When North Bay residents want to google some information on Larry Keenan, they may not see that familiar face.
That's because of the emergence of Larry Keenan junior, the grandson of Larry and son of Cory Keenan.
The 18-year-old Midhurst, Ontario product finished up his second season of hockey at Culver Academy, a private school located in Culver, Indiana.
This season the 6'3", 185-pound defender caught the eye of NHL scouts. He played 49 games for Culver Academy this season where he tallied 11 goals and 26 assists.
The newest Keenan is ranked #99 by McKeen's Hockey, and #73 by NHL Central Scouting.
Sources say Keenan is expected to be drafted somewhere between rounds 3-7 of the NHL Entry Draft which begins Wednesday in Nashville.
For those of you who do not recall Larry Keenan Sr., the 82-year-old North Bay product played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers. He played for the upstart Blues team in 1970 that fell to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final. Keenan Sr. was also known for being on the ice for Bobby Orr's flying Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime that year.
Off the ice, Keenan Sr. was also a key fixture with the North Bay Major Midget Trappers AAA hockey program for more than two decades.
Cory Keenan says Larry Sr. has enjoyed watching Larry Jr. go through the draft process which included an invitation for Jr. to the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo where 106 of the top prospects were invited.
Larry Keenan Jr. is an NCAA Division I commit to the University of Massachusetts for the 2024-25 season and will play junior in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees in 2023-24, where North Bay's Ben Brunette played this past season.
See related: Gaudreau heading back to NHL Entry Draft
See related: Ben Gaudreau excited to see 'what comes next' as he re-enters the draft
Meantime, Corbeil's Ben Gaudreau was left unsigned by the San Jose Sharks which will allow him to be eligible for the 2023 NHL Entry Draft
Gaudreau was originally drafted in the third round, 81st overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, and the team had until June 1 of this year to sign Gaudreau to an entry-level contract.
However, due to the San Jose Sharks heavy stockpile of goalie prospects, Gaudreau and his agent Eddie Mio believed a change was necessary.
“With the prospect depth that they have and the goalies they have signed, it just doesn’t make too much sense for us to be in that system,” Gaudreau told BayToday freelance reporter Matt Sookram.
The Sarnia Sting netminder whose season ended in the Western Conference Finals at the hands of the London Knights, enjoyed a strong post-season for Sarnia, posting three shutouts and a .905 Save Percentage.
His playoff success followed an up-and-down regular season and a 2023 World Junior Championships gold medal backing up Thomas Milic for Team Canada.
Due to the uncertainty of re-entering the draft, Gaudreau has opted to stay home and not attend the 2023 Draft in person.
