Let’s take a look back at the weekend that was following a busy OHL trade deadline, which included some surprising and not-so-surprising exchanges.
Jake Paterson joins the Kitchener Rangers
Paterson heading out of Saginaw? Yes, this move was something most of us had been anticipating since his return to the league. But Paterson heading to Kitchener? It’s safe to say that one caught a lot of us off guard.
The veteran goaltender was a highly sought-after asset, but Kitchener’s decision to go after him was a bit of a head-scratcher. They traded away their top scorer Justin Bailey to Sault Ste. Marie earlier in the season, and Brent Pederson to Oshawa before that in what was a blatant shot at building for the future. That makes sense.
Acquiring overaged Paterson hints at a playoff push, which has some people puzzled. After missing the post-season last year, the Rangers are floating in seventh place. Thanks to the teams below them in the standings, the Rangers do have a legitimate playoff shot, but their chances of doing any damage don’t seem to be favourable.
Either way, Paterson couldn’t have had a better debut with his new squad: a 29-save shutout in a 5-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Friday night. If anything, he will end his junior career on a slightly shinier note.
Of course, the Bulls are without the likes of ex-captain Jake Marchment and then-leading scorer Remi Elie, whom they shipped off to Erie for a hefty six draft picks. Knowing Belleville will be without a few of its best players (Brett Gustavsen, Brett Welychka, most likely Jordan Subban) next season, the time to pick up for the future is now. As far as the rest of this campaign is concerned, the team can stay afloat without Elie.
North Bay makes a splash
The North Bay Battalion kick-started the first of many deadline deals. It’s clear coach and GM Stan Butler was looking to make more of an impact up front, acquiring Saginaw’s Nick Moutrey and Kingston’s Ryan Kujawinski. Unfortunately, Moutrey suffered a sprained ankle against Plymouth on Friday and was unable to play against his former team the following night. The Battalion walked away from the weekend with a win and a loss, but this is hardly a sign of what we’ll see from them in the coming weeks. Like I said last week, they are making a strong contending statement, but it’s safe to say the Oshawa Generals won’t let them—or any team, for that matter—get away with a series sweep as easily this season.
It was assumed the Oshawa Generals would walk away from the deadline stronger than ever. Are they ever, after adding big names in Michael McCarron (London), Brent Pederson (Kitchener) and Matt Mistele (Plymouth) to their lineup over the past couple weeks. The squad, leading the Eastern Conference by 14-points, is built for the playoffs.
That being said, kudos to the Kingston Frontenacs for beating the Gens in a shootout on Friday, and to the Peterborough Petes for grabbing blanking them 1-0 blank Saturday.
Oshawa did beat the Mississauga Steelheads 4-0 on Sunday, a score we’re more used to seeing.
Elsewhere in the East
Also on the Eastern front, the Barrie Colts moved four picks and a couple of players for a big body in Ben Harpur and a physical defenceman in Chadd Bauman (who got tossed in his first game with Barrie for leaving the bench to fight).
The 67’s also had a busy week, both on and off the ice. They said goodbye to overaged Erik Bradford, who lasted exactly one year in Ottawa. He was involved in their biggest deal at last year’s deadline, sending Joseph Blandisi to the Colts. Anyway, Bradford will finish his OHL career as part of the Owen Sound Attack and, to no one’s surprise, he’s already turning heads—scoring the first goal in his first game with the team, earning him the second star. The guy is playing for a contract.
Ottawa also traded 6-foot-6 winger Tyler Hill to the Guelph Storm for ’97 winger Adam Craievich—a much-needed change of scenery for both players, who have been underwhelming the past two seasons. This also helps with Ottawa’s large quantity of 1995-born players.
The Greyhounds are top buyers
Heading into last week’s deadline, we knew the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds would be big buyers. Still, they didn’t fail to surprise us.
The Greyhounds put to rest a big bulk of the deadline talk in acquiring Nick Ritchie from Peterborough, but went the extra step further in picking up Sarnia Sting defenceman Anthony DeAngelo and Justin Bailey from Kitchener. Bailey has four points in three games with the Greyhounds, and helped them win both contests this past weekend.
The Marchment-Elie acquisition topped off Erie’s deadline involvement. It’s worth mentioning the Otters lost their first game with a healthy McDavid back in the lineup 4-3 to Sarnia, and that McDavid scored this pretty goal:
Jakob Chychrun, the OHL’s first overall pick last year, scored a nifty one as well:
The Otters went on to beat the London Knights on both Friday (6-2) and Sunday (5-3). Both teams are now 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.