After the first three rounds of the 2022 OHL Priority Selection were conducted on Friday night, rounds 4-15 took place Saturday morning.
For the North Bay Battalion, the team made 13 picks on Saturday to go with the team made on Friday.
“I think we have been able to round out our depth chart,” Battalion general manager Adam Dennis said shortly after round nine had concluded. “Like we said yesterday, really honing in on a player prototype we covet and I think we have been able to do that today. Our goal is to be a competitive team every year and we don’t think we need to have any dips and rebuilds.”
“We feel we can retool and today is a really good job in doing that.”
The Troops got started quickly by adding defender Tyson Rismond with the 66th overall pick from the Sudbury Nickel Capitals U16 AAA team. The defender put up 14 points in 23 games, and also one point in two games with the Sudbury Cubs in the NOJHL. With their second pick of the fourth round, the Battalion selected their first goaltender as they took Michael McIvor 83rd overall.
In the fifth round, they took Dylan Richter, another defender, 101st overall, and with picks in the seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th, the Battalion took Aidan Russell, Nolan Laird, Owen Kinghan, Lirim Amidovski, Nikolas Young, Beckett Ewart and Nash Giles.
In the 13th round, North Bay stayed local and took Jesse Lefebvre, who spent the season with the North Bay Trappers U16 AAA team in the GNML. Through 23 games, he put up 14 goals, 7 assists for 21 points.
For the young forward, being drafted by his hometown team is extra special.
“It’s a great honour to be selected by the North Bay Battalion,” he said via text. “As a kid watching the Battalion growing up, I now have the opportunity to maybe wear that green jersey. It’s a tremendous honour.”
Lefebvre is on the smaller side, much like third round pick Jacob Therrien, but that doesn’t mean he will back down as he incorporates some of Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand’s game into his own.
“There are parts of Marchand’s game I do take away and use like forechecking and gritty play. I think that will translate to the next level, but everything I do needs to improve by a lot.”
“I definitely need to put on more weight as a smaller player to play with the bigger boys and my speed has to increase as well. My vision with the puck needs to improve, but time on the ice will help with that.”
The Troops rounded out the day by taking Jonathan Careri and Jack Lisson in the 14th and 15th rounds respectively.
As for Dennis, trying to predict where a 15-year-old can be in his age 19 season can be tricky.
“You look for the things that you look for in anything. You look for character, hard work, you look for attributes that jump out at you like speed, the skill, the skating. The best predictor of where a guy will be when he’s 19 or 20 is how they act, how they handle themselves, how they process and we feel that we have got a bunch of kids today that will only get better.”
“When we make these picks, we draft a player how we see them now. I am never going to draft a player hoping they grow a foot, we are confident in the players that we took as we are and I think it’s that character, that drive, that motivation, that separates the guys we took.”
With the OHL being so cyclical, thanks to players only being here for a short time, how can a team combat that?
“I think if you are in constant communication with your staff, your needs on the ice and needs down the line, I think it’s possible,” explained Dennis. “I also think that it’s real beneficial to the young group to see some success. I think the coaches do a great job, but the guys who really get the message across are the older players.”
“Now as a new guy coming in, you’re going to be able to experience the guys that get drafted this year, the guys that went deep in the playoffs this year, all the guys that can share their experiences with the players that come in, and I think that’s a huge benefit and a huge advantage and it’s why teams like the London Knights are constantly on top, they have guys who have been there.”
Although the Battalion are in the midst of a playoff run, with the Priority Selection now over, it’s tough not to look ahead to see where these players will pencil in.
“I don’t think we base anything on seniority based on age,” Dennis stated. “We base things on competitiveness and who is going to give us the best chance to win. I know these kids will not only push for a roster spot, but to play high up in the lineup as well.”
