The ice was rutted, and the third-period clock ran down inside the Meridian Centre in March 2015, the final day and final game of the regular season. Connor McDavid sat in the press box in street clothes, sidelined with an illness. Dylan Strome entered the game trailing London Knights forward Mitch Marner by four points for the Ontario Hockey League scoring title.
Strome gathered the puck on the left half-wall during an Erie power play. He pinned the puck against the boards with his skate, shielded it with his six-foot-two frame, and waited for the Niagara penalty box to open.
With a backhand pass through the seam, he found Alex DeBrincat alone at the backdoor. By the final horn of an 8–7 Erie victory, Strome had recorded four goals and two assists. The six-point night pushed him to 129 points, earning him the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as OHL scoring champion and the Otters single-season franchise scoring record.
“The best I’ve ever played, the best game of my life,” Strome said.
Lorne Park and the Marlboro Baseline
Strome learned his trade in the Greater Toronto Hockey League with the Toronto Marlboros. Raised in the Lorne Park neighbourhood of Mississauga, he spent seven seasons inside the Marlboros system. His teams secured six consecutive league crowns and multiple provincial titles under former NHL forward Ken Strong.
Scouts monitored Strome early after watching his older brother, Ryan, who was an an OHL all-star with the Niagara IceDogs before the New York Islanders selected him fifth overall in the 2011 NHL draft. The family lineage in the league extended further when his younger brother, Matthew, went eighth overall in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection to the Hamilton Bulldogs, eventually winning an OHL championship there in 2018.
In his 2012–13 minor midget campaign, Dylan Strome wore the captain’s “C” and registered 143 points in 60 games. He claimed the Buck Houle Award as GTHL Player of the Year. At the OHL Cup that spring, he scored nine points in seven games, driving the Marlboros to the championship final.
“Dylan plays much bigger than his elder (brother)and owns the best vision and hockey sense of any forward in this draft class,” scout Brendan Ross wrote ahead of the 2013 OHL draft.
Acquisition and Depth Role in Erie
On April 6, 2013, the Erie Otters selected Strome second overall in the OHL Priority Selection. The Ottawa 67’s had taken Travis Konecny with the first pick. General Manager Sherry Bassin targeted Strome to establish center depth behind McDavid, whom the club had drafted first overall one year prior.
“Strome is the type of kid that possess’ high character, and leadership qualities,” Bassin said on draft day.
Strome selected sweater number 19 in honour of San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton. Like Thornton, Strome preferred to slow down the rush and distribute pucks from the perimeter.
As a 16-year-old rookie, Strome skated on the third line while veteran forwards Connor Brown, Dane Fox, and Andre Burakovsky absorbed top defensive assignments. Strome recorded 39 points in 60 games while adjusting to the physical style of the OHL.
“We had a lot of veterans, with Connor Brown and Dane Fox. And Connor [McDavid], of course,” Strome said. “There wasn’t pressure for me coming in as a first-rounder. Playing beside those guys every game and practising against them every day just made me raise my game.”
Top-Line Deployment During the McDavid Injury
Connor McDavid fractured his wrist on Remembrance Day in 2014 during a fight with Mississauga forward Bryson Cianfrone. The injury and subsequent World Junior duties kept McDavid out of the Erie lineup for 21 games.
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch elevated Strome to first-line center. Flanked by DeBrincat, Strome took on top defensive pairings across the Western Conference. In those 21 games, he scored 18 goals and added 17 assists.
“I think his best asset is finding his teammates,” Knoblauch said. “He’s very composed with the puck.”
Knoblauch ran team operations with low volume and direct instruction. “I coach my players as if we’re in a classroom,” Knoblauch said. “There is no yelling.”
Strome controlled the tempo from the half-wall. “We have similar games,” Strome said when asked about Thornton. “We kind of both slow the game down.”
External commentary questioned whether Strome’s production was a byproduct of McDavid’s presence. “It’s definitely pretty cool,” Strome said in March 2015 about being teammates with McDavid. . “Obviously, he’s an unbelievable player and the best player in the world at our age. … There’s people who are always going to say that I just get points because of him.”
Playoff Checking, Arizona Reassignment, and 2017 Title
Postseason hockey tested Strome’sadaptation to tight defensive structures. In the 2015 OHL final, the Oshawa Generals pinned Strome along the boards and restricted his time with the puck. He managed three points in five games as Erie lost the series in five contests.
The Arizona Coyotes selected Strome third overall at the 2015 NHL draft. “He has that competitive edge and grittiness; he wants to succeed, wants the puck, wants to score and wants to win,” Dan Marr, director of NHL Central Scouting, said. “He’s a skilled, driven player, a strong skater with the agility and reach that scouts love.”
Strome returned to Erie for the 2015–16 campaign as captain, recorded 111 points, and earned regular penalty-killing duties. After seven NHL games with Arizona in the fall of 2016, the Coyotes reassigned him to Erie on November 20. He rejoined an Otters roster constructed for a championship run.
Strome recorded 34 points in 22 playoff games in the spring of 2017, matching his younger brother Matthew’s later feat by capturing an OHL championship ring as Erie defeated Mississauga in five games. At the 2017 Memorial Cup in Windsor, he set a single-game tournament scoring record with seven points against Saint John. Erie lost the final 4–3 to Windsor, but Strome captured the tournament MVP award.
His 354 career regular-season points and 240 assists remain the benchmarks in Erie Otters franchise history.
Photos: Aaron Bell/OHL Images
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