Ottawa's Newest Sen Comes From the Most Unlikely Place
The Ottawa Senators wrapped up this year's NHL Draft with a pick that turned heads across the hockey world — selecting Jaxon Cover, a teenager from the Cayman Islands who only picked up ice hockey at the age of 13.
For a sport that's practically a Canadian religion, Cover's backstory is anything but conventional. Growing up in the Cayman Islands — a small British territory in the Caribbean with no natural ice and no hockey culture to speak of — Cover came to the game late by any measure. Most NHL prospects have been skating since they could walk, logging thousands of hours on frozen ponds and minor hockey rinks from the time they were toddlers.
Cover had none of that. He found his way to the sport as a young teenager and took to it fast enough to eventually attract the attention of NHL scouts — no small feat for someone starting from scratch at an age when many of his future peers were already deep into elite development pipelines.
A Last Pick With a Big Story
The Senators selected Cover as their final pick of the draft, a spot traditionally reserved for long-shot developmental prospects. But in Cover's case, the pick carries a significance beyond just hockey potential — he is believed to be the first player from the Cayman Islands ever selected in an NHL Draft.
That kind of milestone matters. The NHL has been pushing hard to grow the game globally, and Cover's selection is exactly the kind of story that resonates beyond the rink. A kid from a sun-soaked island with no hockey infrastructure whatsoever finding his way to a professional draft is the sort of narrative the league loves — and Ottawa gets to be part of it.
What This Means for the Sens
For the Senators, Cover is a project — a raw talent with a fascinating origin story and, clearly, some natural athletic ability that caught Ottawa's scouting staff's eye. Last picks in the draft rarely make the big club, but they're not meant to. They're investments in potential, players the organization can develop at their own pace.
Ottawa has been steadily rebuilding its prospect pool over the past few years, and adding a player with Cover's unique background adds a different kind of dimension to the organization. Even if he never plays a game in the NHL, his journey has already made hockey history.
The Bigger Picture
Cover's story is a reminder that hockey is slowly but surely finding its way into places nobody expected. The sport has been growing in non-traditional markets across the U.S. Sun Belt for years, and now the Caribbean has contributed its own chapter.
For Ottawa fans, it's a feel-good footnote to draft weekend — a last pick who might just be the most interesting story to come out of the entire event. Keep an eye on the name Jaxon Cover. Whether or not he ever wears a Senators jersey on game night, he's already carved out a place in the record books.
Source: CBC Ottawa
