The first round of the National Hockey League Entry Draft at Pittsburgh is tonight.
There are a number of Owen Sound Attack players eligible to be drafted, albeit, it’s not expected that any will crack the first round.
Jarrod Maidens who missed 2/3rds of last season due to injury, is the highest rated Owen Sound player, listed by NHL Central Scouting 35th among North American skaters.
Teammates Gemel Smith is in at # 37 and Artur Gavrus is rated # 60 among the North American based players.
Defender Jake Dotchin who had a steady rookie season on the Attack blueline is also rated for the draft, plus there are other draft eligible players from Owen Sound who aren’t on the CSB final list.
The curious thing is the NHL Entry Draft is both meaningful and meaningless.
It’s meaningful because a player has caught the attention of hockey’s scouting fraternity and will be rewarded for their talent and hard work.
However, the draft becomes meaningless only moments after the last pick because it’s what you do in the sport, not where you’re picked, if at all, that matters most.
From an Owen Sound standpoint, our OHL history is dotted with such examples.
Who drafted Curtis Sanford, Joel Ward, Sean Avery, Mark Giordano or Dan Snyder ?
The answer is ” nobody ” and yet all made it to the NHL with exceptional degrees of success.
I’m Fred Wallace