Ups, downs from NHL draft
Of the 217 players who were selected at the 2017 National Hockey League draft, 42 were picked from teams in the Ontario Hockey League. Following are one writer’s list of ups and downs relative to the OHL presence at the weekend NHL draft.
UP: Rated as a second-rounder, centre Morgan Frost of the Soo Greyhounds impressed the Philadelphia Flyers enough to become their first-round pick, 27th overall.
Frost is a quite clear, no doubt example of how difficult it is to project 15-year old players for the OHL draft. From a fourth-round, 81st overall pick of the Soo at the 2015 OHL draft, Frost fast-tracked to become a first-round, 27th overall pick of Philadelphia at the 2017 NHL draft.
Not only did Frost make the Greyhounds out of the gate as a fourth-round pick, he quickly showed as an OHL rookie in 2015-2016 that he could play an NHL-style game in all zones of the ice, complete with speed and smarts.
Then, as a second-year OHLer in 2016-2017, Frost further advanced his game and showed a scorer’s touch with 20 goals despite playing behind third-and-fourth-year veterans on the Greyhounds overall depth chart.
UP: Any one who has watched goalie Michael DiPietro tend twine for the Windsor Spitfires the past two seasons knows what a competitor he is.
Cementing his status as a big-game performer on junior hockey’s biggest stage, the medium-sized goalie saved his best for the 2017 Memorial Cup tournament. Which is where DiPietro back-stopped the host Spitfires to four straight wins over the champions of the OHL, Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League and Western Hockey League to lead Windsor to a stunning national title.
An aw-shucks kind of character kid from the small town of Amhertsburg, just outside Windsor, DiPietro represents the quintessential steal of the 2017 NHL draft for the Vancouver Canucks, who landed him in the third round.
DOWN: Not sure what the NHL scouts don’t like about Sudbury Wolves winger Macauley Carson for him to go un-drafted through seven rounds.
All the 6-foot-1, 2015-pound Carson did was scored 30 goals in 68 regular-season games for the Sudbury Wolves as a second-year skater.
That Carson was bypassed by all 31 NHL teams lines up as a major head-scratcher.
UP: Another former draft-defying, fourth-round pick of the Soo, Conor Timmins has steadily and skillfully improved as a defenseman over the past two seasons in the OHL.
Over the course of the 2016-2017 campaign, Timmins put up 69 points in 78 games with the Greyhounds, regular season and playoffs included.
Smart and seemingly never showing a hint of panic, Timmins became the first pick of the second round of the 2017 NHL draft when the Colorado Avalanche made what may go down as a very-wise selection of a sure-handed shooting defender.
UP: Being picked in the seventh round may be seen as an afterthought by some.
But considering the NHL draft is just seven rounds in length and good players get bypassed every year only to later sign pro contracts as free agents, the seventh round became seventh Heaven for Brady Gilmour when the Detroit Red Wings picked the 5-foot-10, 170-pound centre from the Saginaw Spirit.
“I am speechless right now,” said an exuberant Gilmour, shortly after being picked by the Red Wings. “I am honoured to be drafted by such a great and storied organization. Thank you to the Detroit Red Wings for giving me this opportunity. I could not be happier right now.”
After scoring 7 goals with Saginaw as an OHL rookie in 2015-2016, Gilmour tallied 26 times for the Spirit in 2016-2017 and caught the eyes of the Red Wings legendary senior vice-president Jimmy Devellano.
“I watched him greatly improve as the season went on and I believe with further development in Saginaw, he will become a good pro hockey player,” Devellano said of Gilmour, who was not rated by NHL Central Scouting prior to the draft.
And while Devellano may have double-dipped in that he is also part of the ownership group in Saginaw as well as holding the executive VP position with the Red Wings, this is a 74-year old gentleman who is beyond reproach when it comes to showing any type of favouritism.
DOWN: Amazingly, only two goalies from the entire OHL were picked by NHL teams with the aforementioned DiPietro and Soo rookie Matthew Villalta going eight picks apart in the third round.
And while DiPietro has such a high ceiling in virtually every category, Villalta represents a curious choice by the Los Angeles Kings.
Granted, Villalta put up impressive numbers as an OHL rookie with the Greyhounds while splitting time with veteran Joseph Raaymakers during the 2016-2017 regular season.
But Villalta faltered after beginning the playoffs as the Soo’s no. 1 goalie and Raaymakers had to ride to the rescue in relief to lead the no. 2 seed Greyhounds past the no. 7 seed Flint Firebirds in the first round.
At any rate, it is quite the downer for the OHL to have only two goalies selected by NHL teams in 2017. It was thought by many that Jake McGrath, who became the no. 1 goalie in Sudbury as an OHL rookie in 2016-2017, would warrant selection by some NHL team, especially considering how well he played under baptism of fire with the below-.500 Wolves.
UP: Looking ahead to the 2017-2018 season, it looms as a banner season for the OHL at the 2018 NHL draft.
Early projections are that the OHL could surpass the world-best total of 42 players that it had picked at the 2017 NHL draft with so many plum 2000 birth-year skaters eligible next year.