Davies earns Rangers’ top pick in draft

Mike Davies knew something was wrong.

The 16-year-old winger was exhausted after playing a tournament game with his Southern Tier Admirals in Hamilton this past November.

“I couldn’t even untie my skates,” he said. “I couldn’t talk because my glands were so swollen.”

Blood tests soon confirmed that the Thorold native had mononucleosis. The timing was brutal. The infection set the rising star back about a month right in the peak of his major junior draft year.

“It was a gruelling process,” he said. “You sort of look at it like other people are getting more opportunities than yourself. You’re just sitting at home in bed.”

But Davies fought back once he was cleared to hit the ice. He worked hard to regain his draft status. And the effort paid off Saturday when he was selected by the Kitchener Rangers 13th overall in the first round of the OHL draft.

The Rangers chose 17 players in the 15-round draft, including locals Jacob Cascagnette from the Jr. Rangers and defenceman Scott Pedersen of the Waterloo Wolves. Three others — forward Jeremy Bracco, goalie Luke Opilka and blueliner Charles McAvoy — are highly touted Americans already committed to the U.S. national team development program for next season.

Davies was a bit of a draft day steal since his bout with mono affected his draft day ranking.

“The mono hurt,” said Rangers’ general manager and head coach Steve Spott. “If he had of stayed at the same level he started at, there is no way we would have gotten him with the 13th pick.”

Davies says he’s close to being back at full strength. But the mono hit him hard. At its height, it left him with an enlarged spleen, glands the size of golf balls and a closed throat. He lost 23 pounds during the ordeal.

“My spleen was outside my rib cage,” he said. “I couldn’t really talk or swallow.”

But, thanks to family, friends and a personal trainer, he’s on the road to recovery. “I learned about the whole process of being sick and how to recover from it,” he said. “It has been a long journey.”

And now, he’s ready to turn his sights to the Rangers, a team he’s been following on television all season long. Last year’s first round pick Matt Schmalz — since traded to Sudbury — also played on Davies’ Welland-based Admirals. But that’s about as far as his Kitchener connection goes.

But he visited the Aud Saturday surrounded by family and friends, hours after watching his name fly off the draft board. He donned a team jersey as he walked the concourse of his new home with No. 13 on his back.

“It’s obviously a big year with the 2013 draft, going 13th overall and our whole family’s favourite number is 13,” he said.

His goal as a rookie is to be an impact player. Finer details have him aiming for 15 to 20 goals. Spott, and his scouting team, targeted Davies because they feel he can step right in.

“We’re excited with his offensive upside,” said the skipper. “We need our first round pick to come in and contribute next year and we think he can do that.”

And Davies is eager to get going. “It’s just a huge honour,” said the winger, who models his game after NHLer Rick Nash. “I know that they might lose a lot of players so I’m excited to jump into this team and hopefully play a big role.”