Saginaw signs top pick Crawford

Defenseman Nick Crawford has signed an OHL contract to play for the Saginaw Spirit.

The 1990-born native of Caledon, Ontario was selected by the Spirit in the first round (12th overall) of the 2006 OHL Priority Selection.

Crawford played the 2005-2006 season with the Don Mills Flyers. In 80 games, he notched 10 goals, 44 assists and 64 penalty minutes.

From the OHL website: Nick has been a steady, rock solid defenseman all year. His game is still a stay at home type style, and uses his physical presence on the ice. Nick has played in all the critical stages of Don Mills run in the playoffs. He has shown that he is a heady, hard-to-rattle type player. He plays the game safe and very rarely does he get caught out of position.

Past Spirit first-round picks include Jean-Michel Rizk (5th overall in 2002) Patrick McNeill (1st overall in 2003), Matt Corrente (2nd overall in 2004) and Zack Torquato (3rd overall in 2005).