This is not new drafting territory for the Windsor Spitfires.

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This is not new drafting territory for the Windsor Spitfires.

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For the third time in four years, the Spitfires will have a long wait before making the team’s first-round selection in Friday’s Ontario Hockey League Draft.

“We’ll put our list together and there are guys we know that will go early that we have no chance on, but the beauty of the draft is things happy unexpected that you don’t anticipate,” Spitfires’ general manager Bill Bowler said. “We think we’ll still get an excellent player at (No.) 21 and we’ll wait and see.”

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The Spitfires had the benefit of the first overall pick last year to land Ethan Belchetz, but the late first-round picks have also worked out nicely in recent years. Centre Jack Nesbitt, who was voted the most improved player in the Western Conference this season, was the 20th overall pick in 2023 while Anthony Cristoforo, who has been a cornerstone on defence almost since Day 1, was the 22nd overall pick in 2022.

“The draft is not an exact science and the reality is players can change, too, after their selection,” Bowler said. “We’re prepared and our scouts have watched a ton of hockey.”

However, because the club will have to wait until the 21st selection overall, Bowler is not pinning his plans at any specific position.

“We’re not looking position specific,” Bowler said. “We’ll wait and see how it unfolds.”

The Spitfires have already signed seven players from the 2024 draft and this week recalled fourth-round pick Grady Spicer, but the defenceman has not yet signed with the team.

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Bowler does not put a number on how many players from this year’s draft need to reach the OHL for it to be considered a success, but the club is positioned to find a few extra gems early in Friday’s opening three rounds. The final 12 rounds will be held on Saturday.

The Spitfires hold the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ second-round pick, which is the 30th pick overall, and the Guelph Storm’s third-round pick, which is 45th pick overall.

“We’ll wait and see how it unfolds,” Bowler said. “We think it’s a very good draft and we think it’s a deep draft.”

Ahead of Friday’s first three rounds, Bowler picked up a pair of draft picks in a deal with the Sarnia Sting. Windsor traded its fourth-round pick in the 2028 OHL Draft to the Sting for Kitchener’s fifth-round pick this year along with Kingston’s 15th-round pick this year.

That boosted the Spitfires 15 picks in the 15-round draft. The club does not have picks in the 10th or 12th rounds. However, the club has multiple picks in the sixth round and 15th round.

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“We’ve seen guys in later rounds like Liam Greentree go from second rounder (34th overall in 2022) to an NHL first rounder and Noah Morneau (a combined 40-goal scorer in the regular season and playoffs) was a 15th rounder (294th) overall,” Bowler said. “There’s always good players at every pick. We just have to be sure we have players that pair well with the coaches and are comfortable.”

This year’s draft will be a little different in that with the NCAA allowing junior players to eventually move to to American university hockey, it’s less likely players will be able to leverage their draft position and also more likely that more United States-born players will be open to playing junior hockey. That means teams will be less likely to take the ‘flyer’ approach of selecting a risky prospect in the hopes of convincing him to report.

“(The NCAA ruling) changes things, but players still want to report to certain places and be comfortable,” Bowler said. “There’s still some uncertainty with American players, but with the rule changed we expect more Americans to be taken early, so I think the flyer thing isn’t as big a deal.”

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