Young and Hungry: Nolan Snyder Is Navigating Life in the OHL as a 16-Year-Old
OHL Kingston Frontenacs

Young and Hungry: Nolan Snyder Is Navigating Life in the OHL as a 16-Year-Old

Published on November 24, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kingston Frontenacs News Release


Kingston, ON - Twenty players were selected in the eighth-round of Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection this past spring.

Exactly two are currently lacing up their skates in the league: Kase Kamzik of the Erie Otters (acquired from the Sarnia Sting on Nov 23rd, 2025) and Nolan Snyder of the Kingston Frontenacs.

In Snyder's case, the eight-rounder out of Pittsburgh has been saying all season long that his intention is to be the best player selected in the eighth round of the draft.

So far: mission accomplished. The five-foot-10, 170-pound forward has been one of the early surprises with the Frontenacs, putting up four goals and eight assists in his first two dozen games in the OHL, easily outpacing Kamzik's output so far, which sits at five points in 19 games, all coming with the Sting.

Despite is early output, Snyder is the first to admit that he's still adjusting to life in the OHL as a 16-year-old. That's right, a 16-year-old...

"It's definitely been a change from last year, just trying to find my game in those first 20 games, but I feel like I've done a pretty good job," Snyder said following action against the Peterborough Petes recently.

If his past successes are any indication, Fronts fans are in for a treat. Last year, Snyder put up a whopping 96 points in 62 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite U15 AAA club, a year after he had 103 points in 63 games for its U14 AAA team.

In the grand scheme of things, at just 16, it really hasn't been that long in time since Snyder picked up a stick for the first time. Just a decade or so.

"I'd say I was four or five," Snyder answered when asked what age he was when he began playing hockey. "My dad played, so he got me my first pair of skates," he said, adding he began learning his craft on the pond as a child.

Just a few short years later, Snyder said, his dad began to realize that his son was something of a natural when it came to playing hockey.

"When I was 9 or 10, when I started playing squirt, I had a better start than some of the other kids and my dad could see that I had a good chance and saw my gifts early in hockey."

It didn't hurt that Snyder grew up in Pittsburgh, arguably the real Hockeytown U.S.A., where the Pittsburgh Penguins have been Stanley Cup champions five times since 1991 and have been home to some of the game's greatest players of all time in the likes of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and others.

Snyder's eyes lit up at the mention of the Pens greats.

"I mean, just going to that rink and seeing them was something to watch. And that definitely helped me fall in love with the game," Snyder said.

The biggest adjustment for Snyder this year, however, hasn't come on the ice, where he's fit in pretty seamlessly among Frontenacs head coach Troy Mann's crew, but rather off the ice, where he has had to adjust to not only playing in a new league, but in a new city in a new country.

But so far, so good on that front, Snyder said.

"It's been going pretty well. The organization and the fans have been really supportive. My billet family has been great and the guys here have been very welcoming. It's been awesome so far."

Pressed, Snyder conceded that life away from home can be difficult sometimes.

"Yeah, at some points," Snyder admitted. "Sometimes during downtime, you just think about going home and seeing your family and old friends. I mean, those are things I think about sometimes, I guess."

But those are just fleeting thoughts for the aspiring National Hockey Leaguer, who is clearly poised to become a star with the Frontenacs in the years ahead.

Snyder openly admitted that the learning curve under Mann has been a steep one.

"It's definitely been an eye-opener," he said. "The different strategies and how he wants us to play the game, it's definitely been like a different mindset for me and how I think about the game."

Earlier this season, Snyder told the Kingston Whig-Standard that his intention was to be the best eighth-round pick in the OHL, something he still maintains is his goal. He also admitted that he came to the OHL with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, which has served him well so far.

"I think, especially during training camp, I did have a chip on my shoulder. I was signed, but the threat of not making the team and having to wear a cage on my helmet...I feel like I had a little chip on my shoulder, for sure."

That chip translated to Snyder not only making the club, at just 16 years old and as an eighth-rounder, but to bursting out of the gate and making an early impression as one of the best young players in the league.

Asked about his early success, Snyder deflected.

"The support from the team here and my teammates has certainly played a part," he said. "Playing with the same mentality every game, just trying to get better and make the right plays."

He has benefited from playing on a club led by two NHL draft prospects in captain and Calgary Flames prospect Jacob Battaglia and Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Tyler Hopkins, to name some.

"Definitely Tyler and Bates for sure," Snyder said when asked about some of the veterans who've helped him early in his career. "They're telling me what Troy likes and what his philosophies are so that I can understand them and to have those in the back of my mind at all times."

Off the ice, meanwhile, Snyder admitted he has been trying to find a substitute for Chick-fil-A and Chili's, staples in the Pittsburgh area and around the United States, which were among his go-to for comfort eats before coming to Canada.

So far in Kingston, besides the fuzzy peach candy he's grown to love, Snyder admitted that a few local restaurants have quickly become his favourites.

"Baja Craft Kitchen is pretty good," he said. "I like Jack Astor's, it's always been one I like. Every time my family comes, we will go to Jack Astor's. And Boston Pizza is pretty good, too."

It's fair to say the Frontenacs General Manager Kory Cooper and company has zero regrets about selecting the talented Snyder with the 158th pick in the draft. Conversely, Snyder said he has zero regrets about coming north to the Limestone City.

"None," Snyder answered. "It's definitely way better than the (United States Hockey League), which was my other option, but this league is more talented, more competitive and way faster."

By the look of things so far, the Fronts got their guy in round No. 8.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2025


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