The London Knights chose two forwards and a defenceman with their first three picks, and four area players heard their names called as well on night number one of the 2024 OHL Priority Selection.
The Priority Selection actually began on April 11 with the announcement by the Windsor Spitfires that Ethan Belchetz would be the first player taken and it continued with the rest of the first three rounds on April 12.
Four picks after Belchetz had his name officially called on draft night, St. Thomas native Parker Vaughan was chosen by the Barrie Colts. Vaughan led the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks in scoring with 23 goals and 49 points in 30 games and is known as a skilled player with an elite shot and someone who is hard on the forecheck.
The London Knights made their first pick at 20th overall in the first round and used it to select forward Logan Hawery from the Barrie Jr. Colts AAA. Hawery captained the Colts in 2023-24 and turned in a big offensive year as well with 27 goals and 55 points in 31 games.
Hawery says he models his game after Logan Stankoven of the Dallas Stars. Stankoven is best known for his hockey IQ and his competitiveness on the ice and basically forced his way onto one of the top rosters in the National Hockey League in his first professional season.
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The second round saw the Spitfires take defenceman Carter Hicks from the London Jr. Knights with the 24th overall selection.
Hicks was the captain of the Jr. Knights and along with a great ability to defend added 25 points in 30 games.
Hicks’ teammate Ethan Dean also went in the second round to the Sudbury Wolves. Dean was second in Jr. Knights scoring this past year.
The London Knights used their second rounder to bring defenceman Caleb Mitchell into the family. Mitchell is a puck-moving defender from Omemme, Ont., who played for the Peterborough Petes U16 AAAs this season. Mitchell was the top scoring defender on the Petes.
Guelph went to the London Jr. Knights roster for their second round selection and chose big defenceman Eric Frossard.
The OHL’s Knights drafted Max Mews with their third-round pick. Max is the brother of Henry Mews of the Ottawa 67’s. Their father Harry played in both the American Hockey League and the ECHL.
Mews was limited to just 10 league games in 2023-24 but he had 12 total points in those games.
The Knights and the the rest of their fellow OHL clubs will finish out the final rounds of the priority selection to begin the day on April 13 and then London will get set to host the Kitchener Rangers in Game 2 of their Western Conference semi-final series at 4 p.m., at Budweiser Gardens. The Knights defeated Kitchener 5-3 in Game 1 on April 11.
Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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