BCJALL & RMLL draft results, plus Orangeville wins OJLL lottery
Orangeville Northmen (Photo: Ontario Lacrosse Association)
It’s been a busy few weeks for all three of Canada’s Junior A leagues – the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League, Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (Alberta & Saskatchewan) and the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League.
The OJLL held their draft lottery last night with the Orangeville Northmen taking the top spot. In the BCJALL, Aidan McDonald from Maple Ridge was taken first overall by the New Westminster Salmonbellies, while the Okotoks Raiders selected the Calgary Axemen’s Carson Mann with the top pick in the RMLL draft.
Ontario Junior Lacrosse League
The OJLL conducted a lottery to determine the order of selection for the seven teams that did not qualify for the semi-finals or championship game during the league’s 2021 season held at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre this past August. The bottom four picks will go the league’s four semi-finalists: St. Catharines Athletics (Iroquois Trophy winners), Brampton Excelsiors (finalists), Whitby Warriors and Mimico Mountaineers.
Of the eleven first round selections, eight of them had been previously traded. The Peterborough Lakers own the most picks in the opening round with three (4th, 5th and 11th overall), while Brampton, Oakville, St. Catharines, Toronto or Whitby are without a first.
Last year, the Whitby Warriors drafted Jack Oldman (West Durham Rockmen) first overall, and also selected Lucas Littlejohn (Clarington Gaels) and Riley Knox (Huntsville Hawks) in the opening round.
The 2022 OJLL first round, based on last night’s lottery results, will include:
1. Orangeville Northmen
2. Mimico Mountaineers (from Six Nations)
3. Kitchener-Waterloo Lacrosse Club (from Burlington)
4. Peterborough Lakers (from Toronto)
5. Peterborough Lakers
6. Orangeville Northmen (from Oakville)
7. Burlington Chiefs (from Kitchener-Waterloo)
8. Mimico Mountaineers
9. Six Nations Arrows (from Whitby)
10. Kitchener-Waterloo Lacrosse Club (from Brampton)
11. Peterborough Lakers (from St. Catharines)
The league confirmed they’d be announcing their second-round order shortly, as well as a date & time for their upcoming draft.
British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League
A few days before the BCJALL Draft, the league announced the appointment of Dirk Rachfall as their new commissioner. Rachfall replaces Karl Christiansen, who was the league’s leader for the previous decade. “I started in the role wanting to grow the BCJALL into a great league our athletes wanted to play in,” Christiansen said in the league’s announcement. “The BCJALL is the premier Junior A lacrosse league in Canada and collectively we have seen success on many levels. Minto Cup championships, increased our presence nationally & internationally, and growing parity within the league through our annual U17 Entry Draft.”
The New Westminster Salmonbellies scooped up Aidan McDonald with the first overall selection in the 2022 BCJALL Draft. “Fantastic lacrosse IQ, great passer, great finisher, great defender,” BCLA President, Gerry Van Beek, told Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News about the highly regarded graduating midget standout. “He is fast, quick and gritty (and) always the hardest working player in practices and games.”
The BCJALL held their draft on January 30th. Here are the results:
1st Round
1. Aidan McDonald (New Westminster Salmonbellies)
2. Jordan Meech (Port Coquitlam Saints via Nanaimo)
3. Jack Olson (Delta Islanders)
4. Dorian Connolley (Port Coquitlam Saints)
5. Adam Bailey (Victoria Shamrocks)
6. Shawn Morse (Burnaby Lakers)
7. Graysen Balatti (Langley Thunder)
8. Levi Touhey (Port Coquitlam Saints via Coquitlam)
2nd Round
9. Greyson Beggs (Port Coquitlam Saints via Coquitlam)
10. Joshua Mills (Port Coquitlam Saints via Langley)
11. Ronan Balatti (Burnaby Lakers)
12. Govind Saggu (Port Coquitlam Saints via Victoria)
13. John Gagnon (Port Coquitlam via Nanaimo, via Port Coquitlam)
14. Kade Hoogstraten (Delta Islanders)
15. Joshua Adey (Nanaimo Timbermen)
16. Benjamin Pawluk (New Westminster Salmonbellies)
3rd Round
17. AJ Pain (Burnaby Lakers)
18. Samuel Allen (Langley Thunder)
19. Kolby Koran (Port Coquitlam Saints)
20. Adam Wong (Nanaimo Timbermen)
21. Greysen Thompson (Coquitlam Adanacs)
22. Nathan McMahon (Port Coquitlam Saints via New Westminster Salmonbellies)
23. Colton Gron (Victoria Shamrocks)
24. Curtis Doucette (Delta Islanders)
4th Round
25. Nico Medd (Delta Islanders)
26. Graham Brown (Victoria Shamrocks)
27. Aidan Holt (New Westminster Salmonbellies)
28. Noah Choi (Coquitlam Adanacs)
29. Reid Johnson (Nanaimo Timbermen)
30. Charles Lort (Langley Thunder via Port Coquitlam)
31. Cooper Board (Langley Thunder)
32. Cohen Kallin (Burnaby Lakers)
5th Round
33. Noah DiBattista (Delta Islanders)
34. Austin Charlton (Delta Islanders via New Westminster)
35. Rayne Lang (Coquitlam Adanacs)
36. Olivier Laplante (Victoria Shamrocks)
37. Steven McConnell (Burnaby Lakers)
38. Devin Allison (Langley Thunder)
39. Brayden Upshon (Nanaimo Timbermen)
40. Griffin Withers (Port Coquitlam Saints)
6th Round
41. Shayne Newburg (Port Coquitlam Saints)
42. Colton Hauser (Nanaimo Timbermen)
43. Ethan Gould (Langley Thunder)
44. Bodhi Scarborough (Burnaby Lakers)
45. Matthew Laponkonstantakis (Victoria Shamrocks)
46. Ewan Rennie (Coquitlam Adanacs)
47. Wyatt Howell (New Westminster Salmonbellies)
48. Truman Johnson (Delta Islanders)
Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League
The RMLL hosted their draft a day later at the Acadia Rec Centre in Calgary with dozens of prospects in attendance. Alberta, which has recently seen a spike of players on NLL rosters, includes three teams from the province in the league (Calgary Mountaineers, Okotoks Raiders and St. Albert Miners), plus a single club from neighbouring Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan SWAT).
Here are their recent draft results:
1st Round
1. Carson Mann, Calgary Axemen (Okotoks Raiders)
2. Austin Teniuk, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan SWAT)
3. Caiden Moon, Calgary Axemen (Calgary Mountaineers)
4. Black Harrison, Sherwood Park Titans (St. Albert Miners)
2nd Round
5. Justin Melnyk, Calgary Sabrecats (Okotoks Raiders)
6. Xage Miraflor, Yorkton (Saskatchewan SWAT)
7. Justin Rea, HOCs (Okotoks Raiders)
8. Reed Low, Sherwood Park Titans (St. Albert Miners)
3rd Round
9. Alex Zarsky, Calgary Sabrecats (Okotoks Raiders)
10. Elijah Pawluk-Zacharias, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan SWAT)
11. Houston Eakins, Medicine Hat Sun Devils (Calgary Mountaineers)
12. Bennett Frey, Lakeland (St. Albert Miners)
4th Round
13. Cole Morris, HOCs (Okotoks Raiders)
14. Clay Gelowitz, Regina (Saskatchewan SWAT)
15. Colton Tagg, Calgary Sabrecats (Calgary Mountaineers)
16. Cole Stachniak, Parkland Posse (St. Albert Miners)
5th Round
17. Owen Williams, Calgary Axemen (Okotoks Raiders)
18. Graysen Malkoske, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan SWAT)
19. Jayce Dievert, Calgary Sabrecats (Calgary Mountaineers)
20. Xander Maxwell, St. Albert Rams (St. Albert Miners)
6th Round
21. Russel Bollinger, Calgary Hornets (Okotoks Raiders)
22. Colby Jones, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan SWAT)
23. Gavin Crippin, Calgary Axemen (Okotoks Raiders via Calgary)
24. Tom Gallagher, Wainwright (St. Albert Miners)
7th Round
25. Cameron Fewster, Calgary Hornets (Okotoks Raiders)
26. Sam Cooper, Prince Albert (Saskatchewan SWAT)
27. Dylan Whitmore, Calgary Sabrecats (Calgary Mountaineers)
28. Jaxson Baker, Sherwood Park Titans (St. Albert Miners)
8th Round
29. Henry Boss, Calgary Hornets (Okotoks Raiders)
30. Ryder McKinnon, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan SWAT)
31. Chase Misek, Calgary Lethbridge (Calgary Mountaineers)
32. Tyden Redlick, St. Albert Rams (St. Albert Miners)
9th Round
33. Jayden Richards, Medicine Hat Sun Devils (Calgary Mountaineers via Okotoks)
34. Chase McKee, Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan SWAT)
35. Kaelan Snee, Lethbridge (Calgary Mountaineers)
36. Ben Renault, Fort Saskatchewan Rebels (St. Albert Miners)
10th Round
37. Zac Lavenne, Calgary Hornets (Okotoks Raiders)
38. Hudson Haydon, Swift Current (Saskatchewan SWAT)
39. Kyle Eklund, Calgary Hornets (Calgary Mountaineers)
40. Jonah Borynec, Parkland Posse (St. Albert Miners)