With four selections on the opening day, they did not plan to add to four different positions.
Like all teams. Soo Greyhounds entered the first day of the Ontario Hockey League’s top selection in 2022 to set up the franchise for the future and withdrew from the first three rounds of the two-day draft pleased with the way it played out.
“We were excited to get into it, just having these four choices tonight, we felt we could be in a good mood and we felt we had done it,” said Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis. “We weren’t meant to add a few different positions, but at the same time, these guys were high on our board in those positions.”
Occupying the 16th pick in the opening round, the Greyhounds chose center Christopher Brown from the North York Rangers U16.
“Brown is an elite skater, really creative with the puck and can just find and create alleys for himself and his teammates,” said Raftis. “He’s just someone who makes everyone around him better. He has a great engine in terms of his work ethic. He has many of these tools in the way he thinks the game, the skating and the level of his skills, that once that power comes, he will be a real force for us. ”
In 46 games with the Rangers this season, Brown scored 19 goals and 60 points.
In the second round, using a choice gained by Ottawa on Thursday, the Greyhounds chose goalkeeper Landon Miller from the Vaughan Kings U16 team.
“Landon was a goalkeeper we watched pretty well all year,” Raftis said. “He has great size, great athleticism, but what really stands out is the way he thinks about the game. This is something interesting when we talk about goalkeepers. The way he can track the puck and how he sees the game, combined with his raw tools and his size, really put him in a good place on our board. ”
Miller joined Vaughan’s program after spending time in another small hockey program in the Toronto area.
“He wanted to go to Vaughn to challenge him a little more,” Raftis said.
With a pair of kicks in the third round, the Greyhounds chose left-back defender Broden McConnell-Barker.
“Broden is a really smooth-running defender,” Raftis said. “He has a great job and plays with some ugliness in his game.”
McConnell-Barker, who has scored eight goals and 36 points in 33 games this season, has made the transition to defense before this season.
“It will be interesting to see with this flexibility what position he will play,” Raftis said. “At the same time, he had a great year in defense.”
McConnell-Barker is the younger brother of current Greyhounds striker Bryce McConnell-Barker.
Raftis said the selection took into account the addition of a player like the younger McConnell-Barker, who can play both forward and defensive.
“It plays a role because you can see how he sees the game,” Raftis said. “You can see how he walks along the line and how he can create in the offensive zone. There is only this extra level of skill. Sometimes, when the defenders play only D to the end, they reach the other blue line and somehow get lost in their tracks. With Broden, he just has the ability to see the ice really well and, combined with his skill set, sets him apart from the band.
With the 58th overall choice, the Greyhounds chose Markham Majors U16 winger Alex Kostov.
“Alex can really shoot the puck,” Raftis said. “He has a great, powerful step. He is already physically mature and is something that, while we watched him this year, he just kept getting better. We were a little lucky with the wings we brought who have similar skills to him. When you combine this skill set with its size, we think it will be a really dangerous goal scorer. ”
Kostov has scored 12 goals and 19 points in 23 games this season.
Among the early selections made on Friday was a player with family ties to Sault Ste. Marie in the winger Porter Martonne, son of the Salt Mike-born who played for Peterborough Pitts in the mid-1990s.
The Younger Marton, Peterborough, Ont. the native, who played this season with the Toronto Junior Canadiens, was selected fifth overall by Sarnia Sting.
Saginaw Spirit held the best choice and selected Mississauga Senators center Michael Misa, who was given exclusive player status before the draft, which allowed him to enter the draft a year earlier.
Misa has scored 16 goals and 43 points this season before adding 10 goals and 20 points in seven OHL Cup games to end the season.
The 15-round draft resumes on Saturday morning at 9 am. The Greyhounds enter the second day with 12 choices left.
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