OHL Trade Frenzy?
TSR Features | 30 Aug 2010
After what was an eerily quiet summer, the OHL trade front electrified during the last few days with no less than seven trades being completed as OHL teams prepare to open up training camps. I’ll revise each deal and break-down what you need to know as we build up to the upcoming OHL season.
August 26th
Mississauga Receives: G Anthony Peters (1990)
Saginaw Receives: Sudbury’s 5th Round Selection (2011)
Peters has bounced around considerably in his career after initially being a third round selection of the Oshawa Generals back in 2006. Heading into his OA season, Peters will be relied on to provide the Majors with some quality starts. Dave Cameron has always favoured the use of a goaltending platoon, so don’t be surprised to see Peters get a decent number of starts as 18 year old J.P. Anderson looks to take the reigns on the starting role with the departure of Chris Carozzi to professional hockey.
August 27th
Mississauga Receives: RW Justin Shugg (1991), D Marc Cantin (1990)
Windsor Receives: Mississauga’s 2nd Rounders (2013, 2015, 2016), Conditional 15th (2014)
The first real blockbuster of the new OHL season was the second move in as many days by Dave Cameron’s Majors. With the Majors hosting the Memorial Cup this year, they’re obviously looking to add some major pieces to their roster. Justin Shugg, a fourth rounder of Carolina this summer, flirted with 40 goals a year ago and should be an offensive catalyst for a team that is short on impact players. Cantin is a reliable defenseman who will provide some depth to the Majors blue-line, as well as a veteran presence with extensive playoff experience. Shugg’s lack of production in the post-season is a concern, but we’ll see how things pan out. The return of Windsor is mis-leading, as this move has been linked to other moves as well as seen below.
August 30th
Mississauga Receives: C Kerby Rychel (1994)
Barrie Receives: Mississauga’s 2nd Rounders (2011, 2012), 3rd Rounder (2014)
The Kerby Rychel saga is no secret amongst the OHL brethren. After Barrie took him (controversially), he’s now one step closer to the Windsor Spitfires as it looks like the Mississauga Majors will move him down the 401 during the January trade window for first round picks, in another deal that is sure to raise controversy about the inclusion of “future considerations” in trades. This trade holds a correlation to the Ebert and Shugg moves, but we’ll see what the return is from Windsor as this trade is certainly one of the conditions of the conditional 15th round pick from the August 29th deal. While Windsor might send back picks, don’t be surprised to see a player like Ryan Ellis make his way over to Mississauga as part of a bigger deal. As for Barrie, well they make out like bandits. Picking up the 22nd Overall Pick next year as compensation in addition to two second round picks and a third round pick is certainly nothing to sour over!
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Mississauga Receives: Mississauga’s 2nd Rounders (2015, 2016)
Windsor Receives: D Nick Ebert (1994)
Yet another piece of the initial deal saw the Majors deal their first round pick from 2010, Nick Ebert, to Windsor in exchange for two of the original picks that were sent to Windsor. Ebert will surely be an impact player as many projected him to potentially go first overall if he had of committed to the OHL from the outset. In Windsor, he’ll surely raise some eyebrows as they continue their trend of bringing in “NCAA bound” talent. Ebert was also a teammate of fellow 16 year old Brady Vail last year in Waterloo of the USHL. As I said before, this likely isn’t the last you will here between Mississauga and Windsor this year.
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Guelph Receives: D Daniel Maggio (1991)
Sudbury Receives: G Joel Vienneau (1992), Sudbury’s 2nd Round Selections (2011, 2012), Guelph’s 5th Round Selection (2012)
This is a bit of a peculiar move for the Storm, who dealt defenseman Ben Chiarot to Sudbury last year in exchange for those very same two second round picks. Maggio has been a bit of an enigma in his OHL career, never quite living up to his potential, but he’ll have plenty of opportunity to elevate his game in Guelph next year on a team that will surely be making their best run. Sudbury does well to re-stock the cupboard with some nice picks moving forward. If they can get Vienneau to walk away from the USHL and a scholarship to the University of Minnesota, it would go a long way to solidifying their shaky outlook in goal as Vienneau could contend for the starting position this year as well as next.
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Barrie Receives: C Steven Beyers (1992)
Sudbury Receives: Windsor’s 2nd Round Selection (2011), Future Considerations
Beyers career has stagnated a bit in the CCHL after being a very good AAA player. While his numbers in Orangeville have been good, a playoff injury in 2009 forced him to miss the outset of the 2009/2010 season and he later fell victim to the injury bug, limiting him to only 16 games. Despite this, he’ll be re-united with his former coach Dale Hawerchuk and he definitely has the ability to put up points at the OHL level. Don’t be surprised to see him push towards 50+ points next year. As for the Wolves, they pick up a decent pick for a player that wasn’t willing to report. GM Blaine Smith can determine whether or not he wants to use the pick in a trade or hold on to it as the Wolves now have an extra second rounder this season.
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Owen Sound Receives: RW Liam Heelis (1990)
Peterborough Receives: Owen Sound’s 4th Round Selection (2012)
Not a big trade by any means, but Owen Sound picks up some decent insurance if Jason Wilson is not returned. Heelis is a pretty competitive guy who found a bit of a scoring touch last year after a couple of subpar seasons. He’s fairly versatile and can likely slot into any of the Attack’s top three lines depending on where they may need him.
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Overall it was certainly an interesting day on the OHL trade front. Aside from the controversy over the Mississauga/Windsor deals and their use of “back-door trades” using future considerations, something the league has tried to eliminate, this will be the first test of the compensatory rule the league brought in before the 2009 Priority Selection. The Cole’s Notes version of the rule states that if you are unable to sign your first round pick and elect to move them via trade, you can receive the assets from the trade, plus a compensatory pick in the first round next year that is one pick after where you took the player originally.
Eg: Barrie will receive the 22nd Overall pick in 2011 for being unable to sign Kerby Rychel (21st, 2010)
This rule has opened up a bit of a loophole, as teams are open to the possibility of essentially flipping picks and getting a compensatory pick, or double dipping. I was able to speak to OHL Vice President Ted Baker today regarding the issue, as he was able to accommodate me for a brief phone call. I presented the hypothetical situation to him regarding the possibility of the team’s picking first and second overall doing this for example, and Baker noted that the league is aware of these possibilities, but they trust that the General Managers will uphold the integrity of the OHL, and that if such an instance were to occur, the OHL would investigate the situation before approving a trade. Either way, let the debate begin!
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