Trade deadline time has come to an end in the CHL. Starting in the QMJHL, let’s see who improved, who remained the same and who declined.
It’s been a bit of a slow cook for the MasterCard Memorial Cup host Shawinigan Cataractes. First, it was acquiring Kirill Kabanov in October from Blainville-Boisbriand, and that move has produced more than a point-per-game and we haven’t heard a peep about any off-ice issues for the New York Islanders prospect. The cost was import defenceman Nikita Kolesnikovs, who represented Latvia at the world juniors.
Before that deal there was no question Shawinigan needed to get better on the back end in order to properly play host to the MasterCard Memorial Cup. The question was: how many defencemen would they need after the departure of Kolesnikovs? So the Cats went back to Blainville-Boisbriand to acquire Jonathan Narbonne. Then Morgan Ellis was added and if that wasn’t enough, Brandon Gormley from Moncton should solidify any needs on D. However, with all the picks leaving Shawinigan, it’s now or never.
Up front, the Cats possess six point-per-game forwards, a solid trio of offensive defencemen, a couple of stalwart stay-at-home guys in Dillon Donnelly and Jonathan Racine. In goal, with Gabriel Girard healthy, and Alex Dubeau having benefitted from playing time when Girard wasn’t healthy, Shawinigan looks a lot more like a Cup contender than it did in August.
The Saint John Sea Dogs didn’t need much, but the addition of Jordan Moore on the back should solidify their top six. Addition without penalty in the form of Charlie Coyle, and the toughness provided by Maxime Villemaire should have the Dogs in the hunt to defend their MasterCard Memorial Cup title.
Florida Panthers prospect Logan Shaw was having a fine season with Cape Breton and with more depth surrounding him, should flourish for Patrick Roy in Quebec City. The Remparts head coach and general manager had a nice balance of acquiring youth while not giving up on his core group. The acquisition of 19-year-old Gabriel Desjardins should help take some of the pressure of Anthony Duclair, Adam Erne and Mikhail Grigorenko (once he’s healthy) who have done the bulk of the heavy lifting up front for the Remparts. Solid on the back, and in goal, it’s hard to argue the play of Louis Domingue this season.
Victoriaville made all efforts to get Brandon Gormley, but it just didn’t work out. Instead, the Tigres acquired three solid defensive pick-ups in the form of Jeremy Blain, Daniel Milan and Matthew Hobbs. With incumbents Samuel Finn and Troy Vance, Victoriaville is deep in front of a nice goaltending tandem of David Honzig and Brandon Whitney. The forward group didn’t need a lot of help, and you know Phillip Danault will be playing with a chip on his shoulder after a disappointing release from Team Canada in December.
The most interesting team of all during the trading period has to be Chicoutimi. The Sags acquired Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mathieu Gagnon and Christian Ouellette in two separate trades with Gatineau, giving them an instant forward duo and an offensive defenceman, all of whom have produced this season. If Etienne Brodeur can regain his scoring touch from last year, and Lukas Sedlak is more confident after his sting with the Czech Republic at the world juniors, the Sags can lean on the MasterCard Memorial Cup experience of Gabriel Bourret and Alexandre Beauregard from a year ago and they may just have enough to break a few hearts in the playoffs. Don’t sleep on Christopher Gibson in goal, he alone can steal a series. The Sagueneens are the Q’s sleeper of the 2012 playoffs, especially since they will likely start in the middle of the pack. The Sags will have benefitted greatly from playing in arguably the toughest division in the CHL, the Telus East, whose last place team at time of writing (Baie-Comeau) was four games above .500.
The Halifax Mooseheads made just one trade, acquiring hometowner Brendan Duke from Quebec along with a first-round pick in the 2012 draft. Look for Halifax to be a contender a year from now, and as a possible bidder for the 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup. Their 1994- and 1995-born forward group will make them a powerhouse next season, and may be enough to do a little damage this year, especially with a likely home start in the playoffs.
Moving west to the OHL, it was a bit of a circus. Let’s start with the Eastern Conference. The Brampton Battalion have didn’t make a move, and have so far allowed a league-low 100 goals. Defence wins playoff games, and Brampton has found the net just enough.
Desperately not wanting to give up on Jesse Graham, Niagara coach/GM Marty Williamson sold the farm to get Jamie Oleksiak from the Saginaw Spirit. If Mark Visentin finds his stride in goal coming off a spectacular bronze medal game, the Dogs will be tough to deal with in the Gatorade Garden Centre come mid-March. Up front, they’re scary with the addition of Brett Richie. Don’t forget Tom Kuhnackl has just returned (two goals in two games) from suspension. This is a deep forward group with the experience of having played in the Eastern Conference final one year ago.
From the start of the season, everyone wondered just how dominant Oshawa was going to be. It seemed like the acquisition of Daniel Altshuller was the answer the Gennies had long been waiting for in goal. But when Scott Valentine wasn’t returned, the warts on Oshawa’s defence were clearly exposed. A coaching change has allowed Chris DePiero to focus on just the GM’s role, and he was fast at work improving his back end. With the additions of reigning OHL champs Matt Petgrave and Geoffrey Schemitsch as well as Julian Melchiori from Kitchener, the D looks nothing like it did in September, and that’s a good thing. Improving the D should have the multiple effect of making Altshuller better in goal, and allowing the forwards to do their thing since they will now have someone to get them the puck. If Oshawa plays up to its potential, the GM Centre may well be open for business in early May.
The Ottawa 67’s went out on a limb to acquire the supremely gifted John McFarland and Mike Cazzola from Erie to increase their depth up front, addressing both the centre and right wing positions. Ottawa has instantly become a deep three-line team, with a defensive corps that is solid and Petr Mrazek has proven on more than one occasion that he can steal a game by himself. If Ottawa can get and maintain its health, the 67’s will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
Sudbury is the sleeper in the East, and in typical grinding style, the Wolves added two likely 100 PIM guys in Michael Kantor and Derek Schoenmakers, the ladder should be able to chip-in offensively as well. The Wolves shocked Ottawa in the post-season a year ago, and may be able to knock off a contender in round one this year.
The wild, wild west wasn’t as wild this year as Windsor acquired mostly picks, Kitchener made just one deal, while Owen Sound and Saginaw moved top players away. Guelph and Sault Ste Marie did nothing. Erie sold off assets. Plymouth stood pat, which is just fine, they’ve won six straight and 9-of-10 while missing a few world junior standouts in Scott Wedgewood, JT Miller, Rickard Rakell and Dario Trutmann.
The most active were London and Sarnia. Starting with Mark Hunter’s London Knights, Austin Watson is a perfect fit, who adds some much needed size and jam. He’s a great all around player. Meanwhile, Gregg McKegg should help ease the scoring burden of youngsters Max Domi, Bo Horvat and Andreas Athanasiou. Let’s not forget Jared Knight, Vladislav Namestnikov and Seth Griffith. London is also good on the back with world junior standouts Scott Harrington, Jared Tinordi and Olli Maatta. Once Namestnikov, Harrington and Maata get healthy, there’s no need to see why London won’t contend for a title once again.
As for the most re-made team in the CHL, the Sarnia Sting was busy once again near the deadline. GM/head coach Jacques Beaulieu paid a steep price to acquire JP Anderson from Mississauga, he also got Tyler Brown and Ryan Spooner out of Kingston and overage defenceman Adrian Robertson from Windsor. If and when the Sting get healthy, they will possess the most dynamic forward group in the OHL.
The WHL saw a few big names move on trade deadline day. Portland continued to add up front with Marcel Noebels moving from Seattle. The Winterhawks also added bit pieces Brendan Jensen and Cam Reid. This is a team that didn’t need anything, and shouldn’t need anything. There’s no excuse for the Winterhawks not to be playing in mid-May, but then again, that’s what I thought last year.
For the most part, the rest of the Western Conference did only tweaking. That is, unless you believe Brett Connolly will be returned to the CHL. If so, Tri City will improve on an already great team. But, it’s not likely since Connolly has already played two games with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning since the world juniors, with an average of about 10 minutes per game. Vancouver did some tweaking, but nothing of significance, yet the Giants will likely find themselves at home for round one of the playoffs. Kamloops didn’t do a thing. Spokane stood pat. Prince George sold off its two biggest assets.
The most interesting moves came out of the East where the Brandon Wheat Kings acquired Kevin Sundher from Victoria. The Wheaties should move quickly out of eighth place, but then again, that can happen overnight in the tightly contested Eastern Conference. Edmonton didn’t need to make a move as the Oil Kings will get Travis Ewanyk back in mid-February and they were also the recipients of a late Christmas gift in Henrik Samuelsson arriving just in time to continue a great first-half run. The Regina Pats should get a boost from Martin Marincin, and the move was wise in that GM Chad Lang didn’t have to touch his young core group to do it. The Pats also added Luke Fenske for some more depth on the back. Moose Jaw created a stir by picking up veterans James Henry from Vancouver and Cam Braes from Lethbridge, who’s had to carry most of the weight on a young Lethbridge team for most of this season. The Warriors are trying to maximize the use of the beautiful new Mosaic Place.