OHL Notes: Steelheads, Sting, Spitfires

The Oshawa Generals are representing the OHL in the Memorial Cup, but other teams are active with making moves. The Mississauga Steelheads signed the fourth overall pick from their recent draft, Owen Tippett.

Tippett is the first signing the Steelheads have made out of their draft. The forward put up 87 points with the Greater Toronto League this past season.

One of the top picks in the last draft, Tippett should be a major player with the Steelheads rather soon. There was a chance he could have been the top selection in the draft overall if Daniel Levin hadn’t been taken in that slot.

Meanwhile, the Sarnia Sting have also signed their first round selection from the 2015 draft. Their pick was tenth overall, and they used it to select center Sasha Chmelevski. Chmelevski is an interesting prospect because he is a native of Huntington Beach, California.

Chmelevski could become one of the top American prospects in the game soon, and he will have a chance to suit up with the Sting to improve his game.

The Peterborough Petes made a signing of their own when they kept the rights to Zach Gallant, their top selection. The fifth overall pick was introduced to the media in Peterborough on Saturday.

“One of the key things Zach brings to our club is strong play at both ends of the ice,” noted General Manager Mike Oke in a press release, via OurSportsCentral. “He is a big, physical player, who will contribute at both ends of the rink.”

Lastly, the Windsor Spitfires also signed one of their top prospects on Monday afternoon. They locked up goaltender Michael DiPietro, their second round selection. He was the fourth draftee the Spitfires have locked up after their draft.

DiPietro was one of the top goaltenders to come out of the OHL draft. He’s 5’11 and 205 lbs, and he played his midget hockey with Sun County. With the Panthers, DiPietro had a 2.12 goals against average despite a lack luster 6-11 record in 21 games started. He had four shutouts out of his six victories.

One of the goalies for the Canada Winter Games, DiPietro stood out when he became the number one goalie for the team and had a goals against of 0.75 with a save percentage of .971 over a four game stretch when he took over as the starter.

More OHL signings should be coming in the next few weeks as junior hockey trudges towards the off season.