The Ontario Hockey League finished its regular season this week. The OHL is home to two Columbus Blue Jackets prospects. Here is a recap of how they have done thus far.
The Ontario Hockey League playoffs begin this week. Two Columbus Blue Jackets prospects, Kole Sherwood and Dante Salituro, hope to keep their seasons in the O alive as the playoffs begin. Before they start, let’s take a look at how both prospects fared during the regular season.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Kole Sherwood
Most in Blue Jackets country will recognized this name. The New Albany native garnered quite the buzz in the summer of 2015 when he became the first Columbus area hockey prospect to sign with the CBJ. Sherwood spent the following season with the London Knights of the OHL. Sherwood played in 60 games and the Knights went on to win the OHL title
This season, Sherwood was traded to the Flint Firebirds. Kole went 33-52-85 for the entire season, and earned Canadian Hockey league’s player of the week in mid January. His production was a vast improvement from the 34 points the year before. Sherwood is a high volume shooter, leading the league in shots per game with 4.86. The change of scenery did both Sherwood, and the Firebirds good they locked up the 7th seed in the playoffs.
.@92KSherwood rips a one-timer from @jalen_smereck on the power play to put the Firebirds up by 1 in the 1st! pic.twitter.com/TSGHXS9ErL
— Flint Firebirds (@FlintFirebirds) March 5, 2017
The local kid still needs a bit of seasoning before we see him getting close to NHL roster. One good season in the OHL won’t be enough to win over John Tortorella and the rest of the staff. If he keeps scoring, expect him to fight his way into a roster spot with Cleveland in a few years.
Related Story: Columbus Blue Jackets prospects in WHL
Dante Salituro
The 20-year-old Toronto native signed an entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets this summer after going un-drafted the previous two years. From there, the undersized but fast forward has bounced around the minor leagues. Originally assigned to Cleveland out of camp, Salituro was then dropped down to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League. He was then called back up to Cleveland briefly then assigned to the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL. In January his old OHL team, the Ottawa 67s traded his rights to the reigning OHL champs, the London Knights, where he was assigned to, from Norfolk, for the rest of the OHL season.
After finally finding consistent ice time in London, Salituro has put up 11 goals and 11 assist in 30 games. We know Salituro is capable of scoring goals in large quantities from his time in Ottawa. What we don’t know is if his size is as big of a detriment as some think it is. If Salituro has a productive playoff run and a strong off-season expect him to earn a more permanent spot in Cleveland next season.
Related Story: Columbus Blue Jackets prospects in Quebec
The Columbus Blue Jackets have done a phenomenal job of developing one of the top farm systems in the league over the past few years. Players like Sherwood and Salituro are the products of the diligent scouting we have come to see from Jarmo Kekalainen and John Davidson. Both players could pay huge dividends for the organization in the years to come.