By Jim Mason/OJHL Communications
And you thought you were having a busy Canada Day weekend.
Jonathan Morello of the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Toronto’s St. Michael’s Buzzers schedule has been downright hectic.
For all the right reasons.
The perennial honour roll student graduated from St. Michael’s College School in Toronto Thursday afternoon with an average just shy of 90 per cent.
He was on a flight from Pearson International to Las Vegas that night.
Friday morning, he interviewed with three NHL teams at three hotels along the storied Strip, ahead of the league’s draft at the Sphere.
Morello, the top-ranked OJHL player in the draft, was in the stands for Friday’s first round.
“Just to experience it,” he told the OJHL from Vegas on Saturday night. “Obviously, I wasn’t expecting to go Day 1. I just wanted to experience it with my family.”
Morello and his crew, including immediate and extended family, two friends from St. Mike’s and their dads and his skating coach, were back at the draft Saturday.
“Just waiting from then on and seeing what would happen,” he said. “That’s all I could really do.”
What happened was Morello was selected by the Boston Bruins in the 5th round, 154th overall.
The Bruins, who interviewed Morello five times leading up to the draft, were his first appointment Friday morning.
“I had a pretty good feeling about Boston,” he said. “They definitely showed interest. They wanted to know a lot about me and wanted to make sure I’m the right fit. I guess I was and I’m really grateful to be selected by them.”
The Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers also conducted multiple interviews with Morello.
A photo shoot and media interviews followed at the Sphere. They included a question about Morello’s loyalty.
“I got the question a lot,” he told the OJHL following a meet-and-greet with Bruins personnel back at the team’s hotel. “When people ask where I’m from and I say ‘Toronto’, they ask ‘are you a Leafs’ fan or ‘did you used to be a Leafs’ fan?’
“Growing up I watched the Leafs a ton and definitely supported them. But I knew going into this year that at the end of the year being a draft pick I was going to have to switch away from that.
“It’s a dream come true of mine to be drafted into the NHL. It’s not hard to support the Bruins because I have huge respect for the whole organization and all their history. I guess I’m a Bruins’ fan now and hopefully one day I will play there.”
On Sunday morning, Morello took two flights to get to Boston. He’s one of 35 players at Bruins development camp, which opened this morning at Warrior Ice Arena, the NHL team’s practice facility.
(Former Trenton Golden Hawk and Wellington Duke Dalton Bancroft, the OJHL’s MVP in 2021-22, is also on the camp roster. Bancroft has played two seasons at NCAA Division I Cornell.)
In May, Morello received the OJHL Hudl InStat Top Prospect Award, presented in conjunction with National Hockey League Central Scouting annually to the highest-ranked OJHL player for the NHL Draft.
Committed to NCAA Division I Clarkson for 2025, Morello tallied 57 points (25 goals/32 assists) in 50 games during his second OJHL season. Seven of his goals were game-winners. The 6-foot-2 forward was named to the OJHL’s First Prospect Team for 2023-24.
Throughout the season, the 17-year-old – he’ll turn 18 July 31 – was in touch with 16 NHL teams via Zoom, in-person interviews or questionnaires.
Morello was a member of Team Canada East that won silver at the World Junior A Challenge in December.
“This year was definitely very special with Team Canada East, the (OJHL) All-Star Celebration and the success of the Buzzers,” he said. ”There was a lot going on for sure and I think this definitely tops it all off.”
“I worked really hard during the off-season (last summer) to be a major player on the Buzzers, but I also knew it was going into my draft year and I was also working toward that and every possible outcome.”
Photo courtesy Boston Bruins
