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2020 OHL Priority Selection Preview

By Ontario Minor Hockey Association, 03/31/20, 3:00PM EDT

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Players to Watch heading into Saturday's Draft

The Ontario Minor Hockey Association is proud to continue its rich tradition of developing homegrown talent for selection in the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection draft on April 4, 2020.
 
Players from across the Minor Midget age group are eligible to be chosen in the OHL Draft. Last year, four players from the OMHA were selected in the first round of the OHL Draft and 74 were taken overall. The OHL U-18 Priority Selection will take place next week for Midget-aged players who have previously not been selected.
 
The OHL consists of 20 teams located across Ontario, Pennsylvania and Michigan. They are a member of the Canadian Hockey League and one of the main suppliers of players to the NHL.

Make sure to be following the OMHA on Twitter and Instagram on Saturday morning for live draft updates and recaps.

We wish the best of luck to all of our players!

Players to Watch

Dalyn Wakely (Quinte Red Devils) - Expect to hear his name called early in the draft fresh off of captaining his team to the OMHA Minor Midget AAA Championship. Wakely is blessed with very quick hands and elite vision. Off the rush, he can attack north/south or east/west as he has great puck control at top speed and can make quick cuts into open ice. Wakely is strong when he lacks time and space as he can rely on knowing where his teammates are and his confidence in his stickhandling and vision to open up something out of nothing.


Donovan McCoy (Quinte Red Devils) - A defenceman who showed he can be relied upon in many situations, allowing him to be a big presence for his team's success. McCoy is a two-way player and who uses his feet to defend and to jump in on the attack. He uses smart positioning, good gaps and smart reads to assist his team in defensive zone. Going forward, he makes consistent crisp passes and gets the puck to his forwards for a quick transition. McCoy possesses a strong point shot and he creates great shooting and passing lanes as moves along the blue-line with a lot of confidence.


Matthew Poitras (Whitby Wildcats) - An excellent play-making centreman who relies upon high-end hockey IQ and an exceptional work ethic. Poitras will compete all over the ice for pucks, often first on the forecheck or winning 1-on-1 battles. When he wins the puck, he already knows what to do as he can anticipate where his teammates are or where they will be. His vision and ability to make a variety of passes constantly puts pressure on defenses. However, his ability to use his instincts to score make him especially dangerous.


Ryan McGuire (Burlington Eagles) - Loves to keep his feet moving and gets rewarded by getting pucks in stride, allowing him to slip past defenders or beat them wide. Inside the offensive zone he moves very well into open ice, getting pucks in space and allowing him to attack by finding seams to shoot or pass. Playing in traffic doesn't bother McGuire as he is nimble and makes quick cuts and moves to elude a checker. His teammates get rewarded often with his vision and playmaking skills. He drove a lot of offence for Burlington this year.


Sam Alfano (Southern Tier Admirals) - A rare combo of having size and some fine puck skills. Usually difficult with a longer stick and a longer skating stride, Alfano has high end finesse with the puck. He can make excellent touch plays and passes that shows a great awareness and ability to execute. He also uses great positioning in offensive zone to find soft areas and he always seems to find loose pucks and rebounds. Alfano also uses good agility and edges to create time and space and shows off a quick accurate release whenever he is given an opportunity to shoot. He was an excellent leader for this offensive team and was relied upon to score some big goals.


Carson Christy (Oshawa Generals) - Uses his great instincts and IQ to be a handful for opposing defenders. He likes to have the puck on his stick where he can show off his stickhandling and playmaking abilities. Christy's quick hands allow him to get defenders off balance and can open up good passing lanes that forces goalies to move and open up. He can move through traffic in the neutral zone as he keeps his heads up and has good agility and balance to keep up his speed and puck control. You always have to be aware of where Christy is on the ice as he can put up points in a hurry.


Tnias Mathurin (Ajax-Pickering Raiders) - Steady, consistent and intelligent are the best ways to describe this high end defender. Mathurin was a mature and strong leader for the Raiders who led by example on the ice. He makes a very strong first pass and is not afraid to join the rush at any time. He has good size and he can play with a physical edge, he uses his body to defend and relies on his ability to win one on one battles all over the ice to help make his team successful.


Jackson Edward (York-Simcoe Express) - Edward is noticeable right away because he has a great combination of size and skating. He is a very mobile defender, with a lot of confidence when he carries the puck. He is very agile and uses his edges to elude and then his powerful stride to gain separation. When Edward gains the offensive zone, he rarely throws pucks away, but uses a high IQ, knowing when to buy time or when to find teammates for passes. Without the puck, he is great at reading when to jump into the slot to get a shot on net. 


Jake Karabela (Guelph Jr. Gryphons) - A centre that loves having the puck on his stick. He uses his quickness to catch defenders flatfooted and can continue to beat players to the outside. Karabela is also able to use good balance to make quick cuts to buy time and space in offensive zone. From here he can get pucks to the net or find open teammates. Karabela has a good nose for the net and can pick up on loose pucks well.


George Fegaras (Richmond Hill Coyotes) - A very mobile defender that uses a very smooth efficient stride that keeps his gaps very tight defensively. Because of this, forwards have limited space to attack and he can disrupt a lot of plays off the rush. Going forward, Fegaras has confidence carrying the puck, he opens up a lot of ice with good edges and puck control. He keeps his head up allowing him to read and react well to his options and he finds shooting and passing lanes with ease. He can drive a lot of offense for his team and makes opposing teams have to make sure they know when he is on the ice.


Tai York (Niagara North Stars) - A smart offensive player that uses his speed and instincts to produce offensively. Can read and react well, anticipating where pucks will be. This allows him to exploit mistakes or to pick off passes where he can then strike with his shot or use his patience to open things up. York routinely gets rewarded for having smart positional play.


Ryan Struthers (Oakville Rangers) - Struthers is an intelligent forward who can be relied upon to make the right play. He has high hockey IQ, allowing him to read and react well in all three zones. In the defensive zone he comes deep and helps out his defencemen making himself a constant option. When he gets the puck he can use his skating to carve through the neutral zone to get numerous zone entries. Inside the offensive zone, Stuthers keeps defenders off balance as he can use his vision to find his teammates or use his strength to take pucks to the net.


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