‘He does everything on the ice well.’ Quentin Musty goes No. 1 to Sudbury Wolves in OHL draft

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This article was published 04/06/2021 (1889 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another Q will be playing junior hockey in the O in Nickel City.

The Sudbury Wolves drafted centre Quinton Byfield, now a member of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, first overall in 2018. Three years later, forward Quentin Musty went No. 1 to the Wolves as the Ontario Hockey League draft began Friday night.

It shouldn’t take long for Sudbury fans to embrace Musty the way they did Byfield.

“The track record is proven with people like (Byfield),” Musty said. “We already have a pretty solid team. If I go in there and play my role, we should win a lot of hockey games.”

Musty hails from Hamburg, N.Y., a Buffalo suburb, and played for the North Jersey Avalanche in the Atlantic Youth Hockey League. The 15-year-old, playing a year up in the 16-and-under age group, won the USA Hockey national championship with the Avalanche.

The last time an American went first in the OHL draft was 2014, when the Sarnia Sting selected defenceman Jakob Chychrun, now with the Arizona Coyotes.

Musty received NCAA offers and attended camp with the U.S. National Team Development Program, but after conversations with his agent and family he felt playing in the OHL would be the best fit from a competition and education standpoint. He brings speed and skill to a Wolves team looking for renewed success in the post-Byfield era.

“He’s just a tremendous young man,” Wolves general manager Rob Papineau said. “He competes and he does everything on the ice well. Every time the game got bigger, he got better. He wants to win.”

Oshawa selected Oakville native Calum Ritchie with the second pick Friday night. The 16-year-old forward played a well-rounded game with the Oakville Rangers, whether it was scoring when his team needed a goal or protecting a lead. Despite not being able to play a full season because of the pandemic, Ritchie said he maintained his conditioning by working out in his basement and practising on rollerblades with teammates.

Darrell Woodley, the OHL’s director of central scouting, said Ritchie plays a complete game modelled after Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron.

The first defenceman off the board was Toronto’s Cameron Allen, who went third to the Guelph Storm. The six-foot Allen can play a physical game and will help anchor the Storm blue line while chipping in on offence. He had 13 goals in 33 games with the Toronto Jr. Nationals last season.

The Oakville Rangers had the most players drafted: five, including four of the first nine. Since the 2017-18 season, the Rangers have strived to become the best organization at the AAA level by attracting top coaching talent. That includes Gordon Hynes and Jaan Luik, who coached several of the Rangers prospects born in 2005, including newly drafted Mississauga Steelheads centre Luke Misa.

“They pushed us really hard,” Misa said of the Rangers staff. “Gordon would show different video clips of us during our games. He showed us what we can do to improve. It helped me and everyone on our team become better players.”

The first three rounds of the draft were completed Friday night. Rounds four through 15 will be held Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.

Lukas Weese is a freelance sports writer based in Toronto