The Niverville Nighthawks had a big day at the 2023 MJHL Draft on Sunday at the Alt Hotel in downtown Winnipeg, making five selections and trading for a new potential starting goaltender.
The draft highlighted players who are freshly eligible to play in the MJHL, those who are registered to play hockey in Manitoba according to Hockey Manitoba regulations and were born in 2007.
To start the day, the Nighthawks made a trade. They received 18-year-old goaltender Keegan Gordon from the Winnipeg Freeze in exchange for a 2023 draft pick and future considerations.
Despite playing on the last-place Winnipeg Freeze last season, Gordon put up an exceptional .915 save percentage, which is even more incredible considering the fact that his record on the year was 2–22–2.
“We identified Keegan a while back and felt like he was the guy who could take us to the next level,” says Nighthawks head coach and general manager Kelvin Cech. “With Raiden LeGall also waiting to play this season, we’re happy with our two goaltenders for next season. There’s a lot of things that we need to do to upgrade the line-up and fill some holes, but that’s a good place to start in the net today with this pickup.”
When the draft began, the Nighthawks owned the fifth overall pick in the first round and promptly selected forward Gavin Holod of Stonewall. Last season, Holod played U18 AAA hockey with the Interlake Lightning and scored 27 points in 44 games.
Cech notes that he is very happy that Holod slid to the fifth spot, as he likely would have selected him if they’d had the first overall pick.
“Our scouting staff has been watching Gavin all season and looked at him really closely,” says Cech. “So when he was there for us when it was our turn to pick, we were ecstatic.”
Holod will attend the Nighthawks training camp at the end of summer, and then a decision will be made by the staff if he’s ready for MJHL hockey or if he’ll need another year of seasoning at the U18 level.
With the nineteenth overall pick in the second round, the Nighthawks selected forward Caleb Moore from St. Adolphe. Moore played U17 AAA hockey this past season with the Eastman Selects and scored 51 points in 36 games.
“We drafted Caleb because he is a good player and a good human, and it’s just a bonus that he’s a local player. He’s an awesome kid, and we’re looking forward to seeing him at camp as well.”
With the first pick in the fourth round—and the forty-third overall—the Nighthawks chose defenceman Nathan Forster from Lorette. Forster played U17 AAA hockey with the Eastman Selects this past season and scored 31 points in 35 games.
With the seventy-fifth pick in the sixth round, the Nighthawks drafted defenceman Luke Ross from Winnipeg. Ross played hockey with the RHA U16 prep program last season and scored 36 points in 35 games.
Finally, with pick 102 in the eighth round, the Nighthawks selected netminder Quinn Burfoot, also of Winnipeg. Burfoot played for the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy U17 prep team last season and had a 2–11–3 record with an .877 save percentage.
“We’ve had Quinn out to a couple of our camps, and we just really like his game and his style and think he’s got a bright future in the next few years—and we plan on it being with us,” says Cech. “We also added a pair of young defencemen that will develop over the next year or so and will hopefully be part of the Nighthawks in the future.”
At the end of the day, Cech is extremely pleased with the team’s draft results. They were able to draft pretty much everyone they wanted off their list and even traded for a goaltender who should be able to step in and make an impact in the coming season.
“We walked away from this draft with exactly what we wanted. So we’re pumped that the future of the club looks even brighter right now.”
Going forward, the team’s attention now shifts to training camp and building the roster. On June 1, free agency opened up across the country at the Junior A level. This means that many players will be on the move, and the Nighthawks will be active in bolstering their line-up in time for September.
