The North Bay Battalion selected 15 new prospects in the OHL Priority Selection on Saturday.

As announced on Friday, the Troops picked offensive defenceman Ty Nelson first overall.

Centre Dayln Wakely was their second round pick, with defenceman Tnais Mathurin selected in the third round.

“We knew this draft was a deep one, and with that No. 30 pick we were going in with eyes wide open,” said general manager Adam Dennis. “There’s a long wait between pick No. 1 and pick No. 30, but we felt somebody special was going to be there. Wakely was a player we hoped would be there, and we were happy to get him.

“The consensus was that the two best minor midget teams in Ontario were the Jr. Canadians and Red Devils, and we feel like we got the best player from both of those teams.”

“Mathurin is a really big, physical defensive defenceman who has some offensive ability too,” noted Dennis. “He skates the game really well. He takes care of his defensive end and is a guy who can step in right away.”

The Troops say their first four picks were captains of their minor midget teams last season.

They also drafted Trappers forward Brett Richardson in the 12th round.

Check out all of North Bay’s selections here: https://ontariohockeyleague.com/draft/2020/NB

Two other Trappers were selected by other teams. Hamilton added blueliner Callum Craft in the 12th round while centre Chase Lefebvre was selected by Peterborough in the 15th round.

 

 

(Photo by Tim Cornett/OHL Images)

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