Marty Williamson believes not only did the Barrie Colts get themselves an elite scoring forward in Wednesday’s 2024 CHL Import Draft, in using their 15th overall selection to grab Finnish winger Emil Hemming they also added someone with the same offensive weapons they haven’t had since Tyson Foerster.
Armed with a booming shot and a strong ability to put the puck back in the net – reminiscent of former Colt and current Philadelphia Flyers sniper Foerster - the 2024 Dallas Stars first-round pick is exactly what the OHL club needs, says the Colts’ general manager and head coach.
“That’s what we wanted,” said Williamson. “We believe we have some real good puck movers and the ability to gain the zone, but to have a guy that can really finish and is known for his shot. . . I don’t know if we’ve had a guy since Tyson Foerster that’s been that kind of guy.
“You saw what Tyson did for our power play when we had him, and we’re hoping Emil can do the same thing for us.”
In the six-foot-one, 205-pound Hemming, the Colts have a player who can fit right in alongside offensive spark plug Beau Jelsma and help bolster a power play that struggled all year and finished a dismal 19th overall out of 20 teams.
“He’s an elite scorer,” Williamson said of Hemming, who split the 2023-24 season between the TPS (Liga) and the TPS U20, where he registered 11 goals and 18 points in 13 games. “He’s got a bomb of a shot. He shoots the puck as hard as anybody in the draft. He’s a big boy, already 205 pounds and I know how excited Dallas is.
“Obviously there’s always a little bit of work (getting him here), but we think he’s going to be a great addition if everything goes smoothly.”
Williamson is fairly optimistic they will be able to bring Hemming over this season, thanks in large part to the relationship they have with his agent, Claude Lemieux, after his son and current NHLer, Brendan Lemieux, spent four seasons in Barrie from 2012 to 2015.
“He (Claude) obviously knows our organization quite well,” said Williamson. “He basically told us he’s going to do everything he can to make this happen and he believes it’s going to happen.
“We put some trust in Claude, and we think it’s a great pick.”
Leaving pro hockey back home to play in the OHL will also provide the right winger greater opportunities.
“That’s what excited Claude about the situation,” said the Colts bench boss. “Whether to play with men back home and not get power play time, get limited ice or come here. From our understanding, both Dallas and Claude believe this is the right direction for him.
“We’re going to be a good team, but we’re going to be a heavily scouted team too. We got a lot of guys for the draft next year. (Kashawn) Aitcheson, I saw some lists come out that had him in the top 10. Obviously, Shamar Moses, and we think we got another good draft class ahead of us. . . It’s a good time for us.”
With Foerster and his big one-timer from the faceoff circle, the Colts would often look for the big winger during power plays.
In Hemming, who the Stars selected 29th overall, Williamson believes they have that kind of sniper once again.
“Specially the shooter type of guy,” he said. “We believed we wanted someone with a bomb and that kind of thing just to help the power play. Beau Jelsma is doing his thing out there and you got some open ice, and he finds a guy and he just doesn’t miss. It really is a perfect fit for us.
“With the Finnish guys, this is a kid that plays hard, plays both ends of the rink. He’s a complete player besides being a very good goal scorer. That’s why he’s a first-rounder.”
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Barrie used its 75th pick overall to grab another Finnish kid, selecting prized young goaltender Patrick Kerkola. The 17-year-old spent the majority of last season between the U18 and U20 Kalpa Kuopio clubs.
The six-foot-one, 181-pound native of Siilinjarvi represented Finland at the IIHF U17 tournament where he recorded 3.20 goals against average and .904 save percentage.
“He’s one of the youngest goalies to play on a pro team and he was (Finland’s) Hlinka Tournament goalie in August for Finland,” said Williamson of Kerkola, who will be at training camp in August. “We believe he’s a top prospect and is a guy that will be scouted heavily for the NHL draft next year.”
Barrie goaltending coach David Belitski did his “homework” on the goaltender, who will join starter Sam Hillebrandt and rookie Ben Hrebik in the crease this season.
“You almost need to have three in this league,” Williamson said of the goaltending situation. “You look ahead and we’re probably going to lose Hillebrandt to world juniors, so we think we’re just really solid there. Hrbek’s got a good future, and it just gives us lots of options.”
Import drafts can bring a lot of uncertainty, but Williamson is happy with what the club was able to do.
“They are tough drafts, but they’re extremely important when you look at the teams that have been successful in our league,” he said. “The imports take up two important spots and we believe, especially with Kerkola, we got a guy for the future and Emil is more a now type guy who could impact our lineup right away.
“We’re all very happy and we think it was a really good day for us.”
The Val d’Or Foreurs had the first overall pick and used it to select Russian native and Calgary Flames first-rounder Matvei Gridin. The forward had 38 goals and 83 points in 60 games with the Muskegon Lumberjacks last season.
Czech centre Vit Zahejsky, 16, went to the Kamloops Blazers with the second overall pick and the Windsor Spitfires used its third overall selection to take Belarus winger and Washington Capitals first-rounder NHL pick Ilya Protas.
