Islanders prospect Maggio named OHL’s top overager
Matthew Maggio of the Windsor Spitfires has been named the recipient of the Ontario Hockey League’s Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as overage player of the year for the 2022-23 season, the league has announced.
The 20-year-old native of Tecumseh, Ontario led the OHL in scoring with 111 points (54 goals, 57 assists), and becomes only the second player in the Spitfires’ franchise history to win the award after Bill Bowler in 1994-95.
“I feel very privileged to win this award,” Maggio said in a release. “Playing in the OHL for the last five years has been the best time of my life and I’ve been lucky enough to play with some incredible players throughout this journey. I want to say thank you to the Ottawa 67’s and Windsor Spitfires, and everything they have done to help develop me into the player I am today. I’d like to thank my family, friends, coaching staff and my faith for helping to guide me along the way. Most of all I want to thank my teammates because without them this would not have been possible.”
Maggio, who only went pointless in nine of his 66 games played this season, joins Brandon Coe of the North Bay Battalion in 2021-22, Austen Keating of the Ottawa 67’s in 2019-20, and Justin Brazeau of the North Bay Battalion in 2018-19 as recent winners.
“Matt has been an elite performer all season,” Spitfires general manager Bill Bowler said. “He has the ability to produce offence at top speed and we got to witness that consistency every time he was on the ice.”
The Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the Top Overage Player of the Year as chosen by OHL General Managers. Each team nominates a player for the award, and they are not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
Maggio was selected by the New York Islanders in the fifth round (No. 142) of the 2022 NHL Draft. He finishes his OHL career with 99 goals, 118 assists, and 217 points over 212 regular-season games between Windsor and Ottawa.
Ottawa 67’s forward and Seattle Kraken prospect Logan Morrison coming in as the runner-up.