Adam Dennis and the Battalion hockey operations group assembled early Saturday morning for the second day of the OHL Priority Selection.
With the 81st pick the Battalion selected Aaron Enright, 5'11" left hand shot defenceman who played for the Renfrew U18 AAA Wolves in the Ottawa Valley.
The Cobden, Ontario product had 23 points (13G 10A) in 41 games with the Wolves this season.
“Aaron is a guy we were high on right from the start of the season,” said general manager Adam Dennis during the 9th round break Saturday.
“Kind of a total-package defender, he’s got a good shot, plays physical, defends well and is a guy that we felt kind of flew under the radar a little bit.”
In the 5th round the Troops had a natural hat trick with three selections in a row with 99, 100 and 101st picks.
At 99, the Battalion took big Don Mills Flyers forward Adam Smeeton, a 6'2" 169 pound forward. The Toronto native had 12 goals and 8 assists for 20 points in 36 games with the Flyers this season.
With the 100th pick, the Troops took Reyth Smith, a 6'0", 157 pound forward who played for the Windsor AAA Zone U16 Spitfires. Smith put up solid numbers with the Spits netting 18 goals along with 17 assists for 35 points.
To finish the hat trick of picks, the Battalion went back to Vaughan to take Stepan Chukharev, a 6'2" 165 pound forward.
The dual Russian/Canadian citizen had 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points in 52 games with the Kings where he was a teammate of Battalion top selection Carter Kostuch.
“All of the forwards we got in the fifth round were guys we were kind of arguing about back and forth, which one we like more,” said Dennis about the trio of picks
“We said, ‘You know what, we don’t have to argue about it — we can take all three.’ I don’t think they’re going to get in each other’s way. I think all three guys are capable of playing in the league.”
In the 6th, the Troops grabbed Carleton Place Canadians U18 AAA goalie Charlie Larocque. The 6'1" netminder had a 2.73 goals against average and a .914 save percentage this season.
Also in the 6th, 121st overall the Battalion grabbed defender Ryan Fairbairn, a 6'0" 171 pound defenceman from the North Central Predators.
In the 7th round, the Troops stayed north and took Declan Gallivan, a big skilled defender with the Soo U18 AAA Greyhounds. The Sault Ste. Marie product had 7 goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 25 games with the Greyhounds.
In the 8th round, the Battalion snagged goaltender James Meredith from the Toronto U16 AAA Young Nationals.
In the 9th, they took Peterborough U16 AAA Petes forward Kayden Buller. The 178 pound forward who hails from Kemptvillle, had 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points in 34 games this season.
In the 10th, the Troops took left hand shot defender Tanner Lawson from the Halton Hurricanes U16 AAA. The 5'9" defender had 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 37 games last season with the Hurricanes.
In the 11th round, the Battalion selected Landen Stevens from the Ajax-Pickering U16 AAA Raiders. In 35 games, centreman had 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points.
The Troops had two 12th round selections including left winger Ewan McChesney from the Vaughan U16 AAA Kings and defenceman Matthew Darrigan from the Waterloo U16 AAA Wolves.
McChesney netted 21 goals along with 14 assists for 25 points in 32 games while Darrigan registered had 4 assists in 27 games with the Wolves.
In the 13th round, the Battalion selected Deke Osterhout, a centre with the Quinte Red Devils U16 AAA program. Osterhout had 8 goals and 10 assists for 18 points last season.
With their final pick, the Troops took former North Bay Trapper Ryan Daze, who played for the Mississauga U16 AAA Senators. Daze had 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points in 27 games with the Sens.
