For every OHL draft story, there’s one of a player who is still working hard to chase his junior hockey dreams.
In 2017, the Ontario Hockey League launched the Under-18 Priority Selection – a draft specifically for Midget-aged players that may have flown under the radar the previous season.
The stories of undrafted players succeeding in the OHL and beyond are plentiful. Now one of the Sarnia Sting’s leading playoff scorers, North York Rangers grad and Telus Cup champion Sean Josling was undrafted prior to signing with the Sting as a free agent.
“When you look at what Sean is doing now it’s hard to believe that he went undrafted,” Sting general manager Nick Sinclair told OHL.com. “He just needed a bit more time and went down a different road to get where he is today, and that’s what’s so special about our game is that every young player is different.”
Josling attended Detroit Red Wings development and rookie camps last summer and returned to the Sting, putting up 21 goals, 17 assists and 38 points over 68 games as a sophomore.
“Sean has put the work in, stayed committed to the process and it’s all paying off for him,” Sinclair added. “It’s committed players like him that we hope to find tonight in the Under-18 Priority Selection.”
2018 OHL Under-18 Priority Selection
In its second year, the 2018 OHL Under-18 Priority Selection was slightly modified from its inaugural year in 2017. Unlike last year’s draft which saw five rounds, the 2018 rendition featured two rounds, with Clubs given the option to select in a third round if they selected a goaltender in either rounds one or two.
A total of 13 GTHL Midget-aged players were selected, with seven of the 13 drafted in the first round. Click here for a full list of players drafted.