It’s a story so far-fetched that it seems unbelievable.
Jaxon Cover became the first Cayman Islands native to be drafted to the NHL when he was selected 32nd overall by the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
An inline hockey player growing up, Cover only took his talents to the ice in 2021 when he was sent to St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ont., by his parents who recognized that his game had outgrown the island — which has no ice rinks.
On Sunday, Cover travelled to Ottawa for the Senators’ development camp, taking the ice in Canada’s capital for the first time on Monday afternoon for a skate with the rest of the organization’s prospects.
“It was awesome just getting that high compete level going. Really physical out there, and I loved that. It was amazing, just a really great skate,” said Cover after getting off the ice.
“As soon as you step on there, you can see the guys are a lot bigger than you, a lot stronger than you, but I'm ready to work a lot this summer and just get bigger and stronger, and hopefully I can grow a little more too. But felt really good out there, and I feel like I held my own pretty good.”
Cover said he felt that his two interviews with Ottawa went well, but he wasn’t expecting to go in the first round of the draft. Still, with the moment being so meaningful for he and his parents, attending in person was important — just in case.
“It was great, giving my mom and dad a big hug after hearing my name called. There’s a lot of emotions in the air, and yeah, it was just amazing to happen there,” said Cover, who added that his father was his biggest role model growing up.
Jaxon’s father Patrick grew up in the more traditional hockey environment of Etobicoke, Ont. He met Jaxon’s mother, Nan, while the two were at Andrews University in the southwest corner of Michigan.
When they were finished studying business and accounting, Patrick accompanied Nan back to her native Cayman Islands, and they had Jaxon and his brother Jaeden. Patrick soon began playing rec league inline hockey, and later helped launch a youth program, which both boys began learning to play in at the age of 3.
Both Patrick and Jaeden are in Ottawa this week, which is particularly special for Jaxon because he has spent so much time in Canada and away from his family so he has access to ice time in the summer.
“He was the biggest inspiration for me. Having him as a role model, and just watching him work as hard as you can, whether it was him bringing me to work on a weekend at like eight in the morning to get my homework done, or making me stay extra hours at the roller rink just to try to perfect my game, I just credit him a lot to where I am now,” said Cover.
Cover credits his offensive instincts to those many hours spent on the King’s Sports Centre roller rink on Grand Cayman Island. He also learned to have fun and love the game before all else.
“I'd say just growing up enjoying the game and not having any coaches really pressuring me or on my back if I made a mistake was a lot of help,” said Cover.
“And then having that rink open almost 24/7, just going whenever I wanted to, and just working on just shooting pucks, and having fun. I credit roller [hockey] a lot to where my game is now, how calm I am on the ice. I get that from roller a lot.”
That background is part of why Cover is such a unique and tantalizing prospect. He boasts an unpredictability to his game, honed over long hours on the roller rink. When he’s on the ice, at least with the puck on his stick, he sees the ice the same as he saw the tiles at King’s Sports Centre.
“I'd say in the offensive zone I see [the ice] the exact same, just trying to make plays for my teammates, trying to put the puck in the net,” said Cover.
“I like reading defenders, if they're reading off me. Trying to read their feet and their body position, I'd say like I credit a lot of it to my roller game.”
Cover was drafted by the London Knights out of St. Andrew’s in the fourth round of the 2024 OHL Priority Selection. He played three games with the Knights at the end of the 2024–25 season, and burst onto the scene in 2025–26 with 20 goals and 52 points, numbers good for sixth and fourth, respectively, among all OHL rookies.
“[St. Andrew’s] was very different for me. I had to get adjusted, but I quickly adjusted. And then, especially, moving to London I was really nervous. It’s just a big team and I didn't want to let them down,” said Cover.
“Especially since they took a chance on me and they wanted me there so bad, I just got to work, tried to put my head down, and just continued to work, and just be almost like a sponge, soak in everything that I'm being told. Dale and Mark [Hunter] know the game better than almost anyone in the world, so just learning from them has been great for me.”
Just like the Hunter brothers, who took a chance on Cover two years ago, the Senators are intrigued by the story, but even more so by his on-ice skills. At 6-foot-2, his combination of size, skill, and vision could play him into a top-six role in the NHL with more development.
“The actual fact that five years ago, he was playing roller hockey, it’s a great story, but we drafted him because we believe he’s got ability, we believe he’s got skill, we believe he’s got a chance to be an offensive guy,” said Senators head scout Don Boyd on Friday night.
