Although he was drafted by the Knights in 2004, he did not play with them until the 2006–07 OHL season because he decided to play for the United States U-18 National Team Development Program. While he was part of the program, he led the team in scoring with 102 points during the 2005–06 season. During his OHL years, he played on a line along with future NHLers Sergei Kostitsyn and Sam Gagner. He passed 145 points to be awarded the OHL scoring title and also combined with Gagner and Kostitsyn for 394 points in the season. The Knights finished the post-season when they lost the OHL's Western Conference final to the Plymouth Whalers by a series best 4-1 in a 7 series loss. He finished his postseason with 10 goals and 21 assists which was a total of 31 points in 16 games.