In a draft that is sometimes overlooked but has produced the likes of Emmett Serensits, Mitchell Weeks, Nick DeGrazia and Nate Krawchuk for the Sudbury Wolves, GM Rob Papineau and staff are surely hoping to hit paydirt again.

Wednesday evening, the Wolves selected defenceman Maverick Hayes with the 8th overall pick of the U18 OHL Priority Selection, adding the rugged blueliner from the Pembroke U18 AAA Lumber Kings in the first round.

A 6'4" 190 pound presence at the back-end, Hayes also managed to regsiter 38 points (7G - 31A) during the 2022-2023 campaign. "He moves the puck well and has a physical edge to his play," noted the Wolves in a team-issued media release.

"He also played up in Junior hockey a few times this year and looked right at home."

With their second round pick, Sudbury nabbed centreman Joey Brehmer from the Waterloo U18 AAA Wolves, the 28th player to see his name appear on the computer screen. This past year, Brehmer amassed 17 goals and 14 assists in 39 games and also limited himself to just 12 minutes in penalties, despite displaying a high compete level and thriving in dirty areas of the ice.

"He is tough to play against but he doesn't cross the line," said Papineau. "He's engaged, every shift, but doesn't take unecessary penalties."

Also of note to local hockey fans was the selection of local netminder Maverick Fletcher, scooped up by the Erie Otters (2nd round - 22nd overall) after the 6'1" puckstopper enjoyed a season to remember with the Soo U18 AAA Jr Greyhounds of the Great North U18 AAA Hockey League.

Fletcher led the league with a stingy goals against average of just 1.60 for the league-leading Greyhounds, recording four shutouts and adding a 3-2 overtime win to his resume in his one and only appearance with the Soo Jr Thunderbirds of the NOJHL (Northern Ontario Junior A Hockey League) tjis winter.