It’s not just about the first overall pick for the Windsor Spitfires.

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It’s not just about the first overall pick for the Windsor Spitfires.

This Ontario Hockey League Draft has the chance to set the Spitfires up for success for years to come.

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“It’s a fun place for our scouts to be in this draft,” Spitfires’ general manager Bill Bowler said. “It’ll be interesting and exciting.”

The Spitfires will announce the first overall pick at a press conference on Thursday at 12 noon at the WFCU Centre. The Spitfires finished 19th in the 20-team league, but won the OHL Draft lottery to earn the first pick for just the second time in franchise history.

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The first overall pick, which is expected to be a forward, should make an immediate impact on the ice in 2024-25, but it’s what the club does after that selection that could set the team up to contend for a title in as little as two seasons.

The first three rounds of the draft will be held on Sunday starting at 7 p.m. with the final 12 rounds to be held on Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

Bowler’s wheeling and dealing throughout this past season has the Spitfires now holding the first overall pick in the second round, which will be pick No. 22 overall that originally belonged to Niagara, as well as the third pick in the second round, which will be No. 24 overall and originally belonged to Peterborough.

“We’re hoping the first three picks should be immediate impact players,” Bowler said.

In total, Windsor has seven picks in the first five rounds. The club also has North Bay’s third-round pick, Niagara’s fourth-round pick, which is the first pick of that round, along with Guelph’s fourth-round pick. That gives Windsor six of the first 71 selections.

“The players selected in the top 80, we have to make sure are OHL players,” Bowler said. “Any player in any round can elevate and contribute earlier than later, but we need (at least) six OHL players out of this.”

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It’s a stark contrast from a year ago when Windsor had just one pick in the top 94 selection and that was first-round pick Jack Nesbitt, who went 20th overall. Defenceman Adrian Manzo, who was taken in the fifth round with the 95th pick, had a solid season of junior B hockey in LaSalle and is expected to make the jump to the Spitfires next season.

“Last year, you’re watching good players go by and you can’t access them because you don’t have a pick until round five,” Bowler said. “Now, we’ll make some decisions and we’ll grab three kids in the top 25.”

Forward would seem to be Windsor’s biggest focus with the club boasting as many as six defencemen with at least two more years of eligibility eligible to return next season in Anthony Cristoforo, Carson Woodall, Josef Eichler, Conor Walton, Manzo and potentially Michael Lavigne, who was a sixth-round pick in 2023 and also spent last season in LaSalle.

Still, Bowler said you have to look beyond just next season and use the abundance of early picks in this year’s draft to set the stage for success down the road.

“During the draft, you want to make sure you cover all positions,” Bowler said. “You can’t take 15 forwards or 15 defencemen. You have to cover each position.

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“It’s an evolving day. There’s adjusting that needs to be done. With the right player available in a certain round, we would gladly take any position. However, there is some strategic thinking as to who might be here next year or the year after. We want depth at every position.”

And that includes goaltending where the Spitfires have veteran Joey Costanzo and Carter Froggett, who was a sixth-round pick in 2022, penciled in for next season.

“We’ll continue to select goalies and get depth,” said Bowler, who has 16 total picks in the 15-round draft.

jpparker@postmedia.com

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