The London Knights could make history at the 2013 NHL Draft - if Nikita Zadorov, Max Domi, and Bo Horvat are among the top 30 selections.
With the trio rated in the first round of the McKeen's midterm rankings, it would mark a franchise first for the Knights to produce three first-rounders in the same draft year.
The club has pulled off the double four times, most recently in 2009 with John Tavares and Nazem Kadri.
It's not the only developing storyline here however, as the 'main three' could be joined on the draft floor by at least three other Knights in Remi Elie, Miles Liberati, and Jake Patterson.
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Remi Elie (LW, 2013), London
The former first-overall pick for the CCHL in 2011, strung together a fine season for Hawkesbury (59-21-25-46) before joining the Knights full-time this season .. given a remarkably deep London team, he has not been allotted the ice time needed to develop .. began as a steady fourth-line contributor but slowly worked his way up due to an infectious work ethic and crash-and-bang style .. small in stature but built like a fire hydrant and never shy about initiating contact .. battles, competes, generates chances out of sheer will and determination .. a dogged forechecker .. attacks the boards and can generate a cycle .. gets puck in deep, keeps things simple, finishes checks .. a slightly better-than-average skater once he gets going - has a deep knee bend but also an awkward start-up that doesn’t generate much speed off the mark .. his hand skills and overall stickhandling ability are simply not there however - even if he does play an energetic game and is hard on the puckcarrier .. tends to fight the puck and is better when he dishes off quickly and goes to the front of the goal .. confidence is still a work in progress as he plays at times in fear of making a mistake .. plays a character game in that he will defend teammates and that he buys in and doesn’t try to do too much .. strong on skates despite not being overly quick .. bit of a puck-chaser offensively - struggles to create and is only effective when driving the net with the puck or cycling down low to maintain possession time so the top line can get rest .. shown marginal improvement through the year, but can improve his stock considerably with a solid playoff as those types of tight games seem to suit his playing style .. nevertheless, still very raw at this point as he lacks elite hands and appears to be a simple up-down, puck-dumping winger.
Miles Liberati (D, 2013), London
Played Prep School Hockey for Hill Academy last season emerging as one of their best players .. made the Knights out of training camp but struggled to find a consistent shift until the start of November .. took advantage of the departures of three key defenseman - Olli Maatta, Scott Harrington, Nikita Zadorov - to their respective World Junior squads, and has stepped up his game when asked to play additional minutes in their absence .. the result has not been overly favourable as he labours at this point to handle such a prime workload .. a decent puckmover - can make plays and does a good job of hitting his man with a first pass .. his skating is a concern including a slushy first step .. struggles against the better teams and an applied forecheck .. average to below-average in his own zone, as he is more of a stickchecker who tries to keep his gaps tight .. can get physically pushed around and doesn’t have a mean streak to his game .. panics under pressure and routinely makes mistakes as he will default to his weaker backhand side to make a play once flushed out of his pocket .. doesn’t gauge his time and space overly well .. displayed flashes of skill and potential, however his point totals have not been forthcoming - and it will be his offensive abilities that will draw NHL draft attention .. appears to be on the outside looking in - at this point.
Jake Patterson (G, 2013), London
Stepped in and played very well in a back-up role posting an impressive 12-1-1 record and beating several high-end teams in support of London's franchise-record 24-game winning streak .. a hybrid goalie who adopts more of a stand-up style .. demonstrates good positioning and overall awareness .. fairly fluid in his movements with solid fundamentals .. lacks overall quickness however, both in his ability to recover and in lateral movement .. boasts an okay glovehand and does a fairly decent job managing rebounds .. good size and net coverage, albeit his lack of quickness will hinder him at the pro level .. looks like a good junior goalie.