OHL team responds to reports that they kicked 1st round NHL draft pick off their team

In case you missed the news yeterday, it appears that San Jose Sharks top prospect Ryan Merkley has been kicked off his junior team, the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

The team officially announced its training camp roster yesterday and Merkley’s name was conspicuously absent.

This news comes hot on the heels of reports that the Petes have been aggressively trying to trade the controversial blue liner.

For those unaware of Merkley’s reputation, well… there’s a reason he slipped to 21st in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft despite having arguably the best skill set of his entire peer group. The 19 year old defenseman has been plagued by character questions throughout his entire major junior career and former teammates have even come out to criticize Merkley. He’s been labelled as “uncoachable” and there are major concerns that the talented offensive defenseman will never learn to round out his game.

He was traded to the Petes from the Guelph Storm last season after the Storm’s coaching staff had more or less given up on trying to discipline him. 

There were NHL teams who reportedly had Merkley on a “Do Not Draft” list, meaning that they wouldn’t select the youngster regardless of when he was available.

In response to the allegations that they had essentially kicked Merkley off the team, the Petes published a tweet stating that Merkley was not included on their official training camp roster because he’ll be attending camp with the San Jose Sharks. But… that theory doesn’t quite hold up as Merkley is literally the only NHL drafted prospect in the OHL not listed on his junior team’s roster. 

The Petes’ tweet has since been deleted, furthering speculation as to what’s really happening behind the scenes. Stay tuned.