Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League is proud to announce that 66 OHL players have been included on NHL Central Scouting’s October ‘Players to Watch’ List for the 2022 NHL Draft scheduled to take place July 7-8 in Montreal, Quebec.
Forwards Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs and Matthew Poitras of the Guelph Storm each received ‘A’ ratings indicating a potential first round selection.
The OHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2019-20, Wright has recorded six points (2-4–6) through his first five games of the 2021-22 season. The 17-year-old Frontenacs captain played a key role in Canada’s gold medal at the 2021 IIHF World Under-18 Hockey Championship in Frisco, Texas this past May.
Poitras was the 12th overall pick of the 2020 OHL Priority Selection from the Whitby Wildcats U16 program. The 17-year-old centreman has four points (3-1–4) through his first four OHL contests.
An additional 21 players were assigned ‘B’ ratings indicating a potential second or third round selection while 43, including five goaltenders, received ‘C’ designations indicating a potential fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh round candidate.
All 20 OHL member teams were represented on the list led by the London Knights with eight players included. The Guelph Storm and Sudbury Wolves trailed with six players respectively while the Niagara IceDogs and North Bay Battalion each had five.
The list includes 45 OHL forwards, 16 defencemen and five goaltenders.
2021 NHL Central Scouting October Players to Watch List – OHL
Players have been identified using the following criteria:
• A Rating – Indicates a first round candidate
• B Rating – Indicates a second or third round candidate
• C Rating – Indicates a fourth/fifth/sixth round candidate
| RATING | PLAYER | POS. | TEAM |
| A | Matthew Poitras | RC | Guelph Storm |
| A | Shane Wright | RC | Kingston Frontenacs |
| B | Liam Arnsby | RC | North Bay Battalion |
| B | Owen Beck | RC | Mississauga Steelheads |
| B | Michael Buchinger | LD | Guelph Storm |
| B | Aidan Castle | LW | Niagara IceDogs |
| B | Jorian Donovan | LD | Hamilton Bulldogs |
| B | Jackson Edward | LD | London Knights |
| B | Pano Fimis | RC | Niagara IceDogs |
| B | David Goyette | LC | Sudbury Wolves |
| B | Cedrick Guindon | LC | Owen Sound Attack |
| B | Hunter Haight | RC | Barrie Colts |
| B | Gavin Hayes | RW | Flint Firebirds |
| B | Jake Karabela | LC | Guelph Storm |
| B | Zakary Lavoie | RW | Mississauga Steelheads |
| B | Paul Ludwinski | LW | Kingston Frontenacs |
| B | Bryce McConnell-Barker | LC | Soo Greyhounds |
| B | Pavel Mintyukov | LD | Saginaw Spirit |
| B | Ty Nelson | RD | North Bay Battalion |
| B | Vinzenz Rohrer | RW | Ottawa 67’s |
| B | Matyas Sapovaliv | LC | Saginaw Spirit |
| B | Spencer Sova | LD | Erie Otters |
| B | Danny Zhilkin | LC | Guelph Storm |
| C | Ryan Abraham | LC | Windsor Spitfires |
| C | Sam Alfano | RW | Peterborough Petes |
| C | Andre Anania | LD | Sudbury Wolves |
| C | Braeden Bowman | RW | Guelph Storm |
| C | Brett Brochu | G | London Knights |
| C | Gavin Bryant | LC | Owen Sound Attack |
| C | Ben Bujold | LC | London Knights |
| C | Brice Cooke | LW | Niagara IceDogs |
| C | Brody Crane | LW | London Knights |
| C | Nick DeGrazia | LW | Sudbury Wolves |
| C | Luca Del Bel Belluz | LC | Mississauga Steelheads |
| C | Kocha Delic | LC | Sudbury Wolves |
| C | Justin DeZoete | RW | Peterborough Petes |
| C | Rodwin Dionicio | LD | Niagara IceDogs |
| C | Domenic DiVincentiis | G | North Bay Battalion |
| C | Zach Filak | LC | Sarnia Sting |
| C | Jacob Frasca | RC | Barrie Colts |
| C | Isaiah George | LD | London Knights |
| C | Beau Jelsma | LC | Barrie Colts |
| C | Evan Konyen | RW | Sudbury Wolves |
| C | Kirill Kudryavtsev | LD | Soo Greyhounds |
| C | Artem Kulakov | LD | Erie Otters |
| C | Nolan Lalonde | G | Erie Otters |
| C | Ethan Larmand | LC | Sudbury Wolves |
| C | Andrew LeBlanc | LC | Kitchener Rangers |
| C | Jacob LeBlanc | RD | Kitchener Rangers |
| C | Alec Leonard | RD | Niagara IceDogs |
| C | Tnias Mathurin | LD | North Bay Battalion |
| C | Jonathan Melee | LC | Hamilton Bulldogs |
| C | Daniel Michaud | LC | Oshawa Generals |
| C | Max Namestnikov | LC | Sarnia Sting |
| C | Cedricson Okitundu | LD | Owen Sound Attack |
| C | Jacob Oster | G | Guelph Storm |
| C | Servac Petrovsky | LC | Owen Sound Attack |
| C | Tucker Robertson | RC | Peterborough Petes |
| C | Stuart Rolofs | LW | London Knights |
| C | Teddy Sawyer | LD | Ottawa 67’s |
| C | Charlie Schenkel | G | Soo Greyhounds |
| C | Landon Sim | LW | London Knights |
| C | Colton Smith | LW | London Knights |
| C | Brady Stonehouse | RW | Ottawa 67’s |
| C | Zander Veccia | RW | Mississauga Steelheads |
| C | Dalyn Wakely | RC | North Bay Battalion |
For the complete list, visit NHL.com.
About the Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is a proud member of the Canadian Hockey League which is the world’s largest development hockey league with 60 teams in nine Canadian provinces and four American states. In addition to the OHL, the CHL is made up of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The CHL supplies more players to the National Hockey League and U SPORTS than any other league.
OHL Writers 