Ladd Invited To Canada’s U18 Selection Camp

Grayson Ladd of Kent Bridge, Ontario has been invited to participate in Team Canada’s U18 selection camp leading up to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this summer.

Ladd, who plays for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires was one of 14 defenseman and 44 players from across Canada invited to the camp, which will take place in Calgary beginning in late July.

“Unlike our other summer camps, these players are part of a selection process from the moment they arrive, and the opportunity is to represent Canada on the world stage,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams in a Hockey Canada release. “We have a very talented group of players coming to Calgary in late July, and we will no doubt have some very difficult decisions to make when it’s time to select this year’s Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team. The players are excited to arrive and get started, and they are all coming in with the goal of making our decision a difficult one.”

Ladd blossomed in the second half of the OHL season after being acquired by Windsor from the Kitchener Rangers, who selected him 13th overall in last year’s OHL draft.

Through 52 games in his rookie OHL campaign, Ladd collected 6 assists, and added another in 6 playoff games.

He also participated in Ontario’s U17 camp last summer, collecting 2 assists in 3 games.

Canada won last year’s Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in the Czech Republic, a team that saw 18 players drafted in June’s NHL Draft.