With so many significant moves made across the CHL, we examine the impact players will have on their new teams.
John Tavares made the biggest headline this week but he's not the only big name changing address.
A flurry of activity was expected as the trade deadlines came and went across the Canadian Hockey League. Here are some of the winners of deadline week activity:
Ontario Hockey League Winners
Brampton Battalion
Brampton made a big splash this week, giving them a team worthy of competing for the Eastern Conference crown. American goaltender Thomas McCollum lands in Brampton from Guelph in exchange for forward Josh Shalla, goaltender Brandon Foote and two second-round picks.
The memory most fans have of McCollum might be from his unimpressive world junior performance. However, McCollum has been anything but unreliable throughout his OHL career in Guelph. The star goaltender is among the leaders in nearly every statistical category and has the ability to steal a game.
The only concern Brampton should have is whether his ruptured confidence from the world juniors will carry over to his new team. I'm confident McCollum will come to Brampton looking to prove himself after a dismal tournament. When he's on his game, McCollum has the ability to steal games single-handedly. He was the top goaltender available on the market and while Brampton paid a premium to acquire him, their window to win is getting smaller with the likely departures of Cody Hodgson and Evgeny Grachev next season.
With McCollum, Brampton now has the goalie to counter Belleville's Mike Murphy. None of the other Eastern Conference teams figure to be much of a threat to either team.
London Knights
After acquiring the likes of Tavares and Michael Del Zotto, the Knights should be in the thick of things in late April. In order to avoid redundancy, read my previous story on the blockbuster trade.
Windsor Spitfires
Spitfires general manager Warren Rychel must have known he wasn't going to land the biggest fish in the sea. In saying that, he knew he would need to add pieces in order to give his team the best opportunity to beat the now Tavares-led Knights.
Windsor added goaltender Josh Unice, defenceman Ben Shutron and forward Scott Timmins in a blockbuster deal with the Kitchener Rangers. Unice brings depth and insurance in a net with a potential goalie battle taking place between him and Andrew Engelage. Unice has the experience of winning the league title last season with Kitchener and playing in the Memorial Cup.
All three additions will bring leadership to a young team on the verge of greatness. Since their top two players, Taylor Hall and Ryan Ellis, are only 17, veteran leadership will be invaluable as the Spitfires move forward this season. Their chances of beating the Knights in a potential playoff series just improved. This team is now set up to go for the Memorial Cup this season and it will be interesting to see how the team comes together.
Keep an eye on:
The Guelph Storm may have just hindered their chances this season but let's face it, they didn't have enough to beat the Spitfires this season. With that in mind, they went about building a team which could be the next powerhouse of the league. After adding '91-born forward Michael Latta from Ottawa earlier this season, the Storm may have signaled their direction for the deadline.
What they did was add a goaltender, Foote from the McCollum trade, as well as valuable draft picks as they move towards what could be a special year two seasons away. The core of the team is their '91-born players with Latta, Foote, Peter Holland, Taylor Beck and Ben Chiarot. If the team can draft properly over the next two years, this team should be in a position to make a run in two seasons.
Western Hockey League Winners
(Reminder: WHL trade deadline is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. Mountain Time)
Lethbridge Hurricanes
One season removed from winning the Eastern Conference and the Hurricanes have fallen backwards in the first half of the season. Many of the coaches and general managers Sportsnet.ca interviewed before the season predicted another Lethbridge-Spokane final. Going into Friday's action, Lethbridge is sitting in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
In order to send a message to his seemingly-apathetic team, general manager Roy Stasiuk added the league's most prominent power-forward, Kyle Beach. Chicago’s first-round pick last summer is going to change the makeup of the team as he provides grit, leadership and a flair for offence. Beach is sometimes perceived as a bad apple, one that stirs the pot. What is rarely mentioned is his passion for winning and pin-point accurate wrist-shot.
"I'm really disappointed in the enthusiasm in our team right now," Stasiuk told Sportsnet.ca following the trade. "If anything I want to send a clear message to our team we are serious about moving forward and challenging for another championship.
"This guy plays to win," Stasiuk said about Beach. "He plays for keeps and what I like about him is just the things he does around the net; he understands that scoring is part of this game and sometimes when you're going to the net hard you're going to engage in some trouble and he's not scared of that part of the game either."
The Hurricanes traded forward Dan Iwanski, rookie defenceman Alex Theriau and a first-round pick this summer to grab Beach and defenceman Mike Alexander.
Will the addition of Beach be enough to beat the Calgary Hitmen or Saskatoon Blades in the playoffs? It certainly can't hurt. This team is now loaded with offence and should have a renewed passion to win with Beach in the fold.
Vancouver Giants
The theme in Vancouver is the rich just got richer. Already one of top teams in major junior and a perennial powerhouse, the Giants just added a premier puck-rushing defenceman in Nick Ross. Along with Ross comes Alex Rodgers for Curtis Kulchar and a trio of picks.
A first-round pick by the Phoenix Coyotes, Ross will now be playing for his third team in the WHL after beginning his career in Regina. The Lethbridge, Alta. product is also an intimidating physical presence on the back-end. He likes to deliver the open-ice hits and sometimes goes looking for them. His addition gives Vancouver another weapon in both ends of the ice.
Perhaps the biggest winner in this trade is Ross, or for that matter, the Coyotes. At times Ross looks disinterested by the junior game as he has had issues with inconsistency. Whether he's bored or looking for another challenge, head coach Don Hay has a reputation for getting the most out of his players. Playing under Hay with a shot at a championship could change Ross' mentality as he looks to go pro next season.
Québec Major Junior Hockey League winners
Drummondville Voltigeurs
If the Voltigeurs don't win the championship this season it won't be for a lack of trying. Already one of the top teams, Drummondville added two pieces which should ensure them a chance in, at the very least, the third round. Coming in are forwards Chris DiDomenico and goaltender Marco Cousineau.
DiDomenico is viewed as one of the top offensive threats in the league and was the runaway winner for the category of top forward and league MVP prior to the season by Sportsnet.ca's coaches and general manager's poll. His previous team, the Saint John Sea Dogs, decided to usher in a new phase as the team has underachieved following a season where they marched to the third round of the playoffs.
DiDomenico should have ample opportunity to score in the forward-heavy Drummondville team. He joins a core already boasting the top two scorers in the league, Dany Massé and Yannick Riendeau. Mike Hoffman and Samson Mahbod are also among the top 10 scorers.
In Cousineau, the Voltigeurs now get a netminder worthy of leading them to the promised-land. One of the top goaltenders last year, Cousineau parlayed his season into a spot in the Anaheim Ducks' prospect chart. If he can return to the form he showed last season with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Drummondville shouldn't have any problems going for the championship this season.
Rimouski Océanic
Talk about going for broke. If the Océanic don't win the Memorial Cup this season they might not have another opportunity in years. Rimouski added Alexandre Néron, Jason Demers, Marc-André Bourdon, Matthew Dopud, Justin MacNaughton and Maxime Ouimet. Gone are a plethora of draft picks, including three first-round picks, two second-round picks and a total of 12 picks in the last four trades. Not included in that listing is the two second-round picks and four total picks in the trade for Logan MacMillan before Christmas.
The main problem for Rimouski this season has been injuries. However, even with a full lineup the team was still in a position where they needed to add in order to challenge for the President's Cup, not to mention the Memorial Cup they're hosting in May.
Bourdon, no relation to the late Luc Bourdon, is one of the top offensive blue-liners in the league. As the prominent player from that list, the expectations to produce will be huge in Rimouski. While most teams face the pressure to win, if Rimouski doesn't win either the league or the Memorial Cup, this season will be looked upon as a disappointment. The players acquired didn't come cheap, but Rimouski is in a much better position to contend now than they were a week ago.
Shawinigan Cataractes
Another championship contender, the Cataractes made two big trades acquiring Alex Grant and Maxime Macenauer. Ironically, the two players were acquired from teams who also sent players to their division rival, Drummondville.
Grant was the face of the Saint John franchise and will add some size and dependability on the blueline. In Macenauer, Shawinigan gets another offensive forward to add to the core of Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll, Nicholas Petersen and Matthew Pistilli. The team boasts one of the top, if not the best, goaltender in the league in German Timo Pielmeier.
Shawinigan felt with a top team and a new rink they should have been awarded the right to host the Memorial Cup this season. Since losing out to Rimouski, the Cataractes have gone about trying to prove they were the best team on the ice. A run at the elusive Memorial Cup is certainly within reach with the team they have assembled.
