John Carlson to London

Nathan Fournier at The NHL Source is reporting that John Carlson will not enroll at UMASS, but will instead head north of the border to play for the London Knights.

EDIT: I have received more confirmation from another source saying this is a done deal. Too bad for the NCAA, as this kid is the real deal.

A few weeks ago I did an interview with John Carlson a top defensive prospect for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He would not comment to me about the London Knights of the OHL. He said he was heading to UMass-Amherst to play college hockey.

A rumor came out on Hfboards today that he was going to London. I can confirm this rumor. I talked to someone today who’s at the NHL Combine and he said he’s been telling NHL teams he’s heading to London.

If you don’t follow junior hockey, this is nothing new. Major Junior teams do this all the time to get high profile players to play for them. The London Knights are no strangers either as they are one of the teams that does this often.

I will have more on this situation later on.