Kitchener Ranger named OHL’s overage player of the year

Jack Pridham has picked up where he left off last season with the Kitchener Rangers. Here’s what he thinks sets him apart from his teammates.

For the third straight season, a Kitchener Ranger has been named as the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) overage player of the year.

On Tuesday, the league announced forward Jack Pridham was this year’s Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy recipient. The winner of the award is chosen by the League’s general managers.

He follows in the footsteps of Jackson Parsons and Matthew Sop who won the honour in the preceding two years.

“It’s a tremendous honour to win the Overage Player of the Year Award,” said Pridham. “I want to thank my teammates and the coaching staff for everything they’ve done to help me this season. To continue the tradition after Soppy and Parsons is great as well. It’s awesome to keep that award in the organization.”

Throughout the season, Pridham has netted three hat-tricks, 16 power play goals and six shorthanded goals.

“We are very excited and proud of Jack for this award and accomplishment,” said Rangers general manager Mike McKenzie. “He has had a great year and been a big part of our team from start to finish and scored a lot of big goals for us. It is very cool for our organization to have three winners of this award over the last three seasons and is a testament to our coaching staff on developing players and being patient with their development over long stretches of time.”

The Chicago Blackhawks chose Pridham in the third round of the NHL Draft in 2024.