Pataki In Good Hands With Wolves
Brady Pataki skating with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves – Photo by Terry Wilson/ OHL Images
The Hockey News listed the Sudbury Wolves as a “hockey factory” along with the University of Michigan. The article ranks Michigan as the top NCAA program, and Sudbury as the top CHL program for producing NHL players stating “when it comes to developing big-league talent, Michigan and Sudbury are the best amateur programs at turning prospects into NHL players.”
That’s good news for Wallaceburg’s Brady Pataki who is finishing his rookie campaign in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves.
Through 51 games this season, Pataki who only turned 16 in October, has 5 goals and 3 assists. Although they aren’t huge numbers, the Sudbury Wolves are a struggling team this season filled the young players, and Pataki’s minutes have been protected to help the six-foot-two right winger develop.
The fact that Pataki, who already has professional size at six-two, 217 lbs, isn’t NHL draft eligible until 2017 due to his late birthday also bodes well for the big winger who has an extra OHL season to develop.
When Sudbury signed Pataki this season, their head scout Andrew Shaw stated he was sure Pataki would be an NHL pick in 2017.
With a record like the Sudbury Wolves have of producing career NHLers, ahead of powerhouse organizations such as the London Knights and Portland Winterhawks, it appears Pataki’s fate is in good hands, and that the opportunity for him to make it big exists.
As Mark Kranjc’s article in The Hockey News stated, “the stability offered by the Sudbury Wolves, and the hockey minds they have brought in for decades, ensure great opportunities for young players to develop into NHLers.”