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Henry Mews is a self-proclaimed “hockey nerd.”
In between games with the Ottawa 67’s, he’s always watching hockey — the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the world juniors, the world championships, whatever’s on TV. He’s also always rewatching his own games, even in the summer, looking for things to improve on.
In the offseason, he’s working with Ottawa trainer Tony Greco alongside other local pro players, including Claude Giroux, brothers Brandt and Graeme Clarke, and Ben Hutton, repeating his movements until he’s perfected them.
GO DEEPER
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And on the ice over the past two seasons, sporting the iconic 67’s barber pole jersey, he’s strived to be the smartest player out there. It’s something he wanted NHL teams to know at the NHL Scouting Combine earlier this month, and it’s something Mews and those who work closely with him say is evident in his game and passion for the sport.
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“It’s stuff you can’t teach. You either have it or you don’t kind of thing. And I think growing up, I’ve always kind of been one of the smartest players,” the 18-year-old defenseman said of himself.
“I think I just see things that others can’t see. I think I have eyes around the back of my head. I’ll be looking one way and get the puck the other way. And I think I’m really deceptive in that way. I’ll draw three players to me and create open ice for my teammates and give them a really good quality scoring chance. … I love making plays and just using that (to make) my teammates around me better.”
A top prospect for the 2024 NHL Draft following what he describes as an “up-and-down season,” Mews hopes that passion will earn him a contract this summer. Mews was chosen in the third round, 74th, by the Calgary Flames.
Mews grew up wanting to play for the hometown 67’s. Born and raised in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa, he and his three younger brothers — twins Charlie and Max, 16, and Oscar, 12 — spent hours skating and shooting pucks on the backyard rink their dad Harry built. They’d be out every night until the ice melted to slush in April, and Mews would never let his brothers win, he recalls. The backyard rink is where he discovered he shoots right, where he strengthened his competitive spirit and where his love for hockey flourished.
“That’s where I fell in love with the game, and I think I credit my dad for making me fall in love with the game that way,” Mews said.
He idolized Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson as a young player and wanted to be a defenseman, too. Having started out on D as a young player, he remembers his team being down 3-0 in the final game of a tournament in his novice year and his dad, his coach at the time, moving him up at forward for the third period. He then scored a hat trick, tying the game and ultimately winning it in overtime.
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“After that, we made the decision to stay forward for the rest of my minor hockey career in Ottawa before moving to Toronto for the GTHL minor midget season for the OHL draft year,” Mews said. “But I’ve always wanted to be a D, so the move to forward was kind of just developing my offensive skills and my hands.”
Mews returned to the blue line ahead of that final season with the GTHL’s Toronto Jr. Canadiens. Learning the other position — what forwards like to do and what they don’t like to do — only helped his versatility as he went on to be drafted by Ottawa with the No. 7 pick in the 2022 OHL draft following a 78-point minor midget output.
“The plan was always to be a defenseman to this day,” Mews reiterated.
Mews nearly doubled his 31-point rookie season with 61 points in 65 games as a sophomore in the OHL this past season, placing him third in team scoring and sixth among defensemen league-wide. He added another five points in 10 playoff games as the 67’s were swept in the second round by the East Division rival Oshawa Generals.
What’s impressed 67’s assistant general manager and director of scouting Jan Egert most is Mews’ passion, desire to make a difference, creative mentality and ability to see and do things that other players don’t. Mews has a comfort level, Egert says, that allows him to manipulate the ice, create plays and make his teammates better, giving them more and better opportunities, especially in the offensive zone. He positively impacts the game — not just for himself, but for his teammates.
There’s a moment this past season that encapsulates that passion:
It’s late January and the 67’s and Generals are tied 2-2 in overtime. Just under two minutes in, 67’s captain Luca Pinelli cycles the puck for Braeden Kressler, who gets a quick shot on Oshawa goaltender Jacob Oster. Oster makes the save and Mews quickly smacks the rebound in, then lies on his back, smiling, looking up at the rafters at Tribute Communities Centre. After a few seconds, Pinelli skates over and helps Mews up so they can celebrate their win with the rest of their teammates.
HENRY. MEWS. CLUTCH. 😤
The @Ottawa67sHockey star cleans up the mess in front of the net in the extra frame to collect their third consecutive overtime victory against the Generals 📽️#NHLDraft | @67sComms pic.twitter.com/CAve1o878l
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) January 29, 2024
Sure, it may have been three-on-three hockey, but that moment of joy, of Mews taking it all in, paints a perfect picture of the passion and work ethic that’s made the Ottawa defenseman stand out en route to this year’s draft.
“That’s just Henry being Henry,” Egert said. “It’s Henry in a nutshell, where there’s so much passion and desire and love for the game of hockey and the beauty of the game and the competition with his teammates and everything that comes with it.”
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Egert describes Mews’ game as “offensively creative,” wherein he thrives with the puck and has the skill set and hockey IQ that allows him to be the difference maker — just like he was in that memorable overtime win in Oshawa.
“His creativity, his mentality, his sense to want to impact the game in a positive way — that’s what makes Henry, Henry for me,” Egert said.
Greco has trained Mews for five seasons now and speaks highly of Mews’ competitive edge and ability to keep up with the pros. When NHL scouts have come calling to ask about his habits, Greco has called his work ethic “impeccable.”
“I’ve been with him on the ice myself. He’s playing with pros, so he’s able to keep up. Like, I know it’s only summer hockey, but these pros compete and obviously it’s a little bit quicker,” Greco said. “He just wants to perfect everything and be the best at his game and wants to show you that he can. That’s the kind of guy he is. He comes in, he’s very focused. (He) looks at the workout and analyzes it.”
Greco compares Mews’ competitiveness as a young D with room still to mature to that of fellow defenseman Brandt Clarke, also a close friend of Mews’. And Clarke himself can attest to that level of competitiveness and determination.
“He just wants to keep up with us, no matter who he’s out there with. He wants to be one of the better players out there. He wants to show himself,” said Clarke, the No. 8 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft to the Los Angeles Kings. “He’s 18 now, but I saw him as a 12-year-old, 13-year-old. It’s tough for kids at those ages to have those traits. And he’s translated them well. He’s never changed his mentality. So yeah, it’s really impressive. And that’s kind of led him to where he is now. I’m really happy to see all the success he’s getting.”
But despite all the praise and his nearly point-per-game numbers, Mews was disappointed in his season.
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“You look at my numbers or whatever and people are like, ‘Yeah, that’s a pretty good year if you ask me.’ But for me, I have high expectations for myself and I thought I could’ve definitely done better this year in terms of my overall complete game, my defensive game and even my offensive game,” Mews said. “I thought my numbers could have been better. I thought I could have had a better year. I knew I had more in me, and I know I have more in me. I know I’m better than what I showed this year.”
That creativity he’s known for, Mews says, can sometimes be a detriment when the play should’ve been simpler.
“I do agree there (are) some times where I should be more simple and sometimes I’m too creative,” Mews said. “I’m trying to make too many plays, which causes mistakes like turnovers and stuff. And that’s something I work on, toning my game down a bit like that.”
“Sometimes when you have a player that has a really creative mindset, it’s easy to judge the aftermath. When you see a play come to fruition from mentality and design and execution and you see the end result, if that end result isn’t beneficial sometimes, it’s easy to judge it,” Egert said. “But you have to allow players like that (with) the creative mindset and the capacity to be able to make those plays as well, because that’s what makes them special.”
The good news is it’s something he can work on, something he can easily turn into a strength — a goal of his over what will likely be two more years in the OHL.
“This is my third year here on D, this past year in my NHL Draft year,” said Mews. “So not a lot of experience in the position. But you know, I’m still learning and excited to continue learning and growing.”
The offseason heading into the NHL Draft has been a busy one. After his season with Ottawa, Mews headed to the U18 worlds in Finland, where he won gold with Team Canada (he won gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer as well). He’s spent a lot of hours in the gym with Greco ever since, in a competitive group with players like Giroux, Clarke and Jack Quinn. He also skates with Shelley Kettles and has spent a lot of time on track and sprint work to improve his skating. And he recently attended the combine, where he spoke with 20 teams and had “a lot of good interviews, teams that liked me.”
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Mews often FaceTimes Pinelli, who was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth round last year. The two are close friends and connected on a lot of goals last season, and Mews has picked his brain on what to expect in terms of the interviews and processes that come with being a top prospect.
He’s also been able to learn a lot from Clarke — both in terms of improving his defensive game and preparing for the two-day draft at the Sphere in Vegas.
“Good people, you want to see them do well. And he’s just a good person with a great attitude,” Clarke said. “He deserves all the things he’s getting, deserves all the praise he’s getting. I’m really happy for him and he’s going to make a team pretty lucky in a week or so.
But Mews, ranked No. 42 by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman in his list of the top 129 prospects and No. 26 by Scott Wheeler in his final top 100 ranking, is mostly focused on what comes afterward: signing that pro contract.
“You work so hard to get here, right? But it’s even harder, the work after the draft,” he said.
While he says he isn’t too goal-oriented, his sights are also set on making Canada’s world junior team next year. When he eventually does turn pro, matures physically — Greco said he most recently clocked in at 6-foot-1 and 188 pounds — and continues to round into a more complete defenseman, he hopes to have an impact similar to that of NHL defenders Kris Letang and Adam Fox.
Egert thinks his passion will get him there. It’s what an NHL team is going to love about him.
“He loves hockey. He loves being at the rink. He loves being with his teammates, being with his friends, doing what he loves to do. He loves hockey and everything that comes with it,” he said.
But even a hockey nerd needs to prioritize life outside of hockey, which is something Mews has also made a point of doing — whether he’s wakeboarding at the family cottage in Smiths Falls, mixing music on SoundCloud or golfing with the Clarkes. Looking ahead to his 19-year-old season, in between signing with an NHL club and making Team Canada this winter, one of Mews’ biggest intentions is to just have fun.
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“I think you’ve gotta have fun playing hockey, it’s the game you love. And sometimes this year I took it too serious, I think,” he said. “Basically, just have more fun on the ice and if you’re doing everything right, you’re doing the little habits right, and I think the best outcome will come.”
(Top photo: Chris Tanouye / Getty Images)
