September Trade Recap

Opening month of the season saw 8 trades go down in the league. 5 out of those 8 trades involved overage players as teams try to work their roster composition in a way that gives them the greatest chance of success going forward depending on where they sit in the Jr hockey cycle.

Historically teams will tend to tweak as they continue to go through October while being patient in November with the occasional splash before they start gearing up around the deadline. There are still some interesting pieces out there like Soo goalie Joseph Raaymakers but who can ever understand the goalie marker. We also have everyone on Erie but some players may make more sense to hold on to if they can get a 2017 1st back at the deadline.

For an up to date breakdown on the draft picks that each team has be sure to check out the great work from Matt Wilson who has a much better looking draft pick database than I had. You can find it here Draft Pick Database



Breakdown by Team

Team - number of Trades

Barrie Colts - 3 Trades
Erie Otters - 1 Trade
Flint Firebirds - 1 Trade
Guelph Storm - 1 Trade
Hamilton Bulldogs - 3 Trades
Kitchener Rangers - 1 Trade
London Knights - 1 Trade
Ottawa 67s - 2 Trades
Sarnia Sting - 1 Trade
Sudbury Wolves - 2 Trades

Breakdown by Age
'97 - 5
'98 - 3

Draft Pick Breakdown
2nd round picks - 3
3rd round picks - 4
4th round picks - 1
10th round picks - 1
14th round picks - 1
conditional picks - 6


September 10th

Ottawa

Leo Lazarev

to

Barrie

Con 12th 2020

Breakdown

In need of an improvement between the pipes the Colts picked up Lazerav the OA goalie from Ottawa. When this trade first went down I felt that there was no doubt this was an improvement I just didnt think this would get the Colts anywhere near the top 3 of Peterborough, Oshawa or Mississauga (assuming McLeod and Tippet are back) and may not be enough to get them past Hamilton or Kingston (but with some luck they now have a fighting chance). Through 3 starts in September however Lazarev has been fantastic. He has had 3 game stretches like this in the past so it is important to not get to carried away with such a small sample size but the early returns are great. If he can finally find the consistency that has been lacking in his OHL career then this will turn out great for the Colts.

September 11th

Barrie

Anthoney Dumont-Bouchard

to

Kitchener Rangers

14th 2018

Breakdown
After a stellar 2nd half in the QMJHL the Barrie Colts did a great job of using their waiver position to claim Dumont-Bouchard and pick up an extra asset for him. The french canadian has been stellar for the Rangers through 3 games this year and has solidified that team between the pipes.

September 15th

Barrie

Olivier Tremblay

to

Ottawa 67s

10th rd pick 2018

Breakdown
The 67's ensured their monopoly on the OHL goalie market of goalies named Olivier by sending a 10th round pick to the Colts for another goalie that Barrie claimed on waivers from the QMJHL. Unfortunately for the 67s his early results have been less than exciting and they will need someone to turn things around in net if they hope to make some noise this season

September 19th

London Knights
Nicolas Mattinen

to

Flint Firebirds
Fli 3rd 2018
Fli 2nd 2019
Nia 2nd 2020
con. Mis 3rd 2019

Breakdown
Not a bad haul for the Knights considering they traded a 19 year old who was on their 3rd pair last year. Obviously September has not been kind to the Knights in terms of players returning from the NHL. That said I would do the trade again because this is a fantastic return for Mattinen. The Firebirds are still doing well in the draft pick department and had a glaring need for a veteren D man with the graduation of Peters, Henderson and Smerek. Mattinen has fit in well so far and while I dont think he continues his offensive pace he should be in line for a career year just based on the ice time he should get in Flint.

September 20th

Hamilton Bulldogs
Cole Candella

to

Sudbury Wolves
Ldn 2nd 2018
Wsr 3rd 2018
Sby 3rd 2019
Sby 3rd 2022

Breakdown

At first glance by picking up 1 2nd and 2 3rds it seems like the Bulldogs got a weaker return for Candella than the Knights got for Mattinen. At closer look however they get a 2nd a year earlier 2018 vs 2019 which has a higher present value and they get a 3rd in 2019 vs a 2nd in 2020 while the present value is not as high as the 2nd it is closer than one might think. In all it was a good haul. Comparable and possibly slightly better than what London got depending on how much value you put in the year of the picks. From Sudbury's perspective I really think you will see Candella thrive playing under associate coach Jordan Smith as the season moves on. His development seemed to stall last year under John Gruden but Smith as a sterling record of developing while coaching the Soo Thunderbirds and I think Candella will really take off this year.

September 21st

Erie
TJ Fergus

to

Hamilton

3rd 2018
Con 5th 2020
Con 6th 2020

Breakdown

A year after winning an OHL championship TJ Fergus was looking to end his OHL career closer to home and with a glut of OAs the Otters gladly obliged. In return for the veteran rearguard who played on their top pair last season beside Max Kaminsky winner Darren Raddysh the Otters get a 3rd round pick in 2018 a draft which before this trade their earliest pick was the 6th round. They also get 2 conditional picks whose conditions have not been released but I suspect at least 1 may be based on games played this year. For the Bulldogs they add a veteran piece to their blueline although it does give them for OA defenceman. Obviously you cant dress 4 although I would argue having 3 OA D is an inefficient roster make up. I would expect at least 2 to move either through trade or waivers as they could use an OA forward to help kick start their offence.


September 22nd

Hamilton Bulldogs
Cole Ceci

to

Guelph Storm
con. 9th 2018

Breakdown

With projected back up Nico Daws banged up the Storm needed a body to sit on the bench in case Anthony Popovich went down. The Storm sent a conditional pick down highway 6 for the backup who lost is spot on the depth chart to Nick Donofrio who has a bit more upside in his projection. There were some who speculated Raaymakers was on his way but if the Storm were to go that route it would make more sense to wait and see what is happening with Dipietro. When it comes down to it there are really only 3 teams that make sense as landing spots for the Windsor goalie. Owen Sound, Guelph and Oshawa. Owen Sound is in win mode this year and Dipietro would make them overwhelming favorites but Dipietro in Guelph or Oshawa would make those teams favourites for 2018-19. Maybe he goes to Owen Sound at the deadline only to get traded to one of those teams over the summer so they can recoup some draft picks while Dipietro goes on to win 3 straight Memorial Cups all with different teams. Wow that was quite the tangent that had nothing to do with this trade.

September 25th

Sarnia Sting
Troy Lajeunesse

to

Sudbury Wolves
4th round pick 2021

Breakdown
The Wolves lost projected OA leader Ryan Valentini to a shoulder injury so they were in need of an OA addition up front. For a 4th round asset 4 years down the road they get a season of Troy Lajeunesse from Sarnia. A solid 2 way forward will serve more of a depth offensive role with the Wolves but will be able to take some high leveraged minutes on the ice to help insulate and protect the development of some of the younger forwards in the Nickle City. From an asset management perspective this was a very good pick up by the Wolves. For the Sting they were able to move surplus early in the season while picking up a future asset.