Yahoo Sports Most Disappointing OHL Team, The Brampton Steelheads. Can They Turn Things Arounds In The New Year?
There's always one or two teams every year that have disappointing seasons and don't live up to expectations. At the halfway point of the OHL season, that team is the Brampton Steelheads.
When an organization acquires two veteran players while giving up 15 draft picks, they signal to the rest of the league that they are aiming to be contenders.
It started with acquiring Seattle Kraken prospect and 50-goal scorer Carson Rehkopf from Kitchener. Then, they traded for fourth-year offensive defenseman Spencer Sova from Erie.
After 32 games, the Steelheads are eighth in the East with 32 points and a record of 14-14-4-0. And head into the holiday break on a seven-game losing streak.
They will also be without their two leading scorers, Porter Martone and Carson Rehkopf, and starting goaltender Jack Ivankovic as they represent Canada at the 2025 World Junior Championship.
Related: Team Canada's World Junior Roster Revealed & Dominated By 14 OHL Players
So, what has kept Brampton from being a contender? There are multiple reasons, which we will explore below.
Rock Bottom Special Teams
It's a story that hockey teams and fans know all too well. You can't expect to consistently win games if you are losing in the special teams battle, and that's been a major issue for the Steelheads this season.
Their penalty kill has been a disaster, to say the least. Any percentage below 70% is extremely poor, and they are working with a 67.7% penalty kill percentage at the holiday break. Somehow they aren't last in the league (Ottawa is with 66.4%). They have allowed at least one powerplay goal in 23 of 32 games this season and two or more powerplay goals in 13 games.
It's hard to win games when you're giving up a powerplay marker almost every game. And their powerplay hasn't been good enough to make up for it. Brampton's powerplay is batting at 18%, 15th in the league. They have a combined special teams percentage of 85.7%. That's dead last in the OHL.
If Brampton wants to climb the standings, their penalty kill has to be a lot better, and maybe getting healthy will help with that.
Injuries
Listen, it's been a very disappointing season for the entire organization, but they've been hit with a plague of injuries. When fully healthy, what can this roster do is a big question, because we just haven't been able to see that this season.
Excluding goaltenders, the Steelheads have had 32 different skaters play for them in at least one game this season, which is the highest number in the OHL. They have used 11 different defensemen alone.
The injuries they've had have been to important players on their roster too. Minnesota Wild defense prospect Stevie Leskovar has played only five games this season and hasn't played since October due to an injury. Brampton is definitely missing his shutdown presence and physicality on the backend, along with NHL draft-eligible defender Luke Dragusica, who has played only two games.
Up on forward, Dallas Stars prospect Angus MacDonell has also been out of the lineup since October. His goal-scoring presence has been deeply missed. The team has had an issue scoring goals outside of Rehkopf, Martone, and Luke Misa, who have accounted for 44% of Brampton's goals this season.
Terry Wilson/OHL Images
Another NHL draft-eligible prospect for the Steelheads has been dealing with injuries this season. Lucas Karmiris is an underrated piece to their lineup. He's great in the faceoff department and is a strong 200-foot playmaking centerman. He was injured in the first week of November and missed a month before recently returning to the lineup.
Related: OHL Trade Candidates: Top 5 Players Who Could Be Moved Before Trade Deadline
Struggling Against The East
Here's an interesting statistic for Brampton. They've been pretty good against the Western Conference this season, going 7-3-1, including three wins against challenging opponents: London, Erie, and Saginaw.
However, on their side of the fence, they have had their struggles against their own conference. They are 7-11-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Additionally, they are 5-5-1 against teams in their division.
The team's current seven-game losing streak is particularly concerning, as six of those losses have been to Eastern Conference teams. Additionally, they have suffered two defeats against division rivals Niagara, who have been one of the season's most surprising teams in the OHL.
Related: Four OHL Teams That Are Shocking the League This Season
Their struggles on defense, on the penalty kill, and in the crease (although unfair since Ivankovic has been away from the team for the last two weeks) have reared their ugly heads in recent weeks for the Steelheads.
They've allowed 41 goals in eight games in December. The holiday break couldn't have come any sooner for Brampton and hopefully, when everyone returns, we'll start to see the team they are truly meant to be.
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