2025 Orangeville Northmen OJLL
2025 White REL U21
His father, Rusty Kruger, played in the NLL from 1998 to 2008 and is an assistant coach with the Toronto Rock
2025 OJLL Rookie of the Year - The Joe Nieuwendyk Award
11 Players to Watch in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League
Orangeville Northmen: Max Kruger
Next up is a player that continues a few of the trends established by the first three in today's list. Max Kruger is fourth in OJLL scoring, rocketing out of the gates with 18 goals and 13 assists for 31 points through six games. He is also, like Carreiro, new to the league. In his case, though, the son of Northmen head coach Rusty Kruger is a fresh-faced rookie. Max just turned 17 in April; a year ago, he was balling out with the Orangeville midget squad.
The other trend that continues is team success. The Northmen are 5-1, putting them third in winning percentage (.833) and tied for second with Toronto and Whitby with 10 points. Kruger is part of a legacy pair leading the club - his 18 goals leads the league while Dylan Sanderson (son of Hall of Famer Josh) is among the OJLL leaders with 19 assists.
08/16/25 The Lax Mag - The Top 50 Junior A Players: 2025 Edition
24. Max Kruger
Team: Orangeville Northmen
Position: Forward
College: Uncommitted (The Hill Academy)
NLL Draft Eligible: TBD
Is sitting inside the Top 25 too high for a 2008? Not if you're Max Kruger, who after showing glimpses of greatness as an Orangeville call up last year, had a ridiculous rookie run that continues into this year's Minto Cup in St. Catharines. He finished sixth in OJLL scoring, behind a short list of today's absolute best Junior A talent. The only other rookies to even register in Ontario's Top 50 regular season point producers were Toronto's Kaleb Tatarek, who tied for 30th, and Burlington's Bodhi Gillies, who just make it at 50. During the provincial playoffs, Kruger finished fourth in points and co-led the OJLL postseason in goals with Northmen teammate Liam Matthews (23). Kruger scored the one-second-left tying goal in the Game 6 of the OJLL Final, a game Orangeville would then win early in OT. Kruger's 2025 was anything but a rookie-like run, and honestly, while some of you are likely whining we've overrated him here, honestly, he's probably not high enough.
|
Regular Season
|
| Year |
Team |
League |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
| 2024 |
Orangeville Northmen |
OJLL JR A |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 2025 |
White |
REL U21 |
12 |
22 |
20 |
42 |
2 |
| 2025 |
Orangeville Northmen |
OJLL JR A |
20 |
35 |
50 |
85 |
0 |
|
| Totals |
JUNIOR A |
21 |
36 |
50 |
86 |
0 |
| Totals |
ROCK ELITE LEAGUE U21 |
12 |
22 |
20 |
42 |
2 |
|
|
|
Playoffs
|
| Year |
Team |
League |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
| 2025 |
White |
REL U21 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
| 2025 |
Orangeville Northmen |
OJLL JR A |
15 |
23 |
30 |
53 |
2 |
| 2025 |
Orangeville Northmen |
MINTO CUP JR A |
5 |
10 |
10 |
20 |
0 |
|
| Totals |
JUNIOR A |
35 |
23 |
40 |
73 |
2 |
| Totals |
ROCK ELITE LEAGUE U21 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
|
