With four picks on opening day, they didn’t plan on adding at four different positions.
Like all teams. The Soo Greyhounds entered day one of the 2022 Ontario Hockey League Priority Pick looking to set up the franchise for the future and came away satisfied from the first three rounds of the two-day draft with how it went.
“We were excited to get started, with just those four picks tonight, we felt like we could prepare well and we felt like we did,” Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis said. “It wasn’t by design that we added at a couple of different positions, but at the same time, those guys were high on our board at those positions.”
With the 16th pick in the first round, the Greyhounds selected center Christopher Brown from the North York Rangers’ Under-16 team.
“Brown is an elite skater, very creative with the puck and can find and create lanes for himself and his teammates,” Raftis said. “He is just someone who makes everyone around him better. He has a great engine in terms of his work ethic. He has a lot of those tools in the way he thinks about the game, his skating and the skill level of him that once he gets that strength, he’s going to be a real force for us.”
In 46 games with the Rangers this season, Brown has scored 19 goals and 60 points.
In the second round, using a pick acquired from Ottawa on Thursday, the Greyhounds selected goaltender Landon Miller from the Vaughan Kings U16 team.
“Landon was a goalkeeper that we followed pretty well all year,” Raftis said. “He’s got great size, great athleticism, but what really stands out is the way he thinks about the game. That’s something interesting when you talk about goalkeepers. The way he can track pucks and how he sees the game, combined with his basic tools and the size of him, really puts him in a good spot on our board.”
Miller joined Vaughan’s program after spending time at another lesser hockey program in the Toronto area.
“I wanted to go to Vaughan to be challenged a little bit more,” Raftis said.
With a pair of third-round picks, the Greyhounds selected left-handed shooting defenseman Broden McConnell-Barker.
“Broden is a very good skater,” Raftis said. “He’s got some great edge work and he plays some meanness in his game.”
McConnell-Barker, who had eight goals and 36 points in 33 games this season, transitioned to defense earlier this season.
“It will be interesting to see, with that flexibility, what position he will play,” Raftis said. “At the same time, he had a great year on defense.”
McConnell-Barker is the younger brother of current Greyhounds forward Bryce McConnell-Barker.
Raftis said consideration was given to bringing in a player like the young McConnell-Barker, who can play both as a forward and as a defender.
“That influences, because you can see how he sees the game,” Raftis said. “You can see how he walks down the line and how he can create on the offensive end. There’s just that extra skill level. Sometimes when defenders only play D all the way up, they hit that other blue line and get lost along the way. With Broden, he has the ability to see the ice very well and, combined with his skill set, it sets him apart from the pack.”
With the 58th overall pick, the Greyhounds selected Markham Majors U-16 winger Alex Kostov.
“Alex can really shoot the puck,” Raftis said. “He has a big, powerful stride. He is already physically mature and it is something that, as we watched him this year, he continued to improve. We’ve had good luck with the wingers we’ve brought in who have similar skills to him. When you combine that skill set with the size of him, we think he’s going to be a really dangerous goalscorer.”
Kostov has scored 12 goals and 19 points in 23 games this season.
Among the first picks made Friday was a player with family ties to Sault Ste. Marie in winger Porter Martone, the son of Sault native Mike, who played for the Peterborough Petes in the mid-1990s.
The youngest Martone, a Peterborough, Ontario. A native who played this season with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, he was selected fifth overall by Sarnia Sting.
The Saginaw Spirit had the first pick and drafted Mississauga Senators center Michael Misa who was given exceptional player status prior to the draft, allowing him to enter the draft a year early.
Misa scored 16 goals and 43 points this season before adding 10 goals and 20 points in seven games in the Copa OHL to close out the season.
The 15-round draft resumes Saturday morning at 9 am The Greyhounds enter day two with 12 picks remaining.
Reference-www.sootoday.com