Greyhounds busy, local talent popular as OHL draft wraps up

The true impact won’t really be known until a year or two down the road, but 20 Ontario Hockey League teams took a step to the future this weekend, including the Soo Greyhounds.

On Saturday afternoon, the annual OHL Priority Selection wrapped up for another year.

For the Greyhounds, and a number of local players, it was a busy weekend.

Through the opening three rounds of the draft on Friday night, the Greyhounds selected a pair of players in Ryder Cali in the opening round (18th overall) and Callum Croskery in round two (40th overall).

Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis said that Cali’s ability to play centre made him appealing at 18 in addition to his skills and size.

“He’s just very smart, very responsible,” Raftis also said. “Even in his games this year playing with Milton in Tier II, he just fit in and looked in place right away. He’s a big, heavy centre that can skate and has a great touch.”

Raftis added that Cali’s 6-foot-2, 195-pound frame will allow the young forward to potentially have an early impact with the Greyhounds after making the jump.

“You’re looking for a certain type of player and when you can add that size and heaviness to it and not have to sacrifice the skill side, it’s just that much more of a bonus,” Raftis said.

In Croskery, the Greyhounds added a defenceman with some size and skill on the back end.

“He was at the top of everyone’s board across the league as a top defenceman,” Raftis said. “We had some good conversations with the family and Callum, and it was a situation where we felt we didn’t want to pass on him twice.”

“He’s highly intelligent, very skilled,” Raftis added. “He defends well and had some good size on top of it.”

Croskery signed a tender with the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel during the winter. Asked about the reportability factor, Raftis said that there wasn’t a guarantee, but that he also “had some good feelings” in conversations with Croskery’s family.

Croskery also has a tie to Sault Ste. Marie with his grandparents being Sault residents and his father grew up here.

With three picks in the fourth round to kick off day two, the Greyhounds opened the day by selecting American winger Carson Andrew 78th overall. Andrew had 25 goals and 59 points in 50 games with Shattuck St. Mary’s in 2023-24.

“He’s a good sized player, can skate really well,” Raftis said of Andrew. “He’s got a wicked release and someone that has put up some great numbers. The power play is run right through him.”

The Greyhounds then selected goaltender William Camputaro of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens two picks later before adding defenceman Harris Pangretitsch with the 82nd overall pick.

“We were focused on the forward for that first one; we didn’t want to push it too far,” Raftis said of the Greyhounds approach to the three picks. “Player-wise, we went back to best player available (for the final two picks).”

In round five, the Greyhounds selected another defenceman Charles Ashcroft of the North York Rangers U16 AAA team.

After not having a pick in the sixth round, the Greyhounds selected winger James Elliott of the Barrie Jr. Colts U16 AAA team.

Elliot is a Sault product who lived in Newmarket this year while playing with the Jr. Colts.

With their second pick in the seventh round, the Greyhounds selected centre Nolan Long of the Don Mills Flyers U16 AAA team.

The Greyhounds remaining picks in the draft included:

• 8th round – Centre Owen Kelly of the Peterborough Petes U16 AAA team
• 9th round – Left Wing Cade Kinnear of the Carolina Premier 15’s team
• 10th round – Defenceman Isaiah Allen of the Burlington Eagles U16 AAA team
• 11th round – Centre Chase Bailey-Reid of the Ottawa Jr. 67’s AAA team
• 12th round – Right Wing Kayln McQueen of the Guelph Gryphons U16 AAA team
• 13th round – Defenceman Alexander Kyriacou of the Guelph Gryphons U16 AAA team
• 14th round – Centre Colton Bain of the Oshawa Minor Generals U16 AAA team
• 15th Round – Goaltender Justin Cossais of the Ottawa Jr. 67’s AAA team

“Going into Friday, I wasn’t really sure how it was going to play out because there was a lot of things changing at the top of the draft,” Raftis said. “The way it all played out worked in our favour. We got a lot of guys that are capable of stepping in as soon as next year. That’s really encouraging because sometimes when you’re picking later, guys might need some more time. The way that first group came together, there’s a lot of guys that are capable of stepping in and really being impact players for us.”

A trio of players from the area locally were selected on the opening day of the draft through the first three rounds including defenceman Luca Blonda, who was selected 12th overall by the Sudbury Wolves.

Blonda spent the 2023-24 with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 15’s. The 15-year-old joined the team after spending the 2022-23 season playing locally with the Soo Jr. Greyhounds U15 team.

Just three picks after Blonda was selected, the Kitchener Rangers selected Evan Headrick of Garden River. Headrick is coming off a 2023-24 season that saw him score 21 goals in 31 games with the Oakville Rangers.

In round three, the Brantford Bulldogs selected Nik Rossette of the Sault 53rd overall after the young winger put up solid numbers in Pittsburgh as a teammate of Blonda’s.

On day two, Sudbury took another Sault product in defenceman Cole Wreggitt of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds U18 team. The blueliner had three goals and 16 points in 33 games with the Jr. Greyhounds in 2023-24.

With the first of back-to-back picks in the eighth round, the Niagara IceDogs selected Soo Jr. Greyhounds defenceman Brady Real, who had a pair of goals and 14 points in 28 games in 2023-24.

The Guelph Storm selected centre Aiden Atkinson in the 11th round (211th overall) after the Sault product spent the 2023-24 season playing with the Halton Hurricanes U16 team. Atkinson had 17 goals and 39 points in 32 games with Halton.

The Flint Firebirds selected Sault product Carter Kucher three picks later in the 11th round. Kucher is coming off a season with the Toronto Titans U16 AAA team where the defenceman had two goals and an assist in 34 games.

Goaltender Cameron Ingram of Echo Bay, who spend the 2023-24 season with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16 AAA team was selected by the Windsor Spitfires in the 13th round (244th overall).

In round 13, the North Bay Battalion selected defenceman Liam Watson of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds while the Wolves selected another member of the Jr. Greyhounds in round 15 (294th overall) by selecting Danny MacDonald.

On the draft front, the focus for teams now shifts to the OHL’s U18 draft, which is on Wednesday night.