DRAFT REWIND: 2016 – BULLDOGS ADD COVETED ASSETS
*The 2020 OHL Priority Selection will be conducted entirely online. In addition, the first three rounds of the event will be streamed on the OHL’s YouTube channel with player highlight footage and live updates. The League will also be gathering content throughout the event, engaging draftees, general managers and OHL Central Scouting personnel on virtual platforms.*
The Hamilton Bulldogs 2016 draft class may be best remembered for what would happen two seasons later in 2017-18 as the Bulldogs 1st & 3rd round selections would become the coveted assets that would return Championship pieces to the Bulldogs roster on the road to the 2018 J. Ross Robertson Cup. The Bulldogs would wind up selecting 6 players who would appear in the Ontario Hockey League in the 2016 Draft, while another 3 would move their studies to the NCAA.
With their highest 1st round selection to date in the OHL Priority Selection Draft, 3rd overall, the Bulldogs would select power forward Connor Roberts, captain of the Grey Bruce Highlanders. After a minor midget season which would see Roberts lead the Highlanders in scoring and had a very successful appearance representing Team Canada at the Youth Olympic Games where he would produce 3 goals & an assist for 4 points across 6 games. Stepping into the Bulldogs roster to open the 2016-17 season, Roberts would appear in 85 games over a season and a half with the Bulldogs, as well as once again representing Team Canada at the World U-17 Hockey Championship. In the 2017-18 season Roberts would be the centerpiece of a deal which would send the forward to the Flint Firebirds, returning Nicholas Caamano & Ryan Moore to the Bulldogs helping set the base for the 2018 OHL Championship. Roberts has gone on to appear in 119 games for the Firebirds, helping them climb the ladder in the West.
The Bulldogs would turn to the defensive depth chart for their 2nd pick, 39th overall, selecting D.J. King from the Mississauga Rebels program. King, the son of long time NHLer Derek King who appeared in 830 games with the New York Islanders, Hartford Whalers, Toronto Maple Leafs & St. Louis Blues as well as currently serving as head coach of the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs, would spend his following two seasons with the USNTDP before committing to the Hamilton Bulldogs prior to the 2018-19 season. The 6’3, 215lbs stalwart would appear in 50 regular season games with the team, as well as all four playoff games in 2019 before being moved to the Saginaw Spirit prior to the 2019-20 season where he would form an imposing partnership with fellow former Bulldog, and 2015 2nd round pick, Reilly Webb.
With the 45th overall selection in the 3rd round the Bulldogs would continue on the blueline, selecting offensively gifted rearguard Riley McCourt from the Niagara North Stars. McCourt would star as a 16-year old for the GOJHL powerhouse St. Catharines Falcons in the 2016-17 season while making 9 appearances for the Bulldogs. The 2017-18 would see McCourt to up his ice time with the Bulldogs appearing in 26 games before a January trade would send him to the Flint Firebirds as the centerpiece for the Bulldogs acquisition of towering two-way defender Nicolas Mattinen, who would play a key role in the 2018 OHL Championship. McCourt has since gone on to appear in 140 games for the Firebirds, with his best season in 2019-20 where he would record 62 points in 63 games.
It was in the 4th round with the 81st overall pick that the Bulldogs would add an inspiration for the organization from the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs, Jake Murray. A gifted center with tremendous skills and next level hockey IQ, Murray had been diagnosed with a rare nasopharyngeal carcinoma that threatened more then just his hockey career. After playing through his condition, and leading both his team and the ALLIANCE league in scoring Murray would move to the St. Thomas Stars of the GOJHL, recording almost a point per game as a 16-year old rookie. In the 2017-18 season Murray would earn a full-time spot with the Bulldogs and appear in 30 games on the road to the 2018 OHL Championship. Murray has since remained with the Hamilton Bulldogs working towards a return to the lineup and showing his incredible heart and determination in every step along the way.
Dylan D’Agostino would make it a second year in a row for the Bulldogs to draft a forward late who would crack the roster, following Isaac Nurse in 2015. Selected in the 10th round, 185th overall from the North Bay Trappers, D’Agostino would go on to star with the Powassan Voodoos of the NOJHL before arriving in the OHL during the 2017-18 season for a pair of games and playing an additional 26 in the 2018-19 season. Facing a roster crunch in Hamilton, D’Agostino would make his way to the Caledonia Corvairs of the GOJHL where he would post 29 points in 29 games in the 2019-20 season.
In the 7th round, 126th overall the Bulldogs selected intriguing netminding talent Tanner Sheppard from the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs. Over the next four seasons, Sheppard would star with the Dundas Blues, Ancaster Avalanche, Trenton Golden Hawks, Pickering Panthers and Toronto Jr. Canadiens before making his way to the Bulldogs near the close of the 2019-20 season to serve as an emergency back-up/3rd goaltender for the Bulldogs and provide competition for time in the crease.
In addition to the 6 players who would make their way to the Hamilton Bulldogs from the 2016 OHL Priority Selection Draft, another three would make their way to the NCAA. Selected in the 3rd round, 55th overall, son of long-time Washington Capital Michal Pivonka (825 games over 12 seasons) Jacob Pivonka would head to the USNTDP with D.J. King before moving to the University of Notre Dame. Pivonka has since been selected in the 4th round, 103rd overall by the New York Islanders in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. In the 7th round, 138 overall the Bulldogs would select defenseman Tyler Spott, son of current Vegas Golden Knights assistant coach Steve Spott, who would enroll at Northeastern University for the 2019-20 season. Finally selected in the 15th round, 285th overall Evan McIntrye would eventually enroll at Ohio State for the 2020-21 season.
From the 2016 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection Draft, the Hamilton Bulldogs took acquired a lot of potential and assets that were clearly coveted around the league. Although only Jake Murray & Tanner Sheppard currently remain with the team, the trades of Connor Roberts & Riley McCourt would return 3 players who would help set the foundation for the Bulldogs to win the 2018 OHL Championship.
