London Knights Acquire Niagara's 4th Overall Pick Who Refused to Report to Camp

Anyone who follows Canadian junior hockey knows that the London Knights are the New York Yankees of the CHL. They flex their giant purse and prestige to swallow up all the high-end talent they possibly can.

The Knights were suspected only a few years back of paying players under the table as a recruitment ploy, and it is suspected that they lured Matthew Tkachuk from Notre Dame of the NCAA. Tkachuk is not the only player suspected of being solicited in this manner.

We reported the other day that Niagara IceDogs' D Sam Dickinson refused to report to training camp, presumably due to the state of the organization and the fact that he did have another enticing option. On top of being drafted by Niagara, Dickinson was also selected 16th overall by the Chicago Steel of the USHL, which is a powerhouse program responsible for NHLers such as Jaccob Slavin, Owen Power, and Jamie Oleksiak. Given his leverage, he basically told the IceDogs to trade him or he was not showing up. Enter the London Knights:

Niagara nets a 5th overall pick in 2023 plus three 2nd rounders, three 3rd rounders, and a 5th round pick. Solid haul, all things considered.

London finished 3rd in the OHL's western conference in '21-22, and they just added a stud left-shot defenseman, who will have a strong impact right away. Dickinson scored 39 points in 46 games for the Toronto Marlboros of the GTHL U16. The option does still exist for Dickinson to play in the USHL over the London Knights, but the betting odds favor him reporting to his OHL team.

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