A quick look at the OHL U-18 Priority Selection Draft. #OHL

This Wednesday the OHL is set to host its Under 18 Priority Selection Draft.

What is the U-18 Priority Selection? Basically, it is a second chance for players to make the OHL. The leagues idea is that some players take more time to develop their game. For the players a year, or two after their OHL Draft year, this allows them to continue to continue to develop their game at other Ontario hockey federations (OHF, HEO, HNO) and extend another opportunity at cracking a spot in the OHL.

Who is eligible? Canadian and American midget players (1999/2000 birth year for 2017 draft) not playing on an OHL member team protected list who were carded with an Ontario based Midget AAA Hockey Club within the OHF, HEO, or HNO in the current season.

How does the U-18 Selection work? The Draft is 4 rounds long and will follow the same draft order of the 2017 OHL Priority Selection from this past weekend. Order is as follows.

1. Barrie                                                                                                              

2. Guelph                                                                                                           

3. North Bay                                                                                                      

4. Saginaw                                                                                                         

5. Niagara                                                                                                           

6. Sudbury                                                                                                         

7. Ottawa                                                                                                           

8. Sarnia                                                                                                              

9. Flint                                                                                                 

10. Hamilton                                                                                                     

11. Kingston                                                                                                      

12. Kitchener                                                                                                    

13. Mississauga                                                                                                

14. Oshawa                                                                                                       

15. Peterborough                                                                                                           

16. Windsor                                                                                                       

17. London                                                                                                        

18. S.S. Marie                                                                                                    

19. Owen Sound                                                                                                              

20. Erie

All 4 rounds will follow the exact same order. To help see more goalies get drafted, the OHL has included a rule where any team who selects a goalie with one of their 4 picks will be added to a 5^th round at the end where they will get the chance to draft another player. The order of that round will follow the same structure of the previous rounds, including only teams who selected a goaltender. The final selection in that 5^th round can only be a skater.

After selecting 14 players at Priority Selection on Saturday, including Ryan Suzuki, this will give the Colts a chance to bring in 4 (or 5) new players. 

The 2017 U-18 Priority Selection is set to take place on Wednesday, April 12^th at 7:00 pm over the official OHL website. You can follow the draft on the site, as well as on social media.