(Greater Sudbury, ON) The Sudbury Wolves are pleased to announce that four players have committed to the hockey club. Nate Krawchuk, Devin Mauro, Djibril Touré and Owen Protz all committed to the club following the end of training camp Friday afternoon.
“In my opinion, this was one of the strongest camps we have had in the last six seasons,” said Rob Papineau, Sudbury Wolves VP & General Manager. “The amount of skill and talent, along with the pace, speed and size that was added this year made for a very competitive camp. All the players showed well during the camp, and we have quite a few returning players from last season which contributed to making it a very competitive environment. We are looking forward to starting the preseason now with this smaller group and working towards our season opener on September 30th.”
Nate Krawchuk was selected 3rd overall in the 2022 U-18 OHL Priority Selection. Wolves scouting reports describe him as an athletic, fundamentally sound goaltender who battles and competes in the net. He’s a 6’, 153lbs, 17-year-old who plays well in big games and always gives his team a chance to win. In 18 games with the Thunder Bay Kings U18 AAA during the 2021-22 season, Krawchuk had a goals against average of 1.75 and a save percentage of 0.938.
“We are really excited to sign Nate Krawchuk,” added Papineau. “I felt this year at our camp we had an outstanding group of goaltenders, who all performed very well and when you’re making these decisions, you’re looking for consistency throughout the camp and Nate showed us exactly that. He’s a very athletic goalie, he’s very quick and didn’t let in any bad goal this week so we are really excited to have him join the team. He’s a guy that competes, tracks pucks very well and we really see him fitting in and working closely with Joe Ranger and Drew Gaulton. We are looking forward to developing him and him becoming a big part of our future.”
Devin Mauro was selected in the 11th round of the 2020 OHL Priority Selection. Through his 2021-22 season playing for the Trenton Golden Hawks, he notched 41 points (18G-23A) in 53 games played. Wolves scouting reports describe him as a player with an excellent hockey sense and distributes the puck in a timely fashion. He possesses an excellent release on his shot and has the potential to be a point producer at the next level.
“Devin is a guy that has been at our camp before after we drafted him from Sault Ste. Marie in his U16 year in 2020. He was always a prolific goal scorer and found a way to get the puck to the net. He’s a smaller, very fast hockey player who plays a much bigger game. He’s one of those players you can put anywhere in your line-up, and he can make it work, so he is a great piece to add to our depth. Devin is also a guy that is really passionate and very excited to become a Sudbury Wolf,” added Papineau.
Djibil Touré from Dorval, Québec is a 6’7, 196lbs, 19-year-old defenceman. During his 2021-22 campaign he played for the Carleton Place Canadians and the Hawkesbury Hawks of the CCHL registering 2 goals, 12 assists through 45 games played.
“With Djibril, he was a free agent invite and he’s a guy that came in and made his presence felt right away,” said Papineau. “I think anyone that was in the arena during any of the scrimmages was able to identify him very quickly. He’s a 6’7, right-shot defenceman with a very strong physical element to his game. He skates extremely well and shoots the puck very hard. He was one of the top defenceman in the CCHL last season and had a really good playoff run in Hawkesbury. Our Assistant Coach Rick Dorval knows Djibril very well and we were excited to bring him into camp and even more excited to sign him.”
Owen Protz was selected in the 5th round (86 overall) of the 2022 OHL priority Selection. He spent his 2021-22 season with the Ottawa Senators U18 AAA where he registered 17 points (8G-9A) through 38 games. He is a 6’, 195lbs left-shot defenceman that has a lethal shot combined with the ability to get pucks through from the point.
“We are very excited to have Owen commit to the team,” added Papineau. “He came into camp and from start to finish he was very steady, very consistent and had great gaps. He is very strong for a guy as a 16-year-old and for him to commit to our program and be part of our future is something we are happy to accomplish this week. We look forward to watching him in a couple pre-season games over the next few weeks. Right now, the plan with Owen will be for him to play in the CCHL and we look forward to working with him in and out of our line-up throughout this season.”
The Sudbury Wolves have trimmed their pre-season roster to 29 players. The Wolves roster will consist of a combination of 3 goaltenders, 10 defencemen, and 16 forwards. They will get their first taste of action getting underway on Saturday, September 3rd at 7:05pm in Sault Ste. Marie to take on the Greyhounds. (Pre-season roster can be found below.)
The Wolves will open their 2022-23 regular season at home on Friday, September 30th as they host the Barrie Colts. Single game tickets go on-sale for pre-season and regular season games in early September.
For more information, visit sudburywolves.com.
