Blueliner Beauchesne first of 14 picked by Storm in draft
GUELPH – The new wave of Guelph Storm players were picked this weekend as the local squad selected 14 players in the OHL entry draft held Friday and Saturday.
The first three rounds were held Friday with the other 12 rounds going Saturday.
The Storm selected six forwards, six defencemen and two goaltenders.
Defenceman Quinn Beauchesne, 5-foot-10, 151 pounds, a 16-year-old who played with the Nepean Raiders U18 AAAs was picked in the first round, 14th overall, while the Storm selected centres in back-to-back picks in the second round, taking 6-foot, 171-pound Parker Snelgrove of the London Junior Knights U16 AAAs 30th overall and 5-foot-8, 147-pound Will McFadden of the Peterborough Junior Petes U16 AAAs 31st overall.
Beauchesne had eight goals and 27 assists in 28 games for the Raiders while Snelgrove had 11 goals and 34 assists in 28 games for the Junior Knights and McFadden had 41 goals and 41 assists in 36 games for the Junior Petes.
Claimed in the third round, 43rd overall, was 5-foot-10, 148-pound defenceman Rylan Singh (11 goals, 35 assists in 36 games) of the York-Simcoe Express U16 AAAs while 5-foot-7, 161-pound centre Lec Katzin (28 goals, 36 assists in 35 games) of the Toronto Marlboros U16 AAAs was taken in the fifth round, 94th overall.
Picked in the seventh round, 134th overall, was 6-foot-2, 150-pound goaltender Zachary Jovanovski of the Sun County Panthers U16AAAs. The other goaltender selected was 6-foot-1, 155-pound Kayden Newton of the Halton Hurricanes U16 AAAs in the 11th round, 214th overall.
Other forwards taken were 6-foot-3, 173-pound right winger Sam Johnston (20 goals, 12 assists in 29 games) of the Hamilton Junior Bulldogs U16 AAAs in the eighth round, 154th overall, 6-foot, 180-pound left winger Jack Murtagh (49 goals, 46 assists in 64 games) of the Bishop Kearney Selects 15s in the ninth round, 174th overall, and his 5-foot-7, 145-pound teammate centre Jimmy Sutherland (35 goals, 28 assists in 71 games) in the 13th round, 254th overall.
Other defenceman picked were 6-foot-2, 162-pound Nathan McHattie (one goal, 14 assists in 36 games) of the Peterborough Junior Petes U16 AAAs in the 10th round, 190th overall, 6-foot-1, 172-pound Grant Spada (one goal, 10 assists in 34 games) of the Halton Hurricanes U16 AAAs in the 10th round, four picks after McHattie, Vincent Piccone (two goals, 17 assists in 36 games) of the Guelph Junior Gryphons U16 AAAs in the 14th round, 274th overall, and 5-foot-7, 162-pound Alex Fegaras (3 goals, 10 assists in 36 games) of the Richmond Hill Coyotes U16 AAAs in the 15th round, 294th overall.
Piccone, 5-foot-10, 176-pounds, was the lone Junior Gryphon picked in the draft.
Erie Otters picked defenceman 6-foot-1, 160-pound Matthew Schaefer (12 goals, 20 assists in 25 games) of the Halton Hurricanes U16 AAAs with the first overall pick while the Niagara IceDogs selected centre 6-foot-2, 193-pound Ryan Roobroeck (50 goals, 28 assists in 29 games) of the London Junior Knights U16 AAAs second overall and the Soo Greyhounds picked centre 5-foot-11, 170-pound Brady Martin (27 goals, 29 assists in 23 games) of the Waterloo Wolves U16 AAAs with the third overall pick.
The North Bay Battalion were the most active in the draft as they selected 17 players while the Windsor Spitfires were the least active as they picked 11 with only one in the first four rounds.
The Flint Firebirds made 10 picks in the first seven rounds.
- Guelph Sports Journal