In the end 302 players were selected across the league and for the Soo Greyhounds, there are high hopes for some of the 14 players they added through the annual Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection.
The two-day, 15-round draft wrapped up Saturday afternoon after beginning with rounds one through three on Friday night.
Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis said the draft could produce players that aren’t just going to step into the lineup next season to fill a roster spot.
“What we’re really excited about is we have a couple guys that have an opportunity to step in and bring impact to our lineup as soon as next year,” Raftis said.
“There’s also a group of guys that, you give them a year and see where they can be,” Raftis also said. “We tried to stock up as much skill as we could.”
The 2023 draft class for the Greyhounds ultimately produced a group that was spread out by position. When all was said and done, the Greyhounds selected seven forwards, five defencemen, and a pair of goaltenders.
Raftis said the position breakdown wasn’t by position in a specific spot and more by the way the draft went and how the Greyhounds draft board was set up.
Selecting early in the fourth round, the Greyhounds began day two by selecting defenceman Hunter Solomon of the Waterloo Wolves U16 team. Solomon was a teammate of Greyhounds first rounder Brady Martin.
“He’s really tough to play against,” Raftis said. “In the second half, when (Waterloo) took a step, he was a big part of that in terms of being tough to play against. He had tough matchups when he was out there. “
The Greyhounds then added Brady Smith, a centre from the Halton Hurricanes U16 team, in the fifth round.
Smith was a teammate of first overall puck Matthew Schaeffer, drafted by Erie, and fourth overall pick Tyler Hopkins, drafted by Kingston, in Halton.
“Brady did a lot of the dirty work at times for that group,” Raftis said of Smith. “He plays really hard. He’s somebody who has that natural goal-scoring ability too. He was an interesting add because he can play centre, he can play the wing.”
Following is the Greyhounds full list of picks follows:
- Round 1: Brady Martin (Waterloo Wolves U16) – C
- Round 2: Travis Hayes (Detroit Compuware 15’s) – RW
- Round 4: Hunter Solomon (Waterloo Wolves U16) – RD
- Round 5: Brady Smith (Halton Hurricanes U16) – C
- Round 6: Sebastian Dell’Elce (Toronto Marlboros U16) – LD
- Round 6: Jordan Charron (Cambridge Hawks U16) – RW
- Round 7: Chase Reid (Detroit Victory Honda 15’s) – RD
- Round 9: John Collins-Williams (Kemptville 73s U18) – RW
- Round 10: Zack Irvin (Elgin Middlesex Canucks) – G
- Round 11: Michael Zuyev (Toronto Red Wings U16) – D
- Round 12: Callum Mainville (Toronto Nationals U16) – C
- Round 12: Ryan Scriven (Halton Hurricanes U16) – LW
- Round 14: Keegan Gillen (Detroit Compuware 15s) – RD
- Round 15: Reid Thomas (Clarington Toros U16) – G
In addition to the Greyhounds, it was a busy day for local players on day two.
After the Sudbury Wolves made Hudson Chitaroni the first local player selected, taking the Soo Jr. Greyhounds forward in the third round on Friday night, six more Jr. Greyhounds players were selected on Saturday.
The Flint Firebirds selected goaltender Nathan Maguire in the seventh round, 127th overall.
Maguire split time this season with Maverick Fletcher in goal for the Jr. Greyhounds, picking up 12 wins in 13 appearances.
Later in the seventh round, the North Bay Battalion selected Jr. Greyhounds blueliner Declan Gallivan, selecting the local defenceman 141st overall.
Gallivan posted nine goals and 25 points in 28 games this season in the Great North Under-18 loop.
Brenden Cooke was the next Jr. Greyhounds player off the board as the Firebirds picked up a second Jr. Greyhounds player, selecting Cooke in the eighth round, 155th overall.
Cooke had 19 goals and 18 assists in 28 games with the Jr. Greyhounds this season. Cooke’s 19 goals were second on the team.
In the 11th round, the Oshawa Generals selected Jr. Greyhounds winger Devon Jones-MacDonald, 207th overall.
The Saginaw Spirit selected Jr. Greyhounds defenceman Candon O’Neill in round 12, 236th overall.
In 28 games with the Jr. Greyhounds this season, O’Neill had three goals and 27 points.
A busy day for Jr. Greyhounds players continued as the Firebirds selected their third member of the team in the draft by selecting Rylan Fellinger in the 13th round, 255th overall.
Fellinger played in 25 games this season with the blueliner scoring two goals and 14 points.