Three Greyhounds selected in NHL draft

The NHL Entry Draft is complete for another summer.

The seven round draft, which is completed over two days, saw 211 players selected, three of which were Soo Greyhounds.

The second day of the draft was a busy one for Greyhounds players with all three selected on Saturday at the event held in Buffalo, NY.

The day was a busy one overall with a former Greyhound also selected as well as a pair of former Greyhounds dealt on the day.

Boris Katchouk was the first Greyhound selected as the Tampa Bay Lightning took the 18-year-old forward in the second round (44^th overall).

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Katchouk said.

Katchouk, who was rumoured to be a possible pick late in the opening round on Friday night, said there were nerves on day one but they subsided a little on the second day.

“You kind of get relaxed going into day two but there’s still those nerves,” Katchouk said of the wait.

Katchouk is coming off his first full season with the Greyhounds after suiting up in 12 games during the 2014-15 season.

His rookie season saw him post 24 goals and 51 points in 63 games. He finished sixth amongst OHL rookies in scoring and fourth in goals.

“A big advantage for our team is we were a puck-possession team. Without the puck, you can’t do anything,” Katchouk said. “When we have possession of the puck, we definitely bring the speed. We’re always a team that’s relentless and in teams faces. It’s definitely helped my career.”

Katchouk played much of the 2014-15 season with the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Thunderbirds where he posted 18 goals and 45 points in 29 games.

The Anaheim Ducks would make Jack Kopacka the second member of the Greyhounds selected after taking the forward in the fourth round (93^rd overall).

“It’s great just to spend it here with my family that’s here,” Kopacka said following his selection. “I’m just very grateful to have them and all of the people who helped me get to this point. It’s a very exciting time for me and my family.”

Like Katchouk, Kopacka is also coming off his first full season with the Greyhounds, a season that saw him score 20 goals and 48 points in 67 games.

The 18-year-old spoke highly of his development in his first full season with the Greyhounds.

“They helped me round out my game this year,” Kopacka said of his season with the Greyhounds. “From the coaching staff on down, it was a great experience.

Sophomore forward Tim Gettinger was selected by the New York Rangers in the fifth round (141^st overall).

In his second season with the Greyhounds, Gettinger finished the 2015-16 season with 17 goals and 39 points in 60 games after posting 10 goals and 25 points in 2014-15.

On social media, Gettinger expressed his excitement adding that “the fun starts now.”

Gettinger joins a Rangers prospect pool that includes goaltender Brandon Halverson.

Halverson told Blueshirts United that he and Gettinger used to joke about Gettinger being drafted by the team.

“That was so funny when I saw his name come up,” Halverson said. “All year long I’ve been joking with him that ‘You’re going to the Rangers.’ It was just so funny that it ended up happening.”

Former Greyhounds forward Anthony Salinitri, who was dealt to Sarnia ahead of the OHL trade deadline in 2015, was selected in the sixth round (172^nd overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Goaltender Tyler Wall, selected by the Greyhounds in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection, was selected by the Rangers in the sixth round (174^th overall).

Wall spent the 2015-16 season with the Greater Ontario League’s Leamington Flyers and is currently committed to play college hockey at UMass-Lowell, beginning in 2017.

On Friday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs kicked off the two-day event by selecting American Auston Matthews.

The Winnipeg Jets used the second overall pick to select Finnish forward Patrik Laine.

The Columbus Blue Jackets surprised some by selecting Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Pierre-Luc Dubois with the third overall pick, passing on another highly-touted Finnish forward in Jesse Puljujarvi.

Puljujarvi would go one pick later as the Edmonton Oilers used the fourth overall pick on Laine’s linemate from the World Junior Hockey Championship.

The Vancouver Canucks rounded out the top five by selecting Finnish defenceman Olli Juolevi from the London Knights.

The opening round saw a record 12 American-born players and was the first time since 2007 an American player was selected with the first pick.

In other news from day two of the draft, former Greyhounds defenceman Anthony DeAngelo had his NHL rights dealt by the Tampa Bay Lightning,

DeAngelo was acquired by the Greyhounds ahead of the 2015 trade deadline from the Sarnia Sting

The aforementioned Salinitri was part of the deal that brought DeAngelo to the Greyhounds.

Tampa dealt DeAngelo to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for the 37^th overall pick Saturday. The team then used the pick to select Libor Hajek of the Saskatoon Blades.

DeAngelo was Tampa Bay’s first round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and recently completed his first season of pro hockey, playing in 69 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.

The highly-skilled blueliner had six goals and 43 points with the Crunch.

Former Greyhounds netminder Jack Campbell was also dealt on Saturday.

The Dallas Stars dealt the 24-year-old Campbell to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for former OHL defenceman Nick Ebert.

Campbell, selected in the first round (11^th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, split the 2015-16 season with the AHL’s Texas Stars and the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads.

With files from Chris Dawson (BayToday).