Played: 14 G | 68 A | 82 TP | 1.21 PPG | 88 PIM | 233 SOG | 6.0 SH%
Mews – The Highlights:
Here, Mews shows off the hands and then the hockey sense to make the drop pass.
A little highlight reel from a four-point night starting off with a couple of nice snipes, followed by a shot pass for the tap in a the side of the net, the last highlight on this reel is a second assist cross seam as the tic, in a nice tic-tac-toe play on the power play.
Quarterbacking the power play.
San Jose Sharks – Sam Dickinson (D)
The Max Kaminsky Award winner as the OHL’s defenceman of the year. This physically gifted blueliner had an exceptional year for the London Knights. Tallying 91 points on the season, Dickinson finished second in points for defenceman in the OHL behind only Zayne Parekh’s 107 points. Dickinson’s skating is his biggest attribute and makes him effective on both ends of the ice. He glides through the neutral zone with ease, joining the attack on the offensive end. On the defensive end he can use his speed and long reach to take away the opponent’s time and space. He competes hard on the defensive end of the puck and when caught up ice his effortless stride helps him get back in the play after a pinch or leading the rush. Quarterbacking the OHL’s second best powerplay, the Toronto native distributes the puck well and has a good quick wrist shot from the point that can make him a threat to score as well. With all the young offensively talented forwards in the Sharks pipelines, Dickinson will fit in extremely well providing offense from the backend. He has upped his game in the post season as well, in 12 games for the Knights he has seven goals and 15 assists, producing at a 1.83 points per game rate.
55 Games Played: 29 G | 62 A | 91 TP | 1.65 PPG | 39 PIM | 245 SOG | 11.8 SH%
Dickinson – The Highlights:
Always looking to jump in on offense, here he shows off a solid backhand.
Hammers the one-timer home on the two man advantage.
Ending the game in style here, galloping through the neutral zone, playing catch with Denver Barkey, then showing off the hands and patience for the nice finish.
Here he shows off his vision, with a beautiful saucer pass through the neutral sending Denver Barkey in on the partial breakaway.
Columbus Blue Jackets – Luca Marrelli (D)
Marrelli had a breakout in goals this year, while in his three prior seasons he had combined for 11 goals total in the OHL. In this campaign he has potted 19 goals and added 55 assists for the Oshawa Generals. While not overly flashy, he is a well-rounded, heads up, puck moving defenceman who makes the right play at the right time. He can make shifty little plays in tight spaces in the corners to get out of trouble and break out of the zone with ease. He’s improved his play in the defensive zone, competing hard and using his high hockey IQ to be in good positions on the defensive end of the ice. At 6-2, 185 lbs Marrelli is not afraid to stand up guys at either blue line or lean on opposing forwards in the tough areas of the ice. You can see all the tools are there to be a top four defenceman for the Blue Jackets in the years to come. He has been a man on a mission this post season, leading all skaters in playoff points after three rounds, in 16 games he has six goals, 25 assists for 31 points and 1.94 points per game.
67 Games Played: 19 G | 55 A | 74 TP | 1.10 PPG | 21 PIM | 206 SOG | 9.2 SH%
Marrelli – The Highlights:
Producing in the Playoffs! Here’s a look at his five point night on May 1st against the Barrie Colts to help the Generals win the Bobby Orr Trophy.
A snipe in the slot.
Jumps in the play down low, then sets up behind the net with goalie leaning right he goes left with a great pass.
A blast from the point.
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