Few teams in junior hockey, or pro sports in general, will ever hold as much power to change their fortunes as the Renfrew Wolves do going into next week.
After a tough first season at the helm of the Wolves that saw the team finish last in the CCHL standings, General Manager Jerrett DeFazio says the pain of being sellers ahead of the January 11th trade deadline will pay off as they hold five picks in the first round of the league’s priority draft on Tuesday, April 15th.
DeFazio calls the past season “phase one” of their rebuilding effort, and both he and his scouting team have had their hands full with trips to rinks across eastern Ontario as they look to grow a club that he feels might not be as far behind the rest of the league as some pundits believe.
Even with an abundance of draft capital and the likelihood of some of those picks being traded away for established CCHL talent, DeFazio and company are keeping their plans for draft night close to their chest.
However, he did admit that he’s keeping a close eye on ways to fix the lack of scoring that plagued the team for most of the year.
The CCHL draft comes just a few days after the Ontario Hockey League makes its selections, and the Wolves are planning out a number of scenarios depending on which prospects choose to skip Junior A to play Major Junior if they’re selected ahead of Tuesday night.
DeFazio says he wouldn’t be surprised if some of the high-end talent found in Ottawa and the Valley ended up splitting time between the two leagues over their junior careers.
(written by Kasey Egan)