NEWS

April 22, 2022, Mississauga, ON – ….   The Ontario Junior Hockey League has named George Fegaras of the North York Rangers the OJHL’s InStat Top Prospect for the 2021-22 season, the league announced today. The award recipient is selected annually by NHL Central Scouting.

The 17-year-old was also voted to the OJHL’s 1st All-Star Team, the league announced last week.

Fegaras drew the attention of Central Scouting at the very beginning of the 2021-22 OJHL season, his first at the junior level.

Multiple scouts from the league provided positive reports on the rookie defencemen even before reps from all 32 NHL teams got a look at him during the OJHL Governors’ Showcase in Cobourg last fall.

Fegaras was one of four OJHLers named to NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary watch list for the 2022 draft in October. He remained listed through the NHL’s mid-season rankings.

Joey Tenute of NHL Central Scouting shared this report card on Fegaras with the OJHL this week: “George has displayed a complete game from start to finish this season. He is a very good athlete that has shown a strong dedication to the game and has improved throughout the course of the year. His strong two-way play as a defender allows him to be a difference maker when he is on the ice. He is an excellent skater, strong puck handler and precision passer. He has a good mind for the game and has been a backbone for his team all season.”

The Rangers see what Central Scouting sees.

“George has been unbelievable for us,” said North York Head Coach Geoff Schomogyi. “He’s been great all year. He’s continued to grow and get better as a player. George is one of those kids who is constantly seeking feedback on how he can better his game and better himself. 

“He’s been a rock back there for us. I’m so impressed with how he has been able to skate pucks out of our zone and create offence from our back end.”

Fegaras committed to NCAA DI Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in late October.

Fegaras played in 52 of North York’s 54 regular season games, scoring 13 goals and assisting on 35. His 48 points were third highest of all defencemen – in a pack of 20- and 21-year-olds – in the 21-team league and second most of all Ranger players. Three of his goals were game-winners.

Fegaras committed to the OJHL’s Rangers from his hometown Richmond Hill Coyotes AAA program ahead of the COVID-cancelled 2020-21 OJHL season. He was a fourth-round pick of the Kitchener Rangers in the 2020 Ontario Hockey League U16 draft.

With his Rangers eliminated from the OJHL playoffs this week, Fegaras’ focus will be on off-ice training, skating sessions three times a week and preparing to attend the NHL Draft, July 7 and 8 in Montreal. That includes speaking with many of the league’s 32 teams. 

“Zoom calls, phone calls like this one, filling out questionnaires…, “ he said in an interview with Jim Mason of the OJHL, “Teams just trying to get to know me even better. The cards will all unfold as we get closer to the draft.”

And there are Grade 12 classes to complete at St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School in Richmond Hill. 

Fegaras and the other OJHL award recipients will be honoured during a ceremony before Game 1 of the OJHL Nutrafarms Championship Series in early May. The OJHL is announcing its 2021-22 award winners throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs.

About the OJHL – “League of Choice”

The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 22 member clubs. A proud member of the CJHL and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including U SPORTS, the NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had more than 125 commitments in 2019-20– including more than 45 NCAA Division I scholarships.

Photos: OJHL Images