With the OHL Trade Deadline just two days away, buyers in the market have gotten aggressive and have sold off many future picks.
The buyers are focusing on immediate impact players who can give their teams a late push for the playoffs and Memorial Cup. The sellers, meanwhile, focused on acquiring future draft picks and prospects from last year’s OHL Draft. Three 2017 first round picks have already been moved in the past week, and Mike Vukojevic de-committed from Michigan and joined Kitchener.
We highlighted the ’01s who were moved this week and discuss a few teams with some savvy front office moves.
Kitchener & Sault Ste. Marie: Buyers
Mike Vukojevic, our highest-rated defenseman in the OHL Draft this past season as a 4.75-star prospect, slipped to the second round given his verbal commitment to Michigan. A big-framed, polished skating defenseman, he played in the USHL as a 16-year-old, which is very rare, especially as a defenseman. He decided to make the move to the OHL and Kitchener quickly responded by moving their first-round pick Grayson Ladd as part of the blockbuster Logan Brown trade. Kitchener has become a contender in the OHL.
Sault Ste. Marie, which is currently leading the OHL in the standings, also made a big move this past week, acquiring Taylor Raddysh and Jordan Sambrook from Erie in exchange for last year’s first-round pick Hayden Fowler. Raddysh and Sambrook were both second-round Tampa picks last year and are immediate-impact players on an already talented roster. That should boost the team’s power play, which is already ranked third with a 24.5 percent conversion rate.
Windsor: Rebuilding
The Spitfires, coming off a Memorial Cup last season, were major sellers this year. They moved most of their veteran talent with playoff experience in exchange for younger talent and future picks. They acquired two first-round picks from last year’s draft in 4.25-star prospect Grayson Ladd, 4.5-star prospect Cody Morgan and a host of quality, early-round picks in this draft and future drafts. They are committed to a youth movement by building a team with a strong draft class and young, promising prospects, which could pay dividends in the coming years.
London Playing the Long Game
London is a team that has won 7 of their last 10 and looked like a team on the playoff bubble has turned their focus towards the future and moved 3 of their best players in Max Jones, Cliff Puff and Robert Thomas. Just today, Thomas was moved to first place Hamilton in exchange for future picks and first round pick and 4.25 star prospect Connor McMichael. They have also picked up former first rounder Nathan Dunkley who is likely a top 100 pick in this summers NHL Draft. They made the difficult but smart decision that they didn’t have the pieces for a top team this year so they acquired enough talent to make a serious run next season.
Erie: Salvaging a tough season
Erie, along with Flint and Peterborough, is among the bottom three teams in the league. They didn’t have a lot of leverage heading into trade deadline but were able to unload two veteran talents for 2017 first-round pick and 4.25-star prospect Hayden Fowler and future draft picks.