Priority Selection set for Saturday
BRAMPTON, Ont. – The fortunes of the 20 Ontario Hockey League clubs for the next several years will be heavily influenced by decisions made during the 2008 OHL Priority Selection, set to start at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Brampton Battalion will exercise the 15th pick in the first round, in which each team has one selection in reverse order of the preceding season’s final point totals, with non-playoff teams holding the first four spots.
The Sudbury Wolves are expected to choose centre John McFarland of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens with the first pick of the 15-round process. If recent years are any indication, the Wolves may announce the first overall choice Friday. The Erie Otters select second, followed by the Owen Sound Attack, Kingston Frontenacs and Peterborough Petes.
“It’s always been our policy to take the best player available in the first round, regardless of his position, and from there we’ll see how it evolves,” said Stan Butler, Battalion director of hockey operations and head coach.
Bob Wetick, the club’s director of scouting, said there is a lot of uncertainty surroundings the selections after McFarland.
“We don’t know what Erie will do or what might happen in the four or five picks after that. There isn’t a lot of consensus in how the first round will play out.”
Wetick said the 1992-born crop of players, who are eligible for the OHL Priority Selection for the first time this year, may not be as strong across the board as recent cohorts.
“It’s tough to handicap. There are some very talented forwards, but it might not be as strong on defence as it was two years ago. Goaltending, as usual, is another issue, because it’s a significant step to jump into our league from minor midget.”
Butler said he has interviewed a number of players who may be available to the Troops in the first round.
“I’ve interviewed six or seven players and tried to sort out where I’d have them ranked. Our scouts interview every player on our list, but I try to focus on the players that we could potentially take in the first round. I get our guys to narrow down the players to whom we might take and then I go out and watch them play. I’m comfortable with that group of kids.”
The Battalion has 17 picks, comprising at least one in every round except the second and two selections in each of the third, sixth and 14th rounds.
The club’s second-round pick, 35th overall, was dealt to Kingston on Dec. 5 in a trade for left winger Cory Emmerton. In addition to its own third-round choice, 55th overall, the Battalion owns the Sarnia Sting’s pick, 51st overall, acquired for right winger Jason Cassidy in June, 2006.
In the sixth round, the Battalion has Owen Sound’s pick, 103rd overall, obtained for defenceman Miles Cope in October, 2005, and the Belleville Bulls’ selection, 119th overall, acquired in January, 2006, for right winger Brock McPherson. The Battalion’s own pick, 115th overall, was sent to Sarnia with right winger Matt Smyth last June for a 2009 third-rounder, 2010 fifth-rounder and 2011 sixth-rounder.
The Battalion acquired Sudbury’s 14th-round pick, 261st overall, in exchange for the Troops’ pick in that round in 2006.
The Battalion didn’t have a second-rounder in 2007, but the first four players it chose, centre Matt Duchene, the fifth overall pick, right winger Chris Beauchamp and goaltender Brandon Foote, both third-round selections, and left winger Josh Shalla, a fourth-rounder, all saw action in the regular season or, in Foote’s case, the preseason.
“When I look at our first four picks from last year, that’s a pretty good group without a second-rounder,” noted Butler. “We have two third-round picks this year, and we have to exercise them in a smart way.”
Butler said the club will continue to focus on depth through the later rounds.
“If you have good scouts, that will pay off in the late rounds, and traditionally we’ve done well in the late rounds. Every team hopes they’ll get some kids late that can come in and make the team. For us, it’s always been best for us to develop our own players.”
In 10 OHL Priority Selections, the Battalion has chosen 194 players, comprising 108 forwards, 61 defencemen and 25 goaltenders. Of that group, 80 players, numbering 47 forwards, 25 defencemen and eight goaltenders, have played at least one game with the team.
The OHL Priority Selection will be conducted via the Internet for the eighth consecutive year, with the clubs making picks from remote locations connected to the league office.
