Guelph Storm addresses offence in OHL draft
GUELPH – The Guelph Storm concentrated on their offence as seven of their first nine selections in the OHL draft that wrapped up Saturday were forwards.
In all the Storm picked 16 players and 11 were forwards, three defencemen and two goaltenders and all were from AAA squads.
The Storm’s first-round pick, 12th overall, was Jett Luchanko from the London Junior Knights U16s. The 5-10.75, 159-pound right winger had 19 goals and 27 assists in 21 regular-season games before picking up four goals and 12 assists in eight playoff games. He also had three goals and three assists in the OHL Cup and a goal and an assist in four games with the Strathroy Rockets of the Greatern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Hunter McKenzie of the Halton Hills Hurricanes U16s was taken in the second round, 40th overall. McKenzie’s a centre who’s 5-11.25 tall and weighs 201 pounds. He had 24 goals and 25 assists in 30 regular-season and playoff games with the Hurricanes who also had a goal and an assist in four games with the GOJHL’s Listowel Cyclones.
Rowan Topp of the North York Rangers U16s was the first defenceman selected by the Storm as he was taken in the third round, 59th overall. He had seven goals and 10 assists in 45 games with North York and he’s 6-1 and 189 pounds.
The Storm followed those picks with a pair of centres – Jay Feldberg and Will Hughes.
The 5-11.4, 158-pound Feldberg was taken in the fourth round, 75th overall, while Hughes (5-9, 145 lbs) was selected in the fifth round, 96th overall.
Feldberg was the first of four players from the Toronto Marlboros U16s picked by the Storm. The second was right winger Leo Serlin (5-11, 172 lbs) who was also taken in the fifth round, six picks after Hughes who played with the Nepean Raiders U18s.
Feldberg had 21 goals and 24 assists in 45 games with the Marlboros while Serlin had 22 goals and 26 assists.
Hughes had 10 goals and 17 assists in 39 games with Nepean.
Other players selected by the Storm were left winger Lucas Leblanc (5-11, 154 lbs) from the Ottawa Senators U18s in the sixth round (115th overall), defenceman Hudson Gill (6-1, 172 lbs) from the Toronto Marlboros U16s in the seventh round (135th), centre Hunter McKnight (6-1, 175 lbs) from the Brockville Braves U18s in the eighth round (155th), goaltender Marko Bilic (6-1, 156 lbs) from the Toronto Marlboros U16s in the ninth round (175th), left winger Mitch Harding (6-3.25, 200 lbs) from the York-Simcoe Express U16s in the 10th round (195th), left winger Zahary Shepard (5-9.25, 160 lbs) from the Toronto Marlboros U16s in the 11th round (215th), defenceman Carson Littlejohn (5-11.75, 225 lbs) from the York-Simcoe Express U16s in the 12th round (235th), goaltender Braxton Bennett (5-10, 157 lbs) from the Kemptville 73s U18s in the 13th round (255th), centre Jared McNeil (5-8, 157 lbs) from the York-Simcoe Express U16s in the 14th round (275th) and left winger Joey Wassilyn (6-0.25, 259 lbs) from the Mississauga Rebels U16s in the 15th round (295th).
- Guelph Sports Journal