Local lads are OHL picks
A profusion of players from Windsor-Essex County were among those chosen through 15 rounds of the 2026 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft. Leading the way was 6 foot 6 defenseman Declan McNally.
McNally, who left home — and the Sun County Panthers of the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario — to play for the Don Mills Flyers of the Greater Toronto Hockey League in ’25-26, was taken by the Guelph Storm with the seventh pick of the first round.
McNally (in photo at left) is now in position to play at next year’s Memorial Cup national tournament with Guelph being the host city and the Storm thus getting automatic entry into the time honoured event.
Other local products taken at the recent OHL Draft are as follows.
— Sarnia Sting went for forward Brody Brown in the third round. Brown also came up through the ranks of the AAA Sun County program before heading to the GTHL and the Vaughan Kings two years ago.
— Forward Roman Shtefan of the Windsor Jr. Spitfires of the Alliance went to the Barrie Colts in the fifth round. He is son of former Spitfire forward Pavel Shtefan, who played in the OHL from 1998 to 2001 and scored 31 goals over the two seasons.
— Soo Greyhounds took forward Matthew Taylor in the ninth round. Yet another Sun County product, Taylor spent the past season with the Ajax-Pickering Raiders of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association.
— Forward Beckett Jancevski from the BioSteel Sports Academy went to the Flint Firebirds in the 11th round. His is the son of former OHL defenseman Dan Jancevski, who played for the London Knights and Sudbury Wolves.
— Forward Carter Trudell of the Jr. Spitfires was picked by the North Bay Battalion in the 12th round. His dad, Brett Trudell, played in the OHL for five seasons as a productive forward with the Soo Greyhounds, Guelph Storm and Oshawa Generals.
— Forward Kai Duquette became property of the OHL Spitfires, who took the Sun County skater in the 12th round.
— Goalie Noah Spiteri went to the Oshawa Generals in the 15th round from BioSteel.
