Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and his team had Stanley's name circled on their list heading into the NHL Draft in Buffalo, NY this past June.
"Just from the character and the compete standpoint, he's someone that we really believe is just scratching the surface of where he can go," said Cheveldayoff. "Getting a defenseman, left shot, certainly does help. When all those things collide, you just don't let those things slip through your fingers."
Now Stanley is committed to helping the Windsor Spitfires get back into the OHL postseason. He's also looking to build on a successful draft year in 2015-2016 when he posted 17 points in 64 games, represented Canada at the IIHF World Under-18 tournament, and skated in the CHL Top Prospects Game.
But Stanley does admit, it's a bit of an adjustment getting used to the OHL again.
"It's been going alright," said Stanley after putting up two assists in his first five games. "I think the first few games, it was a little bit different being used to the speed of NHL players and coming back, and you have to get used to the speed here, and it's a little bit slower."
Even if the OHL game is a bit slower than what he saw in late September and early October at MTS Iceplex, Stanley doesn't want to get complacent. Improving his foot speed has been a goal of his for a couple seasons, and he wants that progress to continue, now that he sees how much it will help at the NHL level.
In Windsor, he's back with the coaching staff that helped him get quicker last season: Rocky Thompson, Trevor Letowski, and Jerrod Smith.
"We did a lot of video, (they) broke down the game for me," said Stanley. "They helped me a lot this (past) year, and kind of explained the game and made things easier.
"You always want to keep getting better and keep improving. I just have to go home and keep working on my skating and my foot speed, and come back ready to go."