The Kitchener Rangers picked up the rights of 16 players over the weekend during the two-day 2023 OHL Priority Selection Draft.
On Friday night, the team had consecutive picks in the opening round and added Cameron Reid with the 10th pick, followed by Luca Romano, as 11th.
Reid, a defenceman, is from down the highway in Aylmer, Ont., but played for the Bishop Kearney Selects 15U AAA program in Rochester, N.Y., last season where he filled up the statsheet by scoring 26 goals and setting up 50 others in 83 games.
“Getting Cameron Reid at pick 10 was something we were really happy about,” Rangers GM Mike McKenzie stated. “We think he is going to be a real good defenceman in our league, a really high-end player.”
Romano played with the Toronto Junior Canadiens U16 AAA hockey club last season, where he recorded 15 goals and 31 assists in 36 games.
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“Getting Luca Romano at 11, to get a forward and a defenceman, it’s a nice mix in the first round,” McKenzie said. “Luca is a really skilled, slick player. So we were really happy with how the first round went.”
Late in the second round, the Rangers selected Tanner Lam (Halton Hurricanes U16 AAA) with the 41st pick before picking up Matheas Stark (Toronto Marlboros U16) in the third round with the 47th pick in the draft.
The team had a pair of selections in the fourth round to start Day 2 of the draft and came away with the rights to Cameron Arquette (Sun County Panthers U16 AAA) and Owen Edwards (Whitby Wildcats U16 AAA).
Locally, forward Brady Martin was the first of five Waterloo Wolves selected in this year’s draft, as he was picked with the third overall choice by the Soo Greyhounds.
They also picked teammate Hunter Soloman in the fourth round, while Sam Black (Barrie, fourth round), (Brendan Gerber (London, sixth round) and Matthew Darrigan (North Bay, 12th round) were the other Wolves selected.
The Greyhounds continued to pick up kids from elsewhere in Waterloo Region as they made Jordan Charron the first Cambridge Redhawk selected in the draft in the sixth round.
The other four Cambridge players selected, including Jordan Charron, Jack D’Arcy (Flint, sixth round), Xaview Bussierre (Saginaw, 12th round), Reid Gammage (London, 13th round) and Caysen Craig (Brantford, 15th round).
Joshua Kaufman was the lone member of the Kitchener Jr. Rangers to hear his name called as he was picked by the Peterborough Petes in the 14th round.
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