Amidovski, Moses drafted
Lirim Amidovski and Shamar Moses of the North Bay Battalion were among 38 Ontario Hockey League skaters and goaltenders selected in the two-day National Hockey League Draft that wrapped up Saturday.
The Minnesota Wild chose right winger Amidovski in the fourth round, 121st overall, while the Florida Panthers took Moses, a right shot who has played left wing, as the first pick of the fifth round, at No. 129.
The draft opened with the first round Friday night, with the other six rounds Saturday. The proceedings were conducted in what was billed as a decentralized format from L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater.
North Bay chose Amidovski, a six-foot-one Alliston, Ont., resident who turned 18 on Dec. 22, in the ninth round of the 2022 OHL Priority Selection from the Barrie Colts U16s. He scored 19 goals and added 13 assists for 32 points in 67 games last season. His career totals are 126 games, 23 goals, 20 assists, 43 points and 60 penalty minutes.
“It means the world to be drafted, obviously, after dreaming about this moment and working towards it my whole life, so it feels amazing,” Amidovski said from home, where he watched television coverage with family members.
“Being in North Bay has helped so much for my development and has let me further my career like no other. I can’t be any more appreciative of what everyone in the organization has done for me.”
The Battalion acquired Moses, who turned 18 on May 6, in an Oct. 10 trade with the Barrie Colts. He was their first-round pick, 19th overall, in the 2023 Priority Selection from the Don Mills Flyers U16s.
In 61 games with the Troops, the six-foot-one, 200-pound Toronto resident scored 12 goals and earned 36 assists for 48 points with 33 PiM. In 132 career games, he has 17 goals, 56 assists, 73 points and 81 PiM.
Moses, who also watched TV coverage at home with family, said being drafted “means the world as a lifelong dream come true.”
“The (Battalion) coaching staff and organization have been so welcoming to me and pushed me to be the best.”
Adam Dennis, the Battalion’s director of hockey operations, said the club is “very happy for Lirim and Shamar.”
“Both players have had to overcome adversity to get here, and to see them rewarded for all of their hard work makes us very proud. We look forward to helping them both achieve their dreams of one day playing for the Wild and Panthers.”
The New York Islanders made defenceman Matthew Schaefer of the Erie Otters the first overall selection Friday night. He was followed by centre Michael Misa of the Saginaw Spirit at No. 2, to the San Jose Sharks.
In addition to the 38 OHLers drafted, with five going in the top eight picks, the Western Hockey League had 33 skaters and goaltenders chosen, while the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League had 19 for a Canadian Hockey League total of 90. The 32 NHL clubs produced a total of 224 selections.
The OHL lists 41 draftees, but they include two forwards and one goaltender who played the bulk of the season at lower levels and were placed there by the NHL.
The ostensibly new format generated considerable criticism, largely on the grounds of diminishing players’ experiences in the absence of large numbers of fans and technical glitches afflicting video interactions between first-round draftees and club executives.
In fact, the NHL Amateur Draft, as it was known, debuted in 1963 and was held in private in either the league’s head office, then located in Montreal, or hotels in the city. It was renamed the NHL Entry Draft when four former World Hockey Association clubs were joining the league, nominally in an expansion process, in 1979.
In 1980, the first public event was held at the Montreal Forum, with the first draft outside Montreal conducted in Toronto in 1985.
“Entry” was dropped from the name of the proceedings almost 20 years ago,
Players are first-time eligible for the NHL Draft in the year they turn 18, unless they are born Sept. 16 or later, in which case they must wait until the following year. Photo/article credit - North Bay Battalion
