From the Caribbean to the OHL, Jaxon Cover’s improbable journey to London Knights leading scorer

CTV’s Brent Lale with a profile of Cayman Islands-born London Knights rookie Jaxon Cover.

Not many would have predicted London Knights rookie Jaxon Cover to be the leading scorer on the defending Memorial Cup Champions.

The 17 year old didn’t even start playing hockey competitively until he was 14, and now he’s a top NHL prospect.

“I grew up playing on roller hockey since I was three years old in the Cayman Islands,” said Cover.

He was a roller hockey phenom, eventually moving to the professional division of the North American Roller Hockey Championships (NARCh).

His parents met at university in Michigan and then moved to the Caribbean.

“When I was 12 years old, I moved to Saint Andrew’s College [in the GTA] and then started playing hockey two years later,” he said. “I’d say the hardest change was the rules. My first ever practice or tryout, I didn’t know what an icing or offside was. That was the biggest difference, but after that I started putting my mind to it and working really hard.”

After recording his first ever three-goal performance this week, he has moved into the scoring lead on the Knights with 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points.

“Dale [Hunter] has been trying to teach me all year that a good defensive game will bring offense,” said Cover.

Currently ranked as the 45th best North American skater for the 2026 NHL Draft by Central Scouting, he has been working on playing all 200 feet on the ice.

A two-way game balancing offence and defence is something NHL scouts’ desire.

“I’ve been preaching defense first because I want him to have the puck more,” said Rick Steadman, Knights assistant coach who works with the forwards.

“If you’re down the D [defensive] zone, you create turnovers down there. You have the puck more and you get to go forward with it more and try to use your offense, which we all see his ability that way. It’s just trying to get him to make sure he gets more ice time,” he explained. When he broke in with the Knights last season, he relied on veteran players like Sam O’Reilly and Jared Woolley to help him get his feet wet and provide a winning mentality.

Then when the Knights made moves at the OHL trade deadline and traded those two players, it was time for him to step up, take the torch and skate with it.

“We’re missing a big scoring aspect and hopefully I can stand up and be that guy,” said Cover.

With four goals in his last two games, he’s showing he has the capability to be that player.