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Guelph went with a speedy, skilled defenceman with its first pick of the OHL draft Friday night, choosing defenceman Quinn Beauchesne from the Nepean Raiders.
Beauchesne, a five-foot-10, 151-pound right shot who played forward until a couple of years ago, had seven goals and 27 assists in 28 games with Nepean last season.
OHL Central Scouting calls Beauchesne an "elite level skater" and one of the best offensive defencemen in the class. He was also a central piece of Team Ontario that won Canada Games gold this season.
Contacted at his Gloucester home, where grandparents, aunts and uncles had gathered to watch the draft, Beacuchesne was on cloud nine.
"Oh I am man. It's crazy. I don't even have words right now to describe it. It's exciting for me and the family. They're all going nuts right now," Beacuchesne said.
"I knew Guelph was keen on me and Guelph was one of the primary locations I was looking to go to. It's great ... Guelph was one of the teams that checked all the boxes, with travel and I've heard nothing but great things about the organization there."
A couple of Storm players had already reached out to him.
"I'm just really looking forward to getting down there and getting to know the guys and the coaches."
Described as a "converted forward," Beauchesne said that's a bit misleading as it was when he was "really young."
"I'm a defenceman, quite offensive, but I'm a defenceman. I like to push the play, join the rush and finish plays when I can."
Storm general manager George Burnett was thrilled with the team's early choices.
"We're very pleased with how things transpired. We didn't anticipate the young man Quinn Beauchesne being available at 14. He was certainly the top right shot 'd' in the draft, maybe the top 'd'," Burnett said.
"An elite skater and puck mover and a right shot, and you can't have too many of those."
In the second round Guelph took two centres: Parker Snelgrove off the London Jr. Knights and Will McFadden off the Peterborough Jr. Petes.
Snelgrove, six-foot, 170 pounds, had 11 goals and 34 assists in 28 games.
Burnett said Snelgrove "did a lot of the dirty work for some of the other really good players" on the London midget team.
"He plays with great pace. We've certainly added to our speed and our compete today, for sure."
McFadden, five-foot-eight, 147 pounds, had 41 goals and 41 assists in 36 games.
"Small in stature, but every other aspect of his game is leader, it's take charge, it's defend, it's score," Burnett said of McFadden.
In the third round they took Rylan Singh, a five-foot-10 puck moving defenceman from the York Simcoe Express who had 11 goals and 35 assists in 36 games last season.
"Another right shot, puck-moving, smart, intelligent young man."
Friday was for the first three rounds of the draft. The other 12 rounds will be conducted Saturday.
Guelph has 14 picks in the 15 round draft. No picks in the fourth, sixth or 12th rounds, but two picks in both the second and 10th.
The Erie Otters took defenceman Matt Schaefer with the first overall pick, announced Thursday.
Here's what the independent scouting service Neutral Zone had to say about the Storm's first four picks:
Quinn Beauchesne
Beauchense is one of the best defensemen in this draft class and our 2nd-ranked RD. He is a highly mobile, puck-centreed defenceman. When he is on the ice, there is a high chance of an offensive opportunity being created. He has exceptional acceleration and separation speed and uses deception to gain an advantage over forecheckers, and get the play moving up ice. A calm poised defender who also has the ability to draw in a defender to make a pass to his teammate. He shows good poise and a creative stick as well.
Parker Snelgrove
Snelgrove is a big, physical player who has the ability and skillset to get to the next level. He played with a lot of grit, especially in the tough areas like along the boards and in front of the net. He is a good skating player and is extremely aware of his linemates when he is in the opposing team's end. Gets to loose pucks around the net with his strong stick and body positioning. He is a well above-average skater for his age level. His feet are quick and very noticeable in all three zones. His separation speed is very good from a transitional standpoint as well as when he is at a standstill. Parker’s agility allows him to change the point of attack entering the offensive zone. His stick skills are very good and his vision to find open teammates is one of his strengths. The ability to find open lanes in the offensive zone is there to receive passes, plus he is good on faceoffs.
Will McFadden
McFadden continues to show well as one of the more entertaining players in this age group. His pace and speed are elite and he is noticeable offensively on most shifts. He has been scoring consistently all season and he showed blazing speed in our viewings as well as an ability to beat a few elite defenders wide with his pace. McFadden plays with so much energy and is continually moving. He is a very dangerous player when the puck is on his stick. He plays hard every single shift so he doesn’t get overwhelmed by players who are bigger than him. He has great hands to be able to deke through traffic and use his teammates, finding spaces to get the puck back. Never seems to hold onto the puck too long: he has a good, accurate shot, not overly heavy but he is very accurate. He is a great playmaker he is one of those players that seems to have eyes in the back of his head.
Rylan Singh
Singh is a very good skater: he is able to pivot and turn well to be able to stick with fast opposition. He walks the blue line very well and has very quick feet to accelerate quickly when trying to get back. He has good vision and consistently makes impressive passes on the tape around the ice. He is intelligent and has decent hockey IQ as he is able to fake out players and make nice passes but he sometimes tries to move too fast. He is especially good in his own end showing great poise and puck-handling abilities in and out of high-traffic areas. He keeps an aggressive gap in the neutral zone with forwards coming at him he forces them to make quick decisions or dump the puck in.
