The North Bay Battalion celebrated its first alum ever to win the Stanley Cup as Barclay Goodrow hoisted the trophy with the Tampa Bay Lightning last week.
Well, Brandon Coe is hoping to make some more team history this week at the NHL Entry Draft as he hopes to become the first player to be selected in the top two rounds of the draft since the team moved from Brampton to North Bay in 2013.
Rated 35th for North American Skates in NHL Central Scouting, Coe could become the highest-drafted North Bay Battalion player ever, unseating former defender Cameron Dineen who was selected in the third round, 68th overall by the Arizona Coyotes back in 2016.
"I would say that Brandon has first-round capabilities in terms of his ability and in terms of his potential," said Adam Dennis, Battalion general manager.
"It is the single most important thing we strive for as a staff and that is moving players on to the next level so we are very excited for Brandon's opportunity and it is one of the main goals of our program, we want to develop players and win championships. I think last year with Mason, we were proud of him and Brandon really has a chance to be the first North Bay Battalion player to be selected in the first two rounds."
Dennis doesn't feel the pandemic has done anything to impact Coe's status although leagues in Europe and Quebec have already started play while the OHL is not scheduled to start until December.
"All the evaluation, at least it has been done," noted Dennis about scouting the 6'4", 190 pound forward.
"With the added time, there are teams that are circling back which has occurred over the past month. However, the initial rush was just in June.
"I know there have been a lot of interviews for our guys but outside of that as a hockey player you are really focussed on your next game and that is really the focus right now for these guys is getting bigger and stronger along with going through their routines and their training plans and getting ready for the next time they are on the ice. Outside of a bit of mental unrest but I think the biggest challenge is keeping their minds busy."
The first round of the NHL Entry Draft will go Tuesday night online and then will resume for rounds two to seven on Wednesday morning.
Another player who has caused some NHL buzz in this bizarre NHL draft is Avery Winslow. The Floridian impressed immediately after coming over in a trade with the London Knights netting one goal and eight assists for 9 points in only 12 games with the Troops before suffering an injury he was never able to return from after the season was cancelled in March.
"We were fielding a number of calls about him," noted Dennis.
"It will be interesting to see if there was enough of a sample size for him with the advanced minutes for the scouts to see what he could do in those last 12 games with us but even then he struggled a bit with injuries. You could not help notice the potential and what he is going to do for us in the next couple of years is really exciting."
