With the Sudbury Wolves scheduled to announce the winner of the Jack Ferguson Award, awarded annually to the 1st overall selection, a new face of the frachise will don the Sudbury jersey in need of some electrifying talent. All signs point to that player being skilled winger David Levin of the Don Mills Flyers but that will need to be confirmed at their press conference on Friday, April 10th at 11am EST.
Born in Israel and a late beginner to the game of hockey, David Levin is a player with an interesting back story. He started the game as an inline player who eventually moved to the Toronto area to live with family in order to chase his dreams of playing in the NHL. Despite his fascinating and journey outside of the rink, Levin's dazzling skills on the ice are the true grounds for excitement. His ability to create offense with elite level puck skills, paralyzing one-on-one skills and breath-taking passing abilities will surely be welcomed in Nickel City, who are eager to add a game-breaking forward talent.
Unlike the 2014 OHL Priority Selection when Jakob Chychrun was the unanimous choice as the top ranked skater, David Levin is only one player in a tightly packed group at the top of many draft rankings. Levin is joined by top rated skaters Gabriel Vilardi, Ryan McLeod and Owen Tippett as potential 1st overall selections. On the blue line, Hamilton's Hayden Davis, Brampton's Ian Blacker and Toronto's Quinn Hughes draw the most praise from scouts. For teams eyeing help between the pipes, look for Titans' puckstopper Brendan Bonello, Canada Winter Games' standout Michael DiPietro, North Central's Luke Richardson or London's Aidan Hughes to draw interest early.
The 2015 OHL draft crop is a unique group as the variance of opinions is quite extensive. Simply put, as teams call out their selections be prepared for the unexpected because draft lists and rankings lack any sort of consensus. Regardless of the 1999-crop being void of that "can't-miss" prospect, it does provide good depth and will certainly be a fun group to follow as they journey through their development. Years down the road when the selections can fairly be analyzed, we many later picks match the success of earlier selections, at least - more than we traditionally expect.
April 10th will mark an exciting day for players and their families as over 300 prospects get drafted into the Ontario Hockey League, taking the next step in their hockey careers.
After spending long days and many weekends in the rink and on the road travelling to scout the '99 age group, I can proudly present readers of "Youngblood Hockey" with my personal rankings, observations, lists and much, much more in the 2015 Youngblood OHL Draft Guide. Inside readers will find my Top 250 ranked players, 50 candid scouting notes, and an additional 200+ Players to Watch (including Americans without personal viewings). In addition, Youngblood Hockey has included "Sleeper Lists", "Best Of.." groupings and a two-round Mock Draft.
It's been a fun year! Enjoy and good luck to all of the players!
DOWNLOAD (FREE): Youngblood Hockey - 2015 OHL Draft Rankings
Brendan Ross
@RossyYoungblood