Greyhounds development camp upcoming

It’s the middle of May but preparations for the 2017-18 Ontario Hockey League season and beyond will begin on Friday for the Soo Greyhounds.

The weekend will see the Greyhounds hold its annual development camp, beginning on Friday.

The camp will include players selected in the 2016 and 2017 OHL Priority Selection, including 2017 first round pick Hayden Fowler, local product Cole MacKay, selected in the fifth round and all three 2016 picks who suited up for the team during the 2016-17 season in forwards Barrett Hayton and Alex Gritz and defenceman Jacob LeGuerrier.

American forward John Beecher, selected in the fifth round of the 2017 draft, will not be in camp. The 16-year-old winger is expected to be on the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) Under-17 team in the fall.

Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis said the chances of Beecher eventually becoming a member of the Greyhounds isn’t out of the question.

Raftis spoke of Beecher’s chances of being an NHL pick when he’s eligible and the possibility of that weighing in on his chances of joining the Greyhounds. With an extra pick in the fifth round, the other of which was used to select MacKay, Raftis was comfortable making the selection.

From the 2016 draft, three players will not attend the camp.

Among them is American goaltender Drew DeRidder, who spent last season with Cedar Rapids of the United States Hockey League. The Fenton, Mich. product will join the USNTDP Under-18 team next season and is committed to play college hockey at Michigan State. DeRidder will not attend the camp.

Peter Muzyka, a 2016 fourth round pick who is committed to Cornell, is not expected to attend the camp.

American defenceman Jacob Semik, who also played in the USHL while patrolling the blueline for the Dubuque Fighting Saints, recently completed his season and won’t be in camp either.

Raftis confirmed that import forward Otto Makinen will not rejoin the Greyhounds next season, having decided to play pro hockey in his native Finland next season.

“He thought that was going to be a good fit for him moving forward,” Raftis said. “We’re not going to hold anybody back, especially when they have an opportunity in their hometown. He would have been a really good piece for us next year.”

With Makinen and Swedish defenceman Gustav Bouramman not back, Raftis said the ideal scenario would see the Greyhounds draft a forward and a defenceman in the annual Canadian Hockey League Import Draft in June.

“Ideally, I would like to go with a forward and a defenceman,” Raftis said. “In saying that, the import draft is a little bit of a different beast. Sometimes it doesn’t always set up that way that you can get those perfect picks.”

In OHL playoff action, the Erie Otters and Mississauga Steelheads continue to battle in the league final with a berth in the MasterCard Memorial Cup in Windsor on the line.

Heading into game four on Wednesday night in Mississauga, the Otters hold a 2-1 series lead after the Steelheads picked up a 4-3 win on home ice on Monday night. Game five is set for Friday night in Erie.

In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Saint John Sea Dogs, coached by former Greyhounds Assistant Coach Danny Flynn, lead the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 3-0 after a 2-0 game three victory on Tuesday night. The Sea Dogs can wrap up the series on Wednesday night.

In the Western Hockey League, the Regina Pats and Seattle Thunderbirds entered action on Tuesday night in Seattle tied at one game apiece in the WHL final. Seattle opened the series with a 2-1 overtime victory before Regina rebounded with an overtime victory of its own in game two on Saturday night. Game three was in process on Tuesday night and not complete at the time of writing.

The three league champions will join the host Windsor Spitfires in the Memorial Cup, which opens on May 19 when Windsor faces the QMJHL champion at the WFCU Centre.