frontenacs captain vann williamson's departure for ncaa leaves unexpected void on kingston blueline
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kingston frontenacs defenceman vann williamson inside slush puppie place.
jan murphy
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the whig-standard
kingston frontenacs gm kory cooper admitted he was “caught off guard” by captain vann williamson’s decision to pass up an opportunity to return as an overage player next season and instead accept a scholarship to clarkson university.
“i got a call from vann last week letting me know,” cooper said monday. “we had a plan that vann would be back as our captain. it was a little surprising. as much as it hurts, we understand.”
after the ottawa 67’s eliminated the frontenacs from the ontario hockey league playoffs six weeks ago, williamson was matter of fact about his intention to return to the kingston for training camp in august and wear the c for his overage year.
“the ncaa is something i’m looking down the line,” williamson said when he came out of his exit interviews with cooper and coach troy mann on march 14. “i’m hoping to go to school after next year and i’ve talked with a couple of (u.s. college teams). once i ‘age out’ it’s a decision that i’ll have to make because i’ll have run out of time for junior hockey.”
when williamson talked about the frontenacs’ 2026-27 season, he was using the first-person plural. “we’re going to be an exciting team,” he said.
when he spoke about the three 16-year-olds who made big impressions as rookies (centre aleks kulemin, defenceman matthew henderson and right-winger nolan snyder), he would have waved pom-poms if his arm wasn’t held in place by a sling, an unfortunate byproduct of a tumble into the boards late in the 3-2 loss to ottawa in game 4. “we had the best 16-year-olds in the league,” williamson said. “it’s going to be great to see what they do next.”
the sophomore seasons of kulemin, henderson and snyder will still make for intriguing viewing next fall, but williamson won’t be watching it from a vantage point on the kingston blueline but rather streaming it online from the dorm on clarkson’s campus in potsdam, new york.
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the loss of williamson is a significant one. the frontenacs’ power play had struggled in the first half of the season, but it became one of the league’s most productive units when the 19-year-old from ajax served as quarterback on the point. and when he was named captain after the trades of jacob battaglia to flint, williamson embraced the leadership role at what might have been a rocky juncture — the frontenacs were seemingly entering straits, yet they made significant strides, knocking off big dogs down the stretch to move up into sixth place in the eastern conference.
going into the off-season, the frontenacs had options and possibilities for their overagers, names that could be pencilled in, but only williamson’s was one that could have been committed to ink: the most needed and the most likely — his seat in the front row of the team photo next fall was all but a metaphysical certainty.
that, however, was then. only later did clarkson extend its invitation — safe to presume the rsvp had an expiry date attached.
while not minimizing his disappointment in williamson’s decision, cooper suggested the frontenacs still have options to fill the three overage slots in the kingston roster for the upcoming season. “we have landon wright, matthew frost and riley clark,” the gm said. “we also have (slovak import centre tomas) pobezal. we have 19-year-olds from last year that we have to look at.”
the four names that cooper cited are all forwards, however. with williamson heading to clarkson and the graduations of overagers will bishop and maleek mcgowan, the frontenacs stand to lose three of their top four defencemen, with only andre mondoux returning.
mondoux, a break-out prospect last season, is committed to notre dame for the fall of ’27, but if the staff in south bend decides the fighting irish need him asap, it would leave kingston with only matthew henderson and lukas moore as returnees on hand.
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cooper is counting on 2025 import-draft pick adam goljer joining his fellow slovaks pobezal and left-winger alex misiac next season, but still his addition would leave three roster spots up for grabs, with dante d’andrea, a fourth-rounder from the 2025 ohl priority selection the likeliest candidate.
there might be defencemen available at the upcoming class of 2010-birthdays, but 16-year-old blueliners in the league faces daunting learning curves and potential physical mismatches if they’re looking at top-four roles or even third-pairing duty.
coming out of his exit interview last month, williamson said he was heading to the dominican republic for a vacation and that the shoulder injury that ended his season in game 4 against ottawa wouldn’t require surgery, keeping out of the gym for only a month. if he had suspected that clarkson might fast-track his enrolment, he didn’t let on.
one observation he made might prove prophetic, however. when prompted about the impact that the ncaa was having on the ohl’s talent pool, he did suggest that more 18- and 19-year-old players would be heading to the u.s. college ranks.
“they say the ohl’s an 18- and 19-year-old league,” williamson said. “i think the way it’s heading, we’ll see bigger roles for 16- and 17-year-olds, more of a younger league.”
if this weren’t dropped as a helpful hint, his last word as the kingston captain will serve as a useful reminder going forward.
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