(Anaheim, CA) -- Forward Hunter Drew (Kingston, ON) made his NHL debut last night for the Anaheim Ducks when they faced the Sharks in San Jose.
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images from nhl.com/ducks)
The 24-year old blueliner was the Ducks 6th round selection (178th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft after playing three seasons for the QMJHL Charlottetown Islanders.
Drew has played 64 games this season for the AHL San Diego Gulls picking up an impressive 17 goals, 21 assists and 134 penalty minutes before his recall yesterday.
The 6.02, 192 lb. graduate of the Kingston Jr. Gaels AAA program was undrafted to the OHL in 2014.
Drew made Charlottetown after playing two seasons of junior C hockey at age 16 and 17 for the Gananoque Islanders of the EOJHL.
Drew becomes just the second 17-year old free agent junior C player from Ontario to play in the National Hockey League.
Ryan Jones was undrafted by the OHL in 2000 and played for the Blenheim Blades Jr.C. team in 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons. He went onto play 6 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers.
In the game versus the Sharks, he picked up a five-minute fighting major against San Jose LW Jonah Gadjovich (Whitby, ON).
Ironically, the two spent years competing against each other in both minor hockey and lacrosse in Eastern Ontario.
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images from nhl.com/ducks)