The OHL Draft went down earlier this morning. It was a surprisingly quiet first round from the American front.
The only American taken in the first round was Cole Cassels, a forward from the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets AAA program, who is the son of former NHL forward Andrew Cassels.Cassels was a third round Futures pick of the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL.
The other big story of the first round was the fate of Max Domi, the player most outspoken in using the NCAA card to negotiate his draft position. Domi ended up being picked 8th overall by Kingston, where his father's teammates Doug Gilmour and Todd Gill are general manger and coach respectively. Immediately after drafting Domi, Gilmour told Kingston radio that he had no deal worked out with Domi, and was assuming it would be at least a year before Domi reported. As cynical as I am about this process, I'm almost inclined to believe that, simply because only the Frontenacs could be run that poorly, and just picking one of his friend's kids with no real research into it seems in line with the rumors about the amount of effort Gilmour puts into the job. But most likely it's all part of the song and dance in making Domi's (slight) drop in the draft look more legitimate.
Boston University commit Anthony DeAngelo lasted until the 4th pick of the 2nd round where he was taken by Sarnia. I was shocked at how long DeAngelo was on the board, but it makes sense if Sarnia had a deal worked out with him, and they didn't want to use their 4th overall pick on him.
Belle Tire goalie Ian Jenkins was taken three picks later by London. Jenkins was reportedly excellent at the NTDP tryout camp this year, but to my knowledge, hadn't signed on with the program, and this might be one of the reasons why.
Chicago-area forward Sam Povorozniouk, who played with the Chicago Steel in the USHL this season, was picked 36th overall by the Saginaw Spirit.
That was about it through the first two rounds. You can follow the rest of the Draft here.