MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-A big weekend lies ahead for a number of members of the Erie Otters as they look toward advancing their careers at the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft being held this weekend in Montreal, Quebec.

The first round of the NHL Entry Draft will be held Friday starting at 7 p.m. and can be seen on Versus. The Draft continues Saturday at 10 a.m. on NHL Network.

Ryan O’Reilly, Jaroslav Janus, Tyler Hostetter and David Shields have all appeared on various 2009 NHL Entry Draft lists leading up to the annual selection process.
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O’Reilly is the most heralded member of the Otters leading up to the Draft. The 18 year-old forward was rated 39th among North American Skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings and has been listed as a possible first round choice in numerous mock drafts leading up to the event. The Varna, Ontario native placed 39th overall on Red Line Report’s final draft list.

“Sees the ice well, reads and reacts quickly,” reported International Scouting Services, who rated O’Reilly 50th overall in their final rankings posted onwww.tsn.ca. “Displays a good work ethic, on and off the ice. Battles extremely hard, protects the puck well and controls the play along the wall. Has been a horse for his team logging crazy amounts of ice time in every situation. His skating is anything but pretty but has improved since last year . . . Regarded as one of the best penalty killers and faceoff men in the OHL Western Conference. O’Reilly will be a highly sought after commodity early in the draft.”

Both TSN and Bob McKenzie, TSN’s lead hockey analyst, project O’Reilly as a late first round pick. If that’s the case, O’Reilly will become the ninth member of the Otters to be selected in the opening round of the NHL Entry Draft and the first since Ryan O’Marra went 15th overall to the New York Islanders in 2005.

Hostetter and Janus were also included in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings. Hostetter was 155th among North American Skaters while Janus was listed 13th among goaltenders who played in North America during the 2008-09 season.

Shields rounds out the quartet of Otters who saw their name appear on a draft list. The 6-foot-3 defender was rated 262nd overall by Red Line Report in their final rankings.

A total of 17 players on the Otters 2008-09 roster are eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. In addition to the four players listed above, other team members who could be selected include Mike Cazzola, Sean Jones, Mike Liambas, Anthony Luciani, Brian Shaw, Josh Sidwell, Shawn Szydlowski, Zack Torquato, Chris Breen, Paul Cianfrini, Brett Cook, Robyn Sertic and Shane Owen.

Since 1996 there have been 29 members of the Otters selected at the NHL Entry Draft including eight first round picks and 12 top-50 picks.

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