Ottawa 67s goalie Ryder Fetterolf is ranked No. 11 among draft-eligible netminders despite being just 5-foot-11.5. The CHL rookie of the year, whose 2.07 GAA and .923 save percentage included six shutouts, is drawing a clear message from his own season: he’s r
Ottawa 67s goalie Ryder Fetterolf has heard it before—so often it has started to sound like background noise.
Central Scouting’s final draft rankings list him as one of the top 20 goaltenders. but not with a 6 as the first number in his height. Fetterolf checked in at five-foot-11.5. with a sense that he “might still be growing.” To the people who treat size like destiny. he didn’t offer a debate. He offered examples.
“Some people think that height is everything,” the Pittsburgh product said this week. “But growing up, I’ve always kind of been doubted for that. I really think if you have the right tools in your game, it’s something you can definitely overcome.”
Fetterolf pointed to established NHL goalies—Dustin Wolf and Juuse Saros. plus Casey DeSmith—who has put up consistent numbers despite being six foot. He also referenced a more immediate connection to the draft conversation: Jack Ivankovic. who played in the OHL last year. and was selected by the Nashville Predators in the second round.
“There definitely some things smaller goalies can do better than a big six-five goalie,” Fetterolf said. “Obviously, it takes a lot of work and attention to detail, but I don’t really take it too personally. All I can do is keep competing.”
That “keep competing” tone has landed him in a position that’s hard to ignore. Even with Central Scouting placing him at No. 11, behind many netminders who posted numbers they would love to claim for themselves, Fetterolf finished the season with production that matched—if not demanded—respect.
He became just the second first-year goalie to be named CHL rookie of the year earlier this week. Fetterolf follows in the footsteps of Martin Biron, who won the award in 1994-95 and went on to play 508 NHL games.
On the ice this season, Fetterolf led the CHL with a 2.07 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. He also set an OHL rookie record with six shutouts for a 67s team that finished third in the Eastern Conference after being pegged to finish near the bottom of the standings.
For comparison, Central Scouting’s top-ranked goalie, Brady Knowling—listed at six-foot-five—posted a 3.74 GAA and .880 save percentage in 28 games for the U.S. National Development Team program.
Whether the rankings are the final word is a question the hockey world will answer over the coming weeks. What’s not in doubt is that Fetterolf’s season forced people to look closely at what a smaller goalie can actually do.
Conway’s scouting story starts before the results, and it carries the kind of surprise that makes records feel personal. Fetterolf wasn’t even on many OHL teams’ radar before his goalie coach at Ohio’s Gilmour Academy. former OHLer Neil Conway. recommended him to the 67s staff last off-season following an NCAA rule change.
“I probably wouldn’t have put money on him winning goalie of the year as a 17-year-old and setting records,” Conway said in a telephone interview this week. “But I was very confident in him because he has always more than passed expectations.”
Conway described how the initial reaction at Gilmour was anything but certain. When Fetterolf arrived at the academy, head coach Mike Chiellino—who has been there a long time—was looking at the “14-year-old for the 16U team.” Conway remembered the conversation vividly.
“I don’t want to say I rolled my eyes at him but I was like ‘I don’t know, man.’ But they brought Ryder in for a visit and they did a skate for him,” Conway said. “And immediately I got off the ice and said ‘Put him on the team. He can do it. This kid’s different.’”
Over the next three years on the U.S. youth-hockey circuit, Fetterolf reinforced that feeling. Conway called him “utterly relentless” and a “gamer.” In Conway’s mind. that approach made the jump to the OHL feel inevitable—especially with how quickly Fetterolf’s expectations were being pushed up and then met.
When the conversation turns back to the draft, the size argument returns, and Conway keeps circling one comparison from his USHL days in Youngstown, Ohio: Jacob Fowler, listed at six-foot-one.
The Montreal Canadiens selected Fowler in the third round of the 2023 draft, 69th overall. Fowler became the sixth goalie taken in that draft. This year. he played his first 17 NHL games—17 more than the combined total of the five goalies selected ahead of him. Fowler also won the Mike Richter Award as the top goalie in NCAA hockey in 2024-25 with Boston College.
“Although he set every record that year (before the draft). won the Clark Cup (USHL championship). a lot of people discounted him for whatever reason. ” Conway said. “Look at him now. Me and Ryder kind of reference that all the time. where Jacob was the sixth goalie drafted. but who even cares anymore. Who cares about going to the highest team, just go to the right team.”.
Fetterolf, for his part, says he’s leaning toward starting at Penn State next season but still keeping the door open to returning to Ottawa. He knows the next level won’t arrive with the same pressure he felt this year, but it won’t be lighter.
“Going into junior hockey, I had to prove a lot more,” Fetterolf said. “I kind of had to make a name for myself. I knew I had one year before my draft year to make that happen. There was a lot of pressure.”
He wasn’t interested in pretending the draft won’t add its own weight.
“The pressure’s not going to drop at all,” Fetterolf said. “If anything. the pressure is going to rise because hopefully I get drafted and a team has their rights to me and there’s going to be a lot of people following me. I think I’m ready for that challenge. I kind of feed off that. I love to prove people right and prove other people wrong.”.
And for anyone still insisting he’s “good, but not that big,” Conway’s response is blunt: keep saying it.
“All I say is keep saying it,” Conway said. “Because if you keep saying it, you’re just going to put fuel on the fire for the kid and he’s going to keep proving you wrong.”
Conway said he understands why big goalies get loved. He just doesn’t accept that fear-based thinking should drive the decision.
“I get why everyone loves a big goalie,” Conway said. “It’s not like I don’t understand that. I do think Ryder is going to play in the NHL for a long time. Yeah, he’s six foot. He’s also not like five-foot-seven. I actually think he’s still growing. His brother is six-three, so I think Ryder is going to top out at six-one, six-two.”.
Conway pointed to what the season already proved.
“I just think that unfortunately human behaviour, everyone has fear-based thinking,” he said. “When you’re drafting a six-foot-four kid versus a six-foot kid. you’re going to (lean) on the side of (the bigger player). Just look at his body of work. What are we talking about?. The kid put up historic numbers as a 17-year-old in the OHL. I think that speaks for itself.”.
Ryder Fetterolf Ottawa 67s NHL Central Scouting CHL rookie of the year OHL shutouts Penn State draft eligible goalie Brady Knowling Jack Ivankovic Neil Conway