Erie almost had Owen Headrick
Top-seeded Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League came very close to persuading Owen Headrick to leave the Lake Superior State Lakers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association during the 2015-2016 season but the freshman defenseman decided to remain in school, HockeyNewsNorth.com has confirmed.
It was in January of this year that Erie offered Headrick a sizeable financial package to leave Lake Superior State and join the Otters for the second half of the ’15-16 season.
But after talking to his family advisor and his parents, Headrick made the decision on his own to remain at Lake Superior State.
Erie originally selected Headrick from the Soo Thunder minor midgets as somewhat of an afterthought in the 14th round of the 2013 OHL draft. But it didn’t take the Otters long to recognize that they had a steal of a 14th-round pick in the slick, cerebral defender who hails from Garden River First Nation, just outside Sault Ste. Marie.
After being drafted by Erie, Headrick made an immediate impact with the Soo Thunderbirds as a 16-year old and one of the youngest players in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, winning 2013-2014 rookie-of-the-year honours.
In fact, he was so impressive that the hometown Soo Greyhounds — who had bypassed Headrick at the 2013 OHL draft — offered Erie a third-round pick for his rights but were turned down.
Headrick would play a second NOJHL season with the Thunderbirds in 2014-2015 while opting to accept a full-ride scholarship offer from Lake Superior State rather than go the OHL route with Erie.
So smitten was Lake Superior State head coach Damon Whitten with Headrick that he brought him aboard with the Lakers last fall as a 1997 birth-year freshman and the youngest player in the entire 10-team WCHA.
And not only did the 6-foot, 200-pound Headrick earn a roster spot for Lake Superior State as a freshman in 2015-2016, he played a regular shift and was on the top power-play unit while suiting up for 39 of the Lakers 41 games. Headrick finished sixth in scoring on the Lakers with 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points from his blueline position.
In turning down Erie — which finished first overall in the 20-team OHL during the ’15-16 regular season — Headrick may have walked away from the big money that the Otters were offering. But in doing so, he preserved the remaining three years of his scholarship at Lake Superior State.
Ironically, if Headrick would have left Lake Superior State for Erie, he would playing for the Otters against the hometown Greyhounds in the second round of this spring’s OHL playoffs.
Very, very smart decision by this young man. Aside from the obvious scholastic benefit of remaining at University, the quality of hockey development in better at NCAA Div 1, though few will concede that. He’s NHL-bound, and having started at such a young age, with a degree in his back pocket.