For the first time in three years, the OHL’s trade deadline
is an interesting one for fans in the Nation’s Capital by way of the local
squad potentially being buyers.
The Ottawa 67’s won’t be heavy into the buyer market, but
for a team that’s three points away from home ice advantage in the East (with
two games in hand), a piece or two could be added to bolster the team.
Nobody is expected to give Oshawa a run for their money come
the Eastern Conference playoffs, but adding a forward and trying to win a
round or two wouldn’t hurt. December 28 to January 9 will be a fun time to watch for small moves in Ottawa.
Between the pipes
Ottawa’s status in net is a microcosm of their team;
definitely an upgrade on the editions from the two year’s past, but still not
fully in their prime.
Liam Herbst has slight imperfections in his game but he’s
one of the best third-period goalies in the OHL, and he has at least another
year to establish himself as one of the league’s elite.
Leo Lazarev, a year younger, is filling in admirably during
Herbst’ recent injury.
Despite an erratic style that sees him come out too far to
challenge shooters, his skillset mirrors that of Petr Mrazek, offering a
promising glimpse into the future of Ottawa’s goaltending position.
Bold move that probably won’t happen:
Acquire Jake Paterson from Saginaw, trade Herbst back to
London to re-coup the picks
If Ottawa, for whatever reason, decided they wanted to go
for it and the East and needed a go-to netminder to do it, their favourite trade
partner in Saginaw has an elite netminder for sale.
Ottawa has an overage spot available. The only variables
missing from this potential trade are a win-now mentality and a need for goaltending
stability.
Paterson is almost certainly London-bound, and Ottawa will stay
the course in net
The Back End
There are plenty of bodies on Ottawa’s blueline, and their
player-for-player deals earlier in the year to remove struggling defencemen
didn’t help their cause. But aside from straight up releasing a player, there’s not a
whole lot Ottawa can do to tinker the defence.
Nevin Guy and Evan deHaan play similar styles, and although
they’re both currently playing some of the best hockey in their OHL careers,
neither are likely to have much trade value; you’d have to think that they’d be
more valuable playing in Ottawa near their respective hometowns than anywhere
else via trade.
Taylor Davis passed through waivers at the start of the
season, a sign that Ottawa wouldn’t be able to find a dance partner to initiate
a trade, and his stay-at-home role has progressively increased since the start
of the year. He isn’t going anywhere.
Ottawa has a lot of decisions to make with their defence in
the off-season, but there isn’t anything earth-shattering that they need to do
for now.
Bold move that probably won’t happen: Alex Lintuniemi to Mississauga for picks
If there ever was a good time to put Alex Lintuniemi on the
trade block, it would be after the Finland-USA U-20 opener in which he shadowed
American phenom Jack Eichel.
Lintuniemi had actually been struggling on Ottawa’s top
pairing before heading to the national junior championship, but this sort of
exposure certainly can’t hurt his trade stock.
This trade would ensure Ottawa picks up assets moving forward for a
defenceman who’s almost certainly going to play for Manchester in the AHL next
season, but it also separates him from fellow Kings prospect Jake Middleton and
leaves an irreplaceable hole on the 67's blueline.
Up Front
Ottawa has a couple of interesting logjams up front and a
few interesting pieces that could be in play if they want to take a small step
backwards for the better of the future.
The eight-game suspension to Sam Studnicka has put him on
the dispensable list, not because the suspendable offence was egregious, but because
Kevin Groulx has come in and filled Studnicka’s role admirably.
There’s no guarantee Ottawa moves on from their third-line
winger, however. He was brought in to be
a defensive specialist and he joined Tyler Hill and Trent Mallette to make up
one of the conference’s better checking units.
Hill isn’t a guarantee to stay on that third unit – or on
the 67’s for that matter – past the deadline either. Having been benched earlier in the year, Hill
has re-gained his form as a two-way winger, and the Barberpoles might be
getting a few calls about him.
On the buyer’s side, there’s no doubt Nate Pancel is being
made available by the Wolves and overaged Joel Wigle is available for
cheap. Ottawa would certainly have to
move out Studnicka to make room on the right side for one of the two, but it
would be a step forward to becoming a top-four team in the East.
The 67’s bank heavily on their older duo of Brendan Bell and
Erik Bradford to play alongside Travis Konecny, but if they have to move one of
them out to re-coup the picks and acquire a more dynamic offensive player, it
wouldn’t be out of the question to trade one of them.
Bold move that probably won’t happen:
Travis Konecny to Guelph for Adam Craievich, Matt Hotchkiss
and high picks
For the defending champion Storm, there’s a gaping hole on
the right side that needs to be filled, and a trade chip in Ottawa that could
garner a huge return.
Realistically, though, a much lower-key deal to pick up
Wigle would be higher on their agenda than to sell the farm for a superstar.
As the 67’s head into their stage of trying to win back
fans, trading their most marketable product isn’t in their best interest. But as strictly a hockey move, they do have a
huge trade chip in their back pocket.
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