Development to continue for Greyhounds players after draft

National Hockey League teams continued to call on Soo Greyhounds players over the weekend as the league held its annual entry draft.

A trio of players would have their names called in the seven-round, two-day event, including forward Morgan Frost, who would be selected on day one.

Frost was selected 27th overall by the Flyers after the team dealt veteran forward Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the pick, a conditional first round pick in 2018 and forward Jori Lehtera.

The Flyers have high hopes for the veteran Greyhounds forward.

“There are very few guys where your whole staff really likes a guy,” Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall told reporters following round one on Friday night. “He’s an extremely intelligent player. That’s his number one asset. He reads the ice well. He’s got a very deft touch moving the puck.”

“We believe he’s a kid with an awful lot of upside,” Hextall added.

Frost was the second of two first round picks by the Flyers, who selected Brandon Wheat Kings (Western Hockey League) forward Nolan Patrick second overall.

NHL Central Scouting called Frost a “smart and skilled centre with a very good offensive hockey sense. (Has) excellent vision and anticipation to quickly take advantage of opportunities. He has a heads up game to evade checking pressure and shows a consistent two-way effort.”

In an interview with SooToday prior to the draft, Frost said he hopes to improve his defensive game further.

“Me getting stronger will help advance a lot of the little areas of my game,” Frost said. “In the bigger picture, I want to be more of a two-way player. I’m still improving my offence but right now I’m more of an offensive player and if I can be more of a two-way player, that will help me more at the next level.”

In round two, the Colorado Avalanche wasted little time in selecting Greyhounds defenceman Conor Timmins, using the first pick of the day to select the veteran blueliner.

Timmins told reporters at the draft that following the draft combine the interview he had with the Avalanche was positive.

“I had a pretty good interview with them after the combine,” Timmins said. “They seemed pretty interested and it seemed like a good fit for me.”

Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis spoke ahead of the draft of the added confidence Timmins entered the 2016-17 season with.

“Conor worked extremely hard over the summer,” Raftis said. “You could tell in terms of his preparation what he knew he needed to work on.

“What he really improved on was his first step,” Raftis added. “His skating and mobility really took a step forward and that added strength and additional confidence. He’s always been a guy who was a cerebral, high IQ puck-mover and once you get that strength, whether it’s closing on players or pulling away from players in stride, it really added another element to his game.”

The third member of the Greyhounds to be selected, goaltender Matthew Villalta, entered the draft unsure of whether he would be selected but the Los Angeles Kings scooped up the young netminder with the 72^nd overall pick.

Raftis spoke of Villalta’s “raw tools” ahead of the draft.

“When you see the raw tools that are there, it’s something that’s hard to teach,” said Raftis. “When he ads some strength and power to his game, that could jump to another level.

“He’s someone who doesn’t get discouraged at all,” Raftis added. “He’s one of those guys that works extremely hard in practice. The players see that and play really hard in front of him.”

Next up for the trio of players will be the rookie/development camps of their respective NHL teams.

Of note, Greyhounds goaltender Joseph Raaymakers was invited to the development camp of the Tampa Bay Lightning, which opens on Tuesday.