Greyhounds select 15 in OHL Priority Selection

After a busy night on the ice in Ontario Hockey League playoff action on Friday night, Saturday was a busy day for the league with the annual priority selection being held.

The Soo Greyhounds held 15 picks in the annual event and used their first round pick to select centre Liam Hawel of the Ottawa Valley Titans.

The 6-foot-2, 152-pound forward scored 18 goals and 49 points in 25 games with the Titans during the 2014-15 season.

“Obviously it’s really cliché to say it but we’re really excited when we saw Liam still there for us picking at 22,” Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis said of the Greyhounds first rounder. “It’s a great thing when you’re picking at the end of the first round but at the same time you don’t know what’s going to happen in front of you. There are always a lot of different scenarios that you go through in preparation.”

Raftis said the fact the Greyhounds were selecting late in each round made selecting tough.

“It’s extremely tough because you could be targeting five guys and four of them could be there or none of them could be there,” said Raftis. “There didn’t seem to be a true consensus (on overall rankings) and I think a lot of teams would echo that same sentiment. It was something that benefitted us because we got the guys that we targeted for the most part.”

He would also say that the draft itself was deep in a sense.

“There were a lot of good players in the draft” Raftis said. “It was very level. There were a lot of players where it was pick who you like. The depth in the draft was good and it was a matter of trying to find the guy that fit your program.”

The team approached the draft by keeping the mentality similar to what got the team in the position the Greyhounds are currently in.

“Our big focus was to remember what put us in this position to be picking late this year,” said Raftis. “It’s a lot of speed, a lot of skill guys that think the game at a high level and I think we accomplished that. That’s something that we really stressed to our scouts this year and it was something that, when they’re here with the Greyhounds, we can develop other things but you can’t really teach a player to think the game like some of these players.”

Raftis would also say the team had a plan going into the later rounds.

“For us it was just best player available,” Raftis said. “Luckily, we have a great nucleus coming back so there wasn’t a desperate need in any position. It wasn’t necessarily that we desperately needed (to fill) any spots so it gave us a good flexibility to take the best player available.”

The draft was the first for Raftis since being hired by the Greyhounds after the departure of former General Manager Kyle Dubas last summer.

“It was very interesting,” Raftis said. “You meet through player interviews and talk to a lot of different players but at the same time, you don’t know what’s going to happen. You’re hoping certain guys are there. You’re trying to do your homework on them the best you can but at the same time you don’t know who is going to be there.”

The Sudbury Wolves opened the draft, which began shortly after 9 a.m. via the OHL’s official website, by selecting Israeli-born forward David Levin of the Don Mills Flyers.

The first goaltender selected was Sun County’s Michael DiPietro. The 15-year-old was selected by the Windsor Spitfires with the first pick of the second round.

In addition to Taylor, three other players who suited up locally this season were selected.

Soo Thunderbirds (major midget) defenceman Nolan Makkonen was selected by the Guelph Storm while a pair of Taylor’s teammates with the minor midget Greyhounds were selected as Gage Stephney was drafted by the Oshawa Generals and Max Khull was selected by the Niagara IceDogs.

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SOO GREYHOUNDS PICKS

Round 1 – C Liam Hawel: Ottawa Valley Titans (Stats: 25 GP, 18 G, 31 A, 49 Pts.)
Round 3 – LD Anthony Demeo: New Jersey Rockets (Stats: 24 GP, 1 G, 14 A, 15 Pts.)
Round 4 – C Morgan Frost: Barrie Jr. Colts (Stats: 32 GP, 30 G, 25 A, 55 Pts.)
Round 5 – LD Corson Green: CIH Academy (Stats: 25 GP, 6 G, 18 A, 24 Pts.)
Round 6 – C Calvin Martin: Peterborough Petes minor midget (Stats: 22 GP, 8 G, 16 A, 24 Pts.)
Round 7 – LD Taylor Carlson: Ottawa Valley Titans (Stats: 30 GP, 5 G, 16 A, 21 Pts.)
Round 8 – C Ryan Horvath: Ottawa Valley Titans (Stats: 28 GP, 20 G, 30 A, 50 Pts.)
Round 10 – C Lucas Thorne: Southern Tier Admirals (Stats: 26 GP, 12 G, 19 A, 31 Pts.)
Round 11 – LD Isaiah Payne: London Knights minor midget (Stats: 33 GP, 7 G, 11 A, 18 Pts.)
Round 12 – G Dougie Newhouse: Thunder Bay Kings (Stats: 27 GP, 13-9, 2.47 GAA
Round 13 – RW Randy Hernandez: Florida Alliance (Stats: unavailable)
Round 14 – RD Theo Calvas: Detroit Little Caesars major midget (Stats: 25 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 Pts.)
Round 15 – RD Zach Taylor: Soo Greyhounds minor midget (Stats: 65 GP, 20 G, 35 A, 55 Pts.)
Round 15 – C Alex Daigle: Toronto Titans (31 GP, 10 G, 8 A, 31 Pts.)
Round 15 – D Perry Winfree: Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (Stats: unavailable)