Rolofs among OHL cohort hurt most by lost season

Stuart Rolofs was arguably the London Knights’ player most likely to benefit from an OHL season this year — to impress scouts before the NHL draft.

Rolofs, a highly-regarded draft-eligible forward, didn’t see a lot of playing time or production during his age-16 season with the Knights in 2019-20. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

“There’s nothing I want more than to be able to play right now. It’s pretty frustrating.”

That’s what Stuart Rolofs, a London Knights forward, told Gameday London in an interview in March, more than a full year since he last laced up his skates for an OHL game due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

To say that’s a sentiment that’s been shared by teenagers across the league is an understatement. But for those draft-eligible players who need to be seen by scouts and player evaluators ahead of the upcoming NHL draft in July, playing games is even more important. Frankly, their futures hang in the balance.

That includes Stuart Rolofs’ future.

Among Knights players, he may have benefited most from an OHL season in 2020-21. The team’s first-round draft pick (20th overall) in 2019, Rolofs didn’t play a whole lot as a 16-year-old last season – which is often the case in London, where the team’s talent pool is deep every year. The Ottawa area native managed just three points and 31 shots on goal in 31 games.

“There were a lot of ups and downs last year. It took me a little bit to adjust to the OHL the first half of the year,” Rolofs said. But I got a little more ice time and built some more confidence when (Connor) McMichael and (Liam) Foudy went to the World Juniors, and then I definitely think I was playing really well during the second half of the year, so it was unfortunate for the season to end that way.”

Rolofs worked hard during the offseason – on every facet of his game.

The 2020-21 season was his year. The year to prove himself. The year to move up draft lists, like McMichael and Luke Evangelista, and so many more Knights before him.

“I had big expectations for myself coming into this season. I wanted to set pretty high goals and get picked pretty high,” Rolofs said. “Obviously, not being able to play has definitely affected that …”

Rolofs wanted to be a top-six forward on the Knights this year, which would have allowed him the minutes to produce – perhaps a point per game, which was one of his goals. He also wanted to showcase his defensive abilities and gain coach Dale Hunter’s trust to play on the penalty kill.

“I think that was one of the reasons Evangelista went so high (in the 2020 NHL draft). He was a good two-way guy and was trusted in every situation,” Rolofs said. “I wanted to try and be good defensively … That was pretty important to me.”

Unfortunately, Rolofs hasn’t been able to showcase any of his skills this year without an OHL season. Instead, he’s continued his skill work – on and off-ice – with the hopes that some sort of season would be salvaged.

***

There were glimmers of hope along the way.

Though the season wasn’t able to start on time, the OHL set a planned start date of December 1. That was postponed due to ongoing restrictions, but the league set a new date.

When the Ontario government announced a province-wide shutdown just before Christmas, that date was pushed further down the road to February 4. And then that date was scrapped, too …

During the best of times, patience generally isn’t a strong suit for teenagers. But you’d be hard-pressed to find any London Knights players – or players across the league, for that matter – who have been vocally hostile about the lack of an OHL season. They’re frustrated, and rightfully so, but they’ve mostly kept their heads down and continued to work on their skills as best they can.

Rolofs, who hails from the Ottawa region, nearly went to Finland this winter to get some game action under his belt, but he stayed — and the OHL’s start date continued to be postponed. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

That’s why the most recent ‘glimmer of hope’ likely hurt the most. With the country’s other major junior leagues, the QMJHL and WHL, having both returned to action, Ontario’s Minister of Sport, Lisa MacLeod, expressed optimism last month that the OHL would also return – at least for a shortened season.

“I’m optimistic that they’ll get games in,” MacLeod told reporters in a press briefing on March 10. “My team is feeling very confident that we’ve got the OHL to a place where they will be able to safely play, providing certain conditions.”

The minister asked people to be patient – for another two to three weeks.

Instead, COVID-19 numbers continued to rise during those weeks, and on April 7 Premier Doug Ford announced a stay-at-home order to try and slow the spread of the virus. MacLeod’s opinions on the OHL took a 180-degree turn.

“At the moment, given the current health circumstances, it would be irresponsible for us to green light play,” the minister said last Friday. “We’re starting to see outbreaks in other leagues, even within the NHL, so we just need to be very mindful of these young athletes and their long-term health.”

***

Was MacLeod’s optimism premature? Unwarranted? Regardless, not only did it dash the hopes – once again – of OHL players across the province, but the in-limbo nature of an OHL season has also affected the decisions many players have had to make during the league’s shutdown.

Knights defenseman Logan Mailloux, for instance, decided to travel to Sweden last November to get some game action in with a pro team. He planned to stay for a month and return for the OHL season. He ended up staying for three. And he benefited – both from the experience and the exposure to scouts.

Rolofs was close to traveling overseas as well – a couple of times. But the first time, just as he was prepped to head to Finland, the league was suspended for COVID reasons. The second time? He didn’t go because news trickled out that an OHL season was on the horizon.

“Right before, there was a leak that the OHL was going to start the beginning of April, so I decided to stay here,” said Rolofs, who has been back in London since the beginning of March. “It’s definitely really disappointing that things have gone this way, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”

What he has done is improve himself as a player – over the last 12 months – despite the lack of game action. While in Ottawa, he trained off-ice with Tony Greco, who has worked with NHLers Claude Giroux, Ben Hutton and others, as well as numerous OHL players. On-ice, Rolofs has focused on all aspects of his game.

“Most of the offseason was a lot of small area stuff, because we were limited to 10 guys on the ice. But when the restrictions loosened a bit in Ottawa, we were able to do scrimmages,” he said. “That was really good because a lot of the NHL guys were back in town because they were starting back up. So, I was able to scrimmage with a lot of NHL guys, which is good.”

Will Rolofs get drafted in July? It’s hard to say, given that he hasn’t had the opportunity this year to show scouts what he’s capable of. He turned 18 on March 28. He’s on various draft lists (though he doesn’t pay attention to them), and scouts like his size, shot and speed (he beat teammate Foudy as fastest skater in last season’s skills competition).

Will the OHL return at all this year? The other leagues have continued with modified schedules, but the Memorial Cup has been canceled for the second straight year.

“It’s in the hands of the government. I mean, I’m hopeful we can get something going, but it’s gotta be soon, right?” Rolofs said. “We’re running out of time.”