Maple Leafs land Fellinger
The improbable story of Wawa born defenseman Rylan Fellinger continued at the 2025 National Hockey League draft. A distant 13th round pick by the Flint Firebirds from the Under 18 Soo Jr. Greyhounds at the 2023 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft, Fellinger became the NHL property of the Toronto Maple Leafs when they took the 6 foot 4, 200 pound defenseman in the sixth round.
Back at the ’23 OHL draft, Fellinger was the fourth defenseman taken from the Northern Ontario Hockey Association — and the 10th of 11 players from the NOHA to be picked. And of the three defensemen from the NOHA who were taken ahead of Fellinger, two of them were his teammates with the Jr. Greyhounds at the time.
Fellinger has since played in a whopping 130 OHL games over two seasons, having made Flint immediately after being drafted in 2023 and then carrying on with the Firebirds as a full time defenseman again in the ’24-25 season.
Amazingly, Fellinger has played in almost double the number of games than all other players combined from the NOHA who were drafted into the OHL in 2023. In fact, the only other player from the NOHA who has become a regular in the OHL since being drafted is forward Hudson Chitaroni, who was picked by the Sudbury Wolves from the Jr. Greyhounds in the third round. Chitaroni played in 65 OHL games for Sudbury in ’24-25 as a rookie.
As for the other defensemen from the NOHA who were taken ahead of Fellinger in 2023, two have played in the OHL, albeit briefly. Seventh rounder Declan Gallivan — also from the Jr. Greyhounds — has played in one OHL game for the North Bay Battalion. Candon O’Neill, a 12th round pick by the Saginaw Spirit from the Jr. Greyhounds of the Soo, has played in three OHL games. The other defensemen, fourth rounder Alexandre Valade from the Sudbury Nickel Capitals, has yet to appear in a single OHL game for the Brampton Steelheads.
Fellinger has surpassed them all at the OHL level. Not only that, he is now an NHL draft pick. And by the iconic Toronto Maple Leafs, no less.
photo of Rylan Fellinger by Bob Davies