12 Rangers selected in 2024 OHL Priority Draft

The 2008 AAA Oakville Rangers, led by First Star Hockey staff members, head coach Mike DeRenzis, and assistant coaches Ryan DeRenzis, Dominic DeRenzis, and Tyler Stothers, saw a very impressive 12 players get selected from their U16 team in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection:

• 1st Pick Overall: Ethan Belchetz (Windsor Spitfires)

• Round 1, Pick 15: Evan Headrick (Kitchener Rangers)

• Round 1, Pick 16: Ryder Carey (North Bay Battalion)

• Round 2, Pick 19: Callum Croskery (Soo Greyhounds)

• Round 4, Pick 5: Christian Armstrong (Barrie Colts)

• Round 7, Pick 6: Greg Najda (Sudbury Wolves)

• Round 9, Pick 1: Matthew Ross (Niagara Ice Dogs)

• Round 10, Pick 5: Teddy Low (Barrie Colts)

• Round 10, Pick 8: Gabriel Schmidt (Kingston Frontenacs)

• Round 10, Pick 16: Jacob Ceranic (North Bay Battalion)

• Round 12, Pick 3: Jonny Brooks (Peterborough Petes)

• Round 14, Pick 4: Brady McConnell (Niagara Ice Dogs)

While this is an outstanding achievement, head coach, Mike DeRenzis, left draft day feeling significantly more upset than happy. "We should have had every player drafted", said DeRenzis, "every OHL team should have wanted a player from our championship team as they each bring a winning culture and championship mindset with their on-ice game". Mike spoke about the pain he felt for each of the players who did not get drafted: "starting in net, we had Jacob Saldanha, one of the hardest-working and mature kids for his age. He split the net with Ceranic down the stretch of important hockey in the OMHA Championships and OHL Cup, there's absolutely no reason why he wasn't selected. On D, how do you not select Greene or Gelinas. Greene's speed & defending abilities are elite, he's the player on D we use to line-match against other teams top players in every big game. Nobody has improved as much as Ben Gelinas in my eyes - coming from AA in U12, he has battled and battled, and I love the physicality and defense-first mindset he brings to our team, on top of his heavy shot offensively, he should have also been selected. On up front, we have Harismowich, Sang and Graham that all should have been selected. Graham joined our team at the very end of November when we were down to 6F & 4D that were healthy, and although he was put in a tough position once we got back to a full healthy bench as he didn't see regular shifts, you had to notice his offensive upside with his skill and playmaking abilities. Sang is a swiss-army knife, he brings everything to us - he has skill and chips in offense, and he's physical, smart and responsible defensively - add his size to the mix and there's no reason why he's not selected. Lastly, how does Harismowich not get selected? He was one of the most important pieces to our team and a piece that wasn't replicated on our team. Talk about smart, responsible, above the puck, defense-first, team-first, do whatever it takes for the team type of mentality. He is the forward we have used for the last 2 seasons to line match against other teams top player, and on top of that, he is fast and skilled and can create offense - he had 10 points at OHL Cup!! Absolutely crazy to leave these players off the board in my opinion of being a non-parent coach and watching this age group for 6 years".

Nonetheless, a very impressive draft for this Oakville Rangers team. The first overall pick, 3 players selected in the 1st round (and Callum Croskery would have made it 4 players and been selected in the top 10 had he not made it known that he was committed to Boston College), and 12 players selected overall is a great accomplishment. And I don't doubt we will see some of those undrafted players get selected in the U18 draft - hopefully all of them.