Hudson Chitaroni focused on next season in Sudbury, playing pro hockey
With the Sudbury Wolves pushing to solidify their playoff position, an untimely injury to overage centreman Kocha Delic could have sent the team tumbling down the OHL standings.
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Encouraged by the play of their rookie forwards, however, head coach Scott Barney and company were hopeful players such as Hudson Chitaroni would make the most of their opportunity for more ice time and lead the club to a strong finish.
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Moving into Sudbury's top six, Chitaroni responded with his strongest stretch of the season with 11 points in 10 games, including three goals and three assists during a pivotal five-game winning streak through early March that secured a sixth-place finish in the Eastern Conference.
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'It's always nice to put up numbers and what not, but I'm a guy who always believes in himself and I believe in my abilities,' said the 17-year-old Sault Ste. Marie resident, reached in his hometown earlier this week.
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'With Delic out, somebody needed to step up. I was given that opportunity and ran with it and I ended up doing pretty well for myself.'
Despite suffering his own late-season injury that surely hampered his contributions during the first round of the OHL playoffs, which saw the Pack eliminated by the Kingston Frontenacs in four games, the Soo Junior Greyhounds minor hockey product surely didn't lose any stock with big-league scouts for a lack of effort. Indeed, it's Chitaroni's commitment and character, as much as the impressive skill set that yielded a total of nine goals and 16 assists in his first year of major junior action, that have made the 5-foot-10, 178-pounder one of the Wolves' best hopes for a pick in the NHL Entry Draft this weekend.
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Round 1 of the annual draft goes Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Rounds 2-7 on Saturday at noon.
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'Obviously, getting drafted would be cool, but it's not really my main focus,' Chitaroni said. 'It's an invite to the dance. If I don't get drafted, it's not a big deal. I want to play pro one day and I just have to keep working and to keep listening to my coaches and doing everything I can to really improve and to just focus on myself as see how I do.'
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One of three sons of former Wolves captain Terry Chitaroni to become major-junior draft picks, between defenceman Mason and winger Brock, Hudson Chitaroni became Sudbury's third-round choice in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection after a stellar 22-goal, 26-assist season with the Junior Hounds in the Great North Under-18 League. He was also a standout for Team NOHA at the 2023 OHL Cup showcase in Toronto, managing to hit the score sheet despite battling an illness that might have forced other players out of the lineup.
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"It helps us achieve what we all want, which is administering this really beneficial, impactful programming that makes a difference and achieves the goals that we're setting up to achieve."
