2024 OHL Coaches Poll - My Ballot

Sometime soon, the OHL will release the results of their annual Coaches Poll, where the league's bench bosses vote on a number of categories within their own Conference. As is the annual tradition, below you can find my own opinion on how the results should look.

One thing worth noting though. OHL teams are only allowed to submit the name of one player per category for the ballot, thus on the results you won't notice any teams having more than one player per category. On my ballot, you'll see that I don't follow that rule (and never have), as the intention of this from my end is to highlight the very best of the league without that restriction. So this works as both a prediction, and also a fake ballot if I were indeed an OHL coach (which I am obviously not).

It goes without saying that these are not the results and below is strictly my opinion. As mentioned, the results should be released soon-ish.

As is the case every year, some of these categories were really hard to narrow down; a testament to the talent level in the Ontario Hockey League. So if your favourite player isn't listed...my apologies.

Most Underrated Player

East

1. Jacob Oster

2. Owen Van Steensel

3. Marek Vanacker/Finn Harding/Andre Anania

West

1. Jacob Julien

2. Sam Sedley/Carter George

3. Trent Swick/Jett Luchanko

Most Improved Player

East

1. Anthony Romani

2. Marek Vanacker/Florian Xhekaj

3. Jacob Battaglia/Finn Harding

West

1. Jacob Julien

2. Jett Luchanko

3. Trent Swick

Smartest Player

East

1. Cal Ritchie

2. Anthony Romani

3. Luca Pinelli

West

1. Zayne Parekh

2. Denver Barkey

3. Jack Beck

Hardest Worker

East 

1. Luke Misa

2. Marek Vanacker

3. Beau Jelsma

West

1. Denver Barkey/Easton Cowan

2. Gavin Hayes

3. Coulson Pitre/Matthew Sop/Owen Beck

Best Playmaker

East

1. Cal Ritchie

2. David Goyette/Quentin Musty

3. Dalyn Wakely

West

1. Zayne Parekh

2. Denver Barkey/Easton Cowan

3. Jett Luchanko

Most Dangerous in the Goal Area

East

1. Anthony Romani

2. Luca Pinelli

3. Beau Jelsma/David Goyette

West

1. Colby Barlow

2. Matthew Sop

3. Gavin Hayes

Best Skater

East

1. Luke Misa

2. Nick Lardis

3. Paul Ludwinski/Marek Vanacker/Henry Mews

West

1. Sam Dickinson/Isaiah George

2. Carey Terrance

3. Owen Beck/Oliver Peer/Jorian Donovan/AJ Spellacy

Best Shot

East

1. Luca Pinelli/Nick Lardis

2. Anthony Romani

3. Dalibor Dvorsky

West

1. Carson Rehkopf

2. Colby Barlow

3. Braeden Bowman/Gavin Hayes

Hardest Shot

East

1. Ty Nelson

2. Connor Punnett

3. Samuel Mayer

West

1. Carson Rehkopf

2. Colby Barlow

3. Arttu Karki

Best Stickhandler

East

1. David Goyette/Quentin Musty

2. Beau Jelsma

3. Sandis Vilmanis/Luca Pinelli

West

1. Rodwin Dionicio

2. Liam Greentree

3. Easton Cowan

Best on Faceoffs

East

1. Jax Dubois

2. Dalibor Dvorsky

3. Beau Jelsma

West

1. Owen Beck

2. Pano Fimis

3. Jacob Julien

Best Body Checker

East 

1. Liam Arnsby/Ethan Procyszyn

2. Daniil Sobolev

3. Andre Anania/Roman Schmidt/Connor Punnett

West

1. Couslon Pitre

2. Braden Hache

3. Ryan McGuire/AJ Spellacy/Sam O’Reilly

Best Shot Blocker

East

1. Paul Christopoulos

2. Connor Punnett

3. Andre Anania

West

1. Braden Hache

2. Andrew Gibson

3. Taos Jordan/Matt Andonovski

Best Defensive Forward

East 

1. Liam Arnsby

2. Cole Beaudoin

3. Jax Dubois/Gavin Bryant

West

1. Matyas Sapovaliv/Owen Beck

2. Cedrick Guindon/Deni Goure

3. Marko Sikic/Easton Cowan

Best Penalty Killer

East

1. Jacob Oster

2. Marek Vanacker

3. Justin Ertel/Liam Arnsby

West

1. Easton Cowan/Denver Barkey

2. Owen Allard

3. Carey Terrance/Malcolm Spence/AJ Spellacy

Best Offensive Defenseman

East

1. Ty Nelson

2. Henry Mews

3. Samuel Mayer

West

1. Zayne Parekh

2. Rodwin Dionicio

3. Hunter Brzustewicz/Sam Dickinson

Best Defensive Defenseman

East

1. Connor Punnett

2. Andre Anania/Nolan Collins

3. Paul Christopoulos/Danil SobolevMatthew Mayich

West

1. Andrew Gibson

2. Matt Andonovski

3. Oliver Bonk/Braden Hache/Michael Buchinger

Best Puck Handling Goalie

East

1. Matteo Drobac

2. Jacob Oster

3. Dom DiVincentiis/Owen Flores

West

1. Michael Simpson

2. Carter George

3. Joey Costanzo

Best Shootout Shooter

East

1. Braeden Kressler

2. Luke Misa

3. Quentin Musty

West

1. Denver Barkey

2. Liam Greentree

3. Eduard Sale/Malcolm Spence

Best Shootout Goalie

East

1. Jacob Oster

2. Jakub Vondras

3. Mason Vaccari

West

1. Carter George

2. Brayden Gillespie

3. Charlie Schenkel