Every year, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) which is the governing body of the three major junior leagues in Canada (the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)) awards the title of CHL Scholastic Player of the Year to the player who best combines on-ice success and success in school. This year’s winner is a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect; Noah Chadwick.
CHL Scholastic Player of the Year Award Previous Winners
The CHL Scholastic Player of the Year Award has been awarded in the CHL since the 1987-88 season. While it’s not a guarantee of success in the NHL, more than a few big names have won it over the years. Scott Niedermayer won it in 1990-91 as a member of the Kamloops Blazers from the WHL before being picked third overall in the 1991 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils. He went on to win three Stanley Cups with the Devils and one with the Anaheim Ducks. Since then, he has also been named one of the 100 greatest players to have played in the NHL.
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In 2002-03, Dustin Brown from the OHL’s Guelph Storm received the award before being picked 13th overall at the 2003 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. Brown played 1,296 games in the NHL across 18 seasons, all with the Kings. He wore the “C” for the California franchise and led it to its first Stanley Cup in the 2012 Playoffs. The Kings would fail to repeat in 2012-13 but they captured the Cup once again in 2014. Even though Brown was stripped of his captaincy in 2016, he never stopped giving his all to the team and on Feb. 11, 2023, the Kings retired his No. 23 and unveiled his statue alongside those of Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille.
Another Blazer grabbed the title in 2003-04 when Devan Dubnyk was named the winner. He was then picked 14th overall by the Edmonton Oilers at the following draft. He spent five years playing behind the Oilers’ less-than-ideal defense before bouncing on two teams and landing in Minnesota. There, he became the Minnesota Wild’s number-one netminder playing at least 60 games in four of his five seasons in the hockey state.
In 2010-11, Dougie Hamilton of the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs received the distinction. Weeks later he was drafted 9th overall by the Boston Bruins. Hamilton has been a frequent flyer in the NHL spending three seasons with his first three teams before signing a long-term contract with the New Jersey Devils. With the exciting young core the Devils have been putting together, he may soon be battling for serious hardware.
Then, in 2012-13 it was the Prince Albert Raiders’ Josh Morrissey’s turn to be given the award. He went on to be picked 13th overall by the Winnipeg Jets at the following draft and is now a fixture on their blue line and their top defenseman. In the last two seasons, he produced 76 and 69 points which is more than some teams’ top forward.
The following two seasons, generational talent Connor McDavid received the distinction before being drafted first-overall by the Oilers at the 2015 Draft, weeks after winning the award for the second time in his career. He immediately made the jump to the big league, playing his rookie season with Edmonton in 2015-16. Since then, he hasn’t stopped putting up points and impressing fans all over the league. He’s currently playing in his second Western Conference Final with the Oilers who had made it this far in 2021-22, only to be swept by the Colorado Avalanche.
This Year’s Winner
Drafted 185th overall by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Draft, Chadwick, a left-shot defenseman, had an offensive explosion this season gathering 56 points in 66 games. Before this last season, he had finished his only other full season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes with 20 points in 67 games.
Chadwick had also won the WHL’s Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy given to the player who’s excelled both on the ice and in the classroom. Speaking about Chadwick at the Maple Leafs’ development camp last summer, assistant general manager Hayley Wickenheiser said:
“He’s a very smart person. I think he had a 93 percent average and has done really well his his academics, their top academic player in Lethbridge that they’ve seen for a long time.”
Impressed by the young man, Toronto signed him to a three-year entry-level contract last December and made him play his first professional hockey game with the Toronto Marlies this spring. Talking about the award, Chadwick explained:
“[Education] is a priority for me and my family. I think it’s important to be doing both and to be able to set myself up for that life after hockey.”
While it’s too early to say if Chadwick’s play will translate well at the professional level, he sure looks like he has a good head on his shoulders, the kind of players coaches love to teach because they are like human sponges swallowing every drop of knowledge you pour on them. Furthermore, his 6-foot-4, 201-pound frame should be of great help in professional hockey. The best might just be to come for the young man.
