7 OHL Players in First Round NHL Draft
Friday June 27, 2015
Sunrise, FL – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that seven OHL players were selected in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft held Friday night at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL.
The seven OHL players were among the 17 selected from the CHL that represented over 56% of all players chosen in the draft’s opening round including six picks in the top-10 led by Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters who became the ninth straight CHL player to be selected first overall, and the seventh OHL player in nine years.
The OHL led the CHL in first round selections highlighted by four players in the top-6 led by McDavid, Erie Otters teammate Dylan Strome chosen third overall by the Arizona Coyotes, Mitch Marner of the London Knights chosen fourth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Pavel Zacha of the Sarnia Sting chosen sixth overall by the New Jersey Devils. This season marked just the third time in NHL Draft history where the OHL has had four players in the top-six following the 2008 and 1972 drafts.
Rounding out the OHL picks in the first round were Team Canada World Junior gold medalist Lawson Crouse of the Kingston Frontenacs chosen 11th overall by the host Florida Panthers, Zachary Senyshyn of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds chosen 15th overall by the Boston Bruins, and Travis Konecny of the Ottawa 67’s chosen 24th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers.
McDavid and Strome became just the sixth pair of teammates to be selected within the top-3 picks and first since the 2013 duo of Halifax Mooseheads Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, and the 2012 Sarnia Sting that featured Nail Yakupov and Alex Galchenyuk. Wilf Paiement and Rick Hampton of the 1974 St. Catharines Black Hawks round out the list of former OHL players with this distinction.
Strome was also selected two picks higher than his older brother Ryan, who was chosen fifth overall in 2011. The two are the 18th brother combination in NHL history to be chosen in the first round, a CHL trend also evident in last year’s draft when second overall pick Sam Reinhart went two spots higher than older brother Griffin who was selected fourth overall in 2012. The last set of OHL brothers to be selected in the first round were Chris and Anthony Stewart in 2006 and 2003 respectively, along with the trio of Jordan, Marc, and Eric Staal in 2006, 2005, and 2003.
OHL Players Selected in the First Round of the 2015 NHL Draft:
(Click on a player to watch post-draft interview)
1. Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) – Edmonton Oilers
3. Dylan Strome (Erie Otters) – Arizona Coyotes
4. Mitch Marner (London Knights) – Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Pavel Zacha (Sarnia Sting) – New Jersey Devils
11. Lawson Crouse (Kingston Frontenacs) – Florida Panthers
15. Zachary Senyshyn (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) – Boston Bruins
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