Source: Windsor Spitfires to add Richard Panik, Cam Fowler next season

Ryan Kennedy
2009-02-20 11:49:00

Sources say the Ontario League’s Windsor Spitfires will soon receive commitments from elite prospects Cam Fowler and Richard Panik, giving an already loaded team two more dangerous weapons for the 2009-10 season.

Fowler, an American-born defenseman, is draft eligible in 2010 and currently plays for the U.S. National Team Development Program. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound blueliner has 22 points in 28 games for the NTDP and is touted as one of the top prospects in his draft year thanks to his excellent skating and two-way game. The University of Notre Dame was also a potential destination for the youngster at one point.

Panik, a Slovakian playing in the Czech Republic, is draft eligible this summer and his joining a North American team should help his stock rise. A gifted puck-handler, the 6-foot-1, 202-pound center is likely a late first-rounder in the NHL draft.

The Spitfires, who are dominating the OHL this season thanks to players such as Taylor Hall, Ryan Ellis and Greg Nemisz, will be adding two more of their first-round draft picks in Fowler (domestic draft) and Panik (import draft) next year.