Life has provided us with more than a few twists in 2020.
And those twists haven’t been particularly positive.
But a twist that the London Knights tried to take advantage of back in April has turned out in a big way.
Defenceman Isaiah George has committed to the Knights after signing a standard player agreement with the team on September 2.
George is a highly skilled player who spent last season with the vaunted Toronto Marlboros organization where he contributed at both ends of the ice.
After watching him play a number of times, London associate general manager Rob Simpson admitted that the Knights “had him rated very high.”
They weren’t the only ones.
As the 2020 OHL Priority Selection played out pick after pick was made as the draft rolled into the fourth round.
George was still available. More than a few scouts believed he could have gone as high as the first or the second round but every draft has its unexpected moments.
As London prepared to make the 68th overall selection they watched as both Hamilton and Kitchener took defenceman ahead of them but neither one called the name Isaiah George.
That gave the Knights a chance to state it loud and clear and scoop up a player who has the ability to make a major impact in major junior.
“He is a puck-moving defenceman,” says Simpson. “He breaks the puck out of his own zone very well. He has great gap-control and can really skate and has skill.”
George helped his Marlboros team to a GTHL Bantam Championship and received all kinds of accolades from hockeyprospect.com as, “A great two-way defenceman with tons of offensive upside and a great skating stride.”
prospectpipeline.com liked George for his ability to be an “intimidating presence” defensively and also add offence.
George becomes the sixth player from the 2020 OHL Priority Selection to sign in London. He joins Ben Bujold, Colton Smith, Jackson Edward, Landon Sim and Brody Crane.
The plan right now for the London Knights and the rest of the OHL is to hold training camps in November with a goal of beginning a 64-game regular season on December 4.
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