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Kitchener Rangers adding goalie Luke Opilka, a St. Louis Blues draft pick

Luke Opilka was taken by the Blues in the fifth round last Saturday (NHL.com)
Luke Opilka was taken by the Blues in the fifth round last Saturday (NHL.com)

It appears the Kitchener Rangers will spell goaltending relief O-p-i-l-k-a.

The OHL franchise has had some successful with St. Louis natives who came north by way of the U.S. national team development program in the form of centre Ryan MacInnis, who was an Arizona Coyotes second-round choice in 2014 and led the Rangers in points last season. Now 18-year-old goalie Luke Opilka, whom the St. Louis Blues chose in the fifth round, No. 146 overall in the NHL draft last Saturday, has decommitted from the Big Ten's Wisconsin Badgers and will apparently sign on with Kitchener.

From Andy Johnson (@AndyJohnsonB5Q):

The Rangers used six goals across the past two seasons since fellow NTDP grad John Gibson moved on to the NHL's Anaheim Ducks. Adding Opilka, while understanding there will be some learning curve, certainly offers the chance to stabilize that position under new head coach Mike Van Ryn.

It's fair to see this against the backdrop of the gradual aging of college hockey, where it seems like the trend has gone against having 18-year-old freshmen, which Opilka was poised to be for the Badgers. In 2012-13, Philadelphia Flyers second-rounder Anthony Stolarz left Nebraska-Omaha at Christmastime to join the OHL's London Knights, for instance.

However, a lot of established NHL goalies did play in the NCAA at 18, including  Jimmy Howard (21 games with Maine in 2002-03), Brian Elliott (six games with Wisconsin in '03-04), Cory Schneider (18 with Boston College in '04-05). But that's going back more than a decade, in terms of that stage of that career. The Rangers do have a lot of starts available, so there is that.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.