Draft uncertainty for Petes

Posted By MIKE DAVIES

All signs point to the Peterborough Petes selecting a forward sixth overall in Saturday's OHL Priority Selection, but which one is unclear.

There are four or five players the Petes could be interested in selecting with their first pick, but GM Jeff Twohey won't tip his hand. One reason is he may not yet know as not all five picks ahead of him are clear-cut.

There is more uncertainty in this year's draft than in recent years with only the first two appearing to be locked in. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds are expected to take York-Simcoe Express' centre Daniel Catenacci first followed by Toronto Junior Canadiens' forward Alan Quine to the Kingston Frontenacs.

Earlier this month, the Kitchener Rangers seemed settled on Notre Dame Hounds' defenceman Justin Sefton, but rumours are they will now take York-Simcoe blue-liner Ryan Murphy. That drops Sefton to the Oshawa Generals who may have been leaning towards Sun County Panthers' sniper Matthew Puempel until Sefton became available. That leaves Puempel or Toronto Marlies' offensive force Ryan Strome for the Sudbury Wolves.

Depending how the dominoes fall, Puempel, Strome, Huron- Perth Lakers' Garrett Meurs or Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs' Boone Jenner could end up in a Petes' uniform.

"There has been a lot of movement," said Twohey, "where last year guys like John McFarland, Erik Gudbranson and Ryan Spooner were all locked in, in our minds, as to where they stacked up."

Twohey says there is a lot of parity, but also a lot of talent in the draft.

"I'm confident we'll get a good player," he said.

Twohey has always gone by the philosophy of taking the best player available, but with eight defencemen eligible to return to a low-scoring team, the needs is obviously at forward.

So he has adjusted his philosophy, slightly.

"We'd prefer a forward," Twohey said. "If, in our mind, there is a big gap between the potential of a defenceman who is there and a forward we'll take the best player. If the gap is very small between two positions we would lean towards a forward. What the discussion has been is 'How big is the gap?'"

Nick Sinclair, of the International Scouting Service, projects Strome to go to Sudbury, leaving Puempel as a potential Petes' pick. Meurs and Jenner are also in the mix and he wouldn't count out Marlies' forward Lucas Lessio who is rumoured to be headed to the Niagara IceDogs.

Puempel is, perhaps, the purest goal scorer, accumulating 88 goals and 144 points in 76 games.

"Puempel is a goal scorer that likes to have the puck and make things happen," said Sinclair. "He's big with a good skating stride."

Meurs, who had 52 goals and 95 points in 67 games, may not be as physically ready, but he has high upside as he grows, said Sinclair.

"Garrett is a talented forward who sees the ice well," he said. "He makes a lot of things happen and has good hockey sense and good hands."

Jenner, who had 49 goals and 103 points in 54 games, is more of a physical package than the other two.

"Boone is a very good all-around player who does everything well," said Sinclair.

"He has excellent speed, forechecks hard, has a very good transition game and always wants the puck."

If Strome were available, he'd be another intriguing prospect with 41 goals and 104 points in 76 games.

"Ryan is one of the top offensively gifted players in the draft," said Sinclair. "He sees the ice very well and likes to distribute the puck to his teammates. On the power play he's a magician with the puck. He's more of a set-up guy."