Firebirds click top pick
Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League have confirmed the commitment of 2020 first round draft pick Gavin Hayes.
The skilled, speedy, smooth skating Michigan-born forward was taken by Flint with the 16th overall pick at the recent OHL priority selections draft.
“He has a chance of being a dominant player in our league,” Firebirds general manager Barclay Branch said of Hayes, who averaged a point and a half per game while starring for Detroit Compuware of the High Performance Hockey League in 2019-2020.
Hayes was gushing upon signing with Flint.
“Finally putting the pen to paper to make it official with Flint is an incredible feeling,” the 6-foot-1, 160-pound Hayes said of signing with the Firebirds.
“I don’t really know how to put it into words. It’s every kid’s dream to play in the OHL and I’m glad to be a Firebird,” added Hayes, whose older brother Avery Hayes scored 15 goals in 42 games as a second-year forward with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs in 2019-2020.
