CHL teams begin season minus top stars with NHL training camps ongoing
Mississauga Steelheads head coach James Richmond didn’t plan to have NHL prospect Owen Tippett in his lineup, at least not so soon.
Like the majority of Canadian Hockey League coaches, Richmond prepared to open the 2018-19 season without his best players because NHL training camps overlap with the start of the junior campaign.
While Tippett has been returned, more than a month earlier than the previous season, Richmond still waits on the status of forward Ryan McLeod, who made it through the latest round of cuts at Edmonton Oilers camp.
“There’s not a lot of communication between junior clubs and NHL clubs, rightfully so. They don’t want too many people knowing what they’re doing,” said Richmond. “You have to plan with what you have.