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Busy day for Greyhounds, local players on OHL draft day (4:25 p.m. update):

The Soo Greyhounds selected forward Bryce McConnell-Barker fourth overall
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The 2020 OHL Priority Selection is well underway.

The Soo Greyhounds, selecting fourth overall, have drafted centre Bryce McConnell-Barker of the London Jr. Knights.

The 15-year-old London product scored 29 goals in 33 games with the Jr. Knights in 2019-20.

OHL Central Scouting describes McConnell-Barker as “a tall and lengthy centre that has a presence each and every time he is in the ice.”

“He is a good skater with good overall quickness. He has good offensive skills and instincts that he used to generate a lot of his team’s offence this past season.”

Without a pick in the second round, the Greyhounds proceeded to select a local product in defenceman Connor Toms of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds.

“Connor is one of those kids that loves coming to the rink,” Jr. Greyhounds coach Jamie Henderson said in an interview Friday night ahead of the draft. “The offensive game comes naturally to him. He’s really poised with the puck and willing to join the rush or lead the rush at any point during the game. He’s pretty calm there on the back end and definitely will be a quarterback of a power play at the next level. His game grew quite a bit throughout the year.”

Late in the fourth round, the Greyhounds selected Rutger McGroarty, a centre with the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies.

The 6-foot, 177-pound centre was selected to play for the U.S. National Development Program’s Under-17 team next season and currently has a verbal commitment to play college hockey at Notre Dame, beginning in 2022.

The Greyhounds held a pair of picks in round five.

With the 84th overall pick, the team selected defenceman Caeden Carlisle of the Mississauga Senators.

A left-shooting blueliner, Carlisle had three goals and 14 points in 33 games this season before adding two goals and five points in 10 playoff games.

The team then selected goaltender Charlie Schenkel of the Rockland Nationals with the 91st pick.

With the second-last pick in round five, the London Knights selected Soo Jr. Greyhounds defenceman Mason Chitaroni.

On Friday, Henderson called Chitaroni “probably one of the biggest risers in Ontario the last two or three months.”

The Greyhounds used their lone pick in round six to select defenceman Jax Bellwood of the Barrie Jr. Colts.

In the seventh round, the Greyhounds selected Kanata Lasers centre Owen Allard.

The eighth round saw the Greyhounds select winger Justin Varner from Detroit HoneyBaked with 144th overall pick.

With their second pick in the eighth round, the Greyhounds selected defenceman Nathaniel Davis of the Toronto Titans.

The team then selected winger Landen Hookey of the Lambton Jr. Sting in the ninth round before selecting winger Justin Spurrell in the 10th round.

In the 11th round, the Greyhounds selected goaltender Nolan Dunn from the Whitby Wildcats.

The Sudbury Wolves used their 11trh round pick to select Soo Jr. Greyhounds forward Devin Mauro.

Mauro’s game earned praise from his coach.

“Devin has the ability to be a game-changer,” Henderson said. “When he decides to really be engaged, he’s got really high-end offensive instincts and some really gifted feet and he’s got a really good shot, which should be able to lead to some success at the next level.”

In round 12, the Greyhounds selected centre Jackson Ryan of the Peterborough Petes.

The Greyhounds used their 13th round pick to select defenceman Caleb Van De Ven of the Lambton Jr. Sting.

The Barrie Colts used their 13th round pick to select local forward Jake Kovacs, a forward with the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Thunderbirds.

In the 14th round, the Greyhounds selected American defenceman Owen West of Detroit Belle Tire before wrapping up their selections by taking goaltender Tyler Muszelik of the New Jersey Rockets in the 15th round.

Announced on Friday afternoon, the North Bay Battalion selected defenceman Ty Nelson of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens with the top pick.

With the second pick, the Niagara IceDogs selected centre Pano Fimis, a teammate of Nelson’s with the Jr. Canadiens.

The Sarnia Sting rounded out the top three by selecting American-born centre Max Namestnikov of Detroit HoneyBaked.

Namestnikov is the younger brother of former London Knights forward Vladislav.

The younger Namestnikov currently has a verbal commitment to play NCAA hockey at Michigan State University.

The top five wrapped up with the Kingston Frontenacs selecting centre Paul Ludwinski of the Toronto Marlies.

Highly-touted centre Adam Fantilli of Kimball Union Academy, considered the top player eligible for the draft, was selected 18th overall by the Saginaw Spirit.

The 15-year-old recently committed to the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel and the Fantilli family has gone on the record saying he won’t be playing in the OHL next season, but it remains a possibility for the 2021-22 season.

Check back tonight and on Sunday for further coverage of Saturday's draft, which will include stories on the Greyhounds selections as well as comment from the four local players selected


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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