London Knights lose second overage defenceman; Brady Austin out with mononucleosis

Since bad things are said to come in threes, the London Knights might wish to quarantine Alex Basso, their last healthy overage defenceman.

The Knights' situation doesn't even count as plight — nothing really matters for the Ontario Hockey League's analog to the Yankees until May 15, when it hosts the Memorial Cup opener — but going out of the Ontario Hockey Leauge playoffs would involve some loss of face. With overage defenceman Zach Bell down with a broken femur, which normally takes eight weeks to heal, the Knights will also head into its second-round showdown against league-leading Guelph without Brady Austin, who has come down with monucleosis. Incidentally, Guelph scored more goals in the regular season than any OHL team of the past 15 seasons. It certainly alters the dynamic for the Western Conference showdown that begins Friday in Guelph.

From Ryan Pyette: No team in junior hockey has the depth to replace two fifth-year defencemen who went a combined plus-80 while playing against the opposition's top forward lines.

The plan right now is to transform versatile Brett Welychka into a blue-liner again and plug rookie star Mitch Marner into his forward spot. The 20-year-old Londoner has been down this road before.

... The Knights find themselves in the same position they were the past two years — trying to win an OHL championship with less than three overagers. GM Mark Hunter looked at acquiring another top defenceman at the trade deadline in January, but was unable to consummate a deal.

"Who thought (then) we would have two defenceman down," he said. "There's no sense bringing in a veteran D-man who's just average. So, then what are you going to do? We have to develop someone and can't run with all 19- and 20-year-olds." (London Free Press) Buffalo Sabres first-rounder Nikita Zadorov is literally a massive insurance policy on the blue line, but it will be interesting to see how the splendid Russian maintains his effectiveness while picking up the slack for his absent teammates. Austin and Bell are also among London's burlier blueliners, who likely would have matched up against Storm wings such as Kerby Rychel and Justin Auger.

It would be a stretch to question London not being braced for such a contingency. The Knights' M.O. is to contend every season. Mark Hunter also treats every draft pick like a heirloom. For all the grumbling about the Knights being a powerhouse, this is where their structure of not selling the farm — a nice luxury to have — might come back to bite it. Ask again in two weeks, though.

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