Prospects Report: How 67’s goalie Ryder Fetterolf keeps answering size concerns

Just one of the top 20 goaltenders listed on NHL Central Scouting’s final draft rankings doesn’t have a 6 listed as the first number of his height.

Ryder Fetterolf, who checked in at five-foot-11.5 (but might still be growing), can’t hide the fact that he’s not a giant. However, that doesn’t mean the Ottawa 67’s star is willing to take a back seat to any other goaltender eligible to be taken in the draft later this month.

“Some people think that height is everything. But growing up, I’ve always kind of been doubted for that,” the Pittsburgh product said this week. “I really think if you have the right tools in your game, it’s something you can definitely overcome. You look at guys like Dustin Wolf and Juuse Saros and even someone that’s obviously overlooked like Casey DeSmith putting up consistent numbers every year, he’s six foot. And someone who played in the OHL last year, like (second-round Nashville Predators pick Jack) Ivankovic.

“You have to have the right tools and maybe it’s harder work. But there’s definitely some things smaller goalies can do better than a big six-five goalie. 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.”

On that front, he’s doing as well as any draft-eligible goaltender — even if Central Scouting placed him in the No. 11 spot, behind many netminders who only wish they could have posted similar numbers.

The undrafted OHLer 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 went on to play 508 NHL games after capturing the award in 1994-95.

Fetterolf led the CHL with a 2.07 goals-against average and .923 save percentage, and set an OHL record for a rookie with six shutouts for a 67’s team that was third in the Eastern Conference after being pegged to finish near the bottom of the standings.

For comparison’s sake, Central Scouting’s top-ranked goalie, six-foot-five Brady Knowling, had a 3.74 GAA and .880 save percentage in 28 games for the U.S. National Development Team program this season.

Regardless of what you think of the two different levels of hockey, Fetterolf clearly excelled. He wasn’t even on the radar of many OHL teams before his goalie coach at Ohio’s Gilmour Academy the previous three years, former OHLer Neil Conway, recommended the Penn State commit to 67’s staff last off-season following the 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. But I was very confident in him because he has always more than passed expectations,” Conway said in a telephone interview this week.

“When he came to Gilmour, it was funny. The head coach, Mike Chiellino, who has been there a long time, does a great job, he was like ‘Hey we’re looking at this 14-year-old for the 16U team and my immediate reaction was like ‘Mike what are we talking about? There’s no way this kid’s going to be able to handle it.’

“He was like ‘I think we should give him a chance, I’ve heard a lot of great things.’ 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 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.

Deemed “utterly relentless” and a “gamer” by his goalie coach, Fetterolf seemed ready to make the jump to the OHL in Conway’s mind.

As for Fetterolf’s size potentially hindering him at higher levels, Conway points to another guy he worked with in his USHL days in Youngstown, Ohio — six-foot-one Jacob Fowler.

The Montreal Canadiens made Fowler the sixth goalie taken in the 2023 draft when they selected the American in the third round (69th overall). Fowler played his first 17 NHL games this year, 17 more than the combined total of the five goalies selected ahead of him. He 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.”

Leaning toward starting at Penn State next season but still keeping the door open to returning to Ottawa, Fetterolf knows he has work to do to reach the highest level.

That won’t faze him, though, considering where he stood before this past season.

“Going into junior hockey, I had to prove a lot more. 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 said.

“The pressure’s not going to drop at all. 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 as for those saying Fetterolf is good, but not that big?

“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.

“I get why everyone loves a big goalie. 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.

“I just think that unfortunately human behaviour, everyone has fear-based thinking. 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.”

After being named CHL coach of the year, Everett coach Steve Hamilton was asked if he expects 17-year-old defenceman Landon DuPont to leave for the NCAA next season after leading the Silvertips to the Memorial Cup final.

“I’ve talked to Landon. I know where he stands,” Hamilton said with a grin.

Hamilton considers himself lucky to have spent two years with DuPont.

“He is a special player for obvious reasons. You can see it on the ice, and I’ve talked about it many times, incredibly humble young man and driven. Great teammate. His impact on Everett has been outstanding. He’s got a bright, bright future ahead of him.”

Chicoutimi Sagueneens star and Anaheim Ducks third-round pick Maxim Masse was named CHL player of the year after leading his team to the QMJHL title. He became just the sixth player in history to win both the rookie of the year and player of the year awards during his career, joining Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Alex DeBrincat, Alexis Lafrenière, and Gavin McKenna.

Those five, of course, are far more familiar to general hockey fans — three were first-overall NHL picks and McKenna could be a fourth. DeBrincat went in the second round to Chicago and is a two-time all-star.

Masse, 20, is off to UMass next season. What does he have to do to succeed in the NHL?

“Keep grinding, keep working on my skating,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest part. I think since 16, 17, I’ve made a great step forward. But you’re watching games, you’re watching NHL playoffs last (weekend), it’s fast, you don’t have a lot of time. I’ve got to keep working on it. That’s what I’m going to do.”