The Quiz

TSN's The Quiz

James Duthie: Good evening, and welcome to TSN's The Quiz, I'm James Duthie joined on the panel by TSN hockey experts Dave Poulin, scout master Craig Button and the Bobfather himself, Bob McKenzie. Gentlemen. We've had a lot happen over the last month in OHL hockey, with the Memorial Cup winning Soo Greyhounds, the Import Draft, the Priority Draft, and then a whole slew of trades. We've got a lot to cover, so let's just jump right now. In terms of OHL prospects drafted at the priority selection, who is poised to have the most impact and emerge as an early front runner for rookie of the year?

Craig Button: Well conventional wisdom would say the first overall pick, Quinton Byfield with the Flint Firebirds or Cole Perfetti in Guelph with the Storm, however I'm going to go a little off the board, and I loved this pick. Tristan Lennox with the Windsor Spitfires is my pick for the rookie of the year. He's going to have a tremendous opportunity to become a #1 goalie right away, and can carry a squad that went out to add a lot of talent around him. Lennox has all the intangibles you'd expect from a goalie taken that high, and I can tell you for sure he's on Team Canada's radar for the WJC, even as a 16/17 year old. 

Dave Poulin: Craig already touched on him briefly, but you got to go with Quinton Byfield. In a league filled with teenagers, a big bodied scoring machine like Byfield is going to bowl through the competition. There's a lot of skilled players that can create chances, and fire the puck, but there's not a lot of players gifted with his size and physical power. He almost reminds me of an Eric Lindros, and I remember when he came into the OHL in 1989, and no one was quite prepared for how he'd dominate so physically. Byfield is Lindros 2.0.

Bob McKenzie: I'd agree with Dave's assessment with Byfield, and I think he and Perfetti are really gonna go toe-to-toe offensively, one showcasing the power forward game and one the finesse game, however I think one player being really underrated right now is Jamie Drysdale. North Bay is going to have a very strong squad, and having a true offensive, smooth-skating playmaker on your back end can go a long way. He's going to have all the opportunity in the world to move the puck and create scoring opportunities, and I think a really dominate season by a rookie defenseman will trump the same seaason by a forward.

James Duthie: Hard to argue with any of those picks, although the first overall pick in the priority selection has won it five times in the last eight years, so history is on Byfield's side. By the way three of those players have gone on to be the #1 selection in the NHL draft too. But onto the next question, we've seen a flurry of trades in the last week, who do you think is going to have the biggest impact with their new team?

Dellandrea in Barrie || Matt Strome in Windsor

Arthur Kaliyev in Erie || Merkley in Oshawa

Dave Poulin: I've got to say that I think Kaliyev going to the Otters gives them one of the most dominant scorers in the league. They had a massive upset in the post-season, taking out the Goliath Kitchener Rangers which gave the organization a tremendous amount of confidence to go out and add a lethal sniper like Kaliyev. I think he immediately gives them a boost, and makes the rest of the Western Conference take notice.

Craig Button: I think it's Merkley in Oshawa. There's not a lot of players that can do what Merkley does, and he's a kid that receives a lot of criticism for his seemingly nonchalant style of play but boy when he has the puck on his stick do defenders ever take notice. He's an absolute wizard on the blueline, and even though defense wasn't an area of concern for the Generals, his skillset automatically makes their powerplay almost a sure thing. He's gonna be an assist machine, I don't see any way how the East can possibly handle this kid. 

Bob McKenzie: I know the Quizmaster is going to be upset with me, but I'm actually going to go off the board and say that the Ottawa 67's picking up Nick Suzuki is going to be the trade of the offseason. Lots of focus has been put on Barrie and Oshawa and North Bay for their moves, but the 67's might have quietly added the best player in the entire OHL. He's a maestro in the offensive zone, and Suzuki looks poised to make a run at the scoring title this season with Ottawa's strong supporting cast.

James Duthie: Well the Quizmaster never likes when we go against his board, but we'll allow that just once Bob. Wrapping up, after the cumulative additions of the Import Draft, the Priority Selection and one crazy week of trading, who do you have as favorites to take the crown from the Greyhounds next season?

Oshawa Generals || Windsor Spitfires

Barrie Colts || Saginaw Spirit

Craig Button: I think the Quizmaster got this one all wrong too, as the Niagara IceDogs will be the 2018-2019 OHL champions. They've got a strong core, have the experience of defeat from last season and have added some game-breaking talent in Kyle Maksimovich, Nate Schnarr and Jordan Sambrook. To me, while everyone is focused on Oshawa vs Barrie, it's Niagara that will prove to be the top dogs in the East.

Dave Poulin: It seems like going off the board has become quite fashionable, but I'm old school and I like what one team in particular this offseason has done, and that's the Barrie Colts. Not only have they added big time players, they've also snagged those players from the jaws of their competition by being aggressive on the trade front. Ty Dellandrea gives them three legit scoring lines, Nick Mattinen is looking like he might be the best defenseman in the entire OHL, and adding a steady net presence in Hunter Jones surely addresses their one true area of weakness. Gotta love what the Colts have done this off season

Bob McKenzie: I'm never a fan of looking into the crystal ball and trying to predict the future that far ahead. After all who would have guessed that the likes of Kitchener and Kingston would fall in the post-season, so playoff hockey kind of humbles all us analysts. But for the sake of the Quiz, I'll go with the Saginaw Spirit. They shook the OHL hockey world last season by adding Mikey DiPietro, who looks poised to be Team Canada's guy this season, and they made a blockbuster deal to acquire Owen Tippett in the last week as well. I just like the look of this team, I think the East is going to duke it out with the powerhouses and someone is quietly going to slip through in the West, and that team is going to be Saginaw.

James Duthie: Well there you have it folks, the OHL Quiz on TSN. Stay tuned for more content, and we'll by back once the regular season begins. Goodnight Canada.