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Knights acquire goaltender, Hounds and Whalers swap on first day of trading period

Cam Charron

There wasn't a huge flurry of transactions on the first day of the Canadian Hockey League trading period that opened on Wednesday, but a few select stories that tie up a few loose ends. For one, the Quebec Remparts Twitter account announced that the team did, in fact, acquire Brandon Shea:

You may remember that Shea wanted to leave the Moncton Wildcats, and the Wildcats accommodated the prospect. The trade was agreed to in principle in July but officially announced yesterday. Quebec will have a few holes in their lineup next season. It wouldn't surprise me if Mikhail Grigorenko sticks in Buffalo, but Patrick Roy is in the midst of adding more forwards to the Remparts to figure it all out.

Meanwhile, in London, the Knights who lost out on Ontario's Most Valuable Player Michael Houser to the pro ranks and failed to bring Oscar Dansk to the team in the import draft, acquired a goaltender in Kevin Bailie, formerly of the Oshawa Generals.

London acquired the 92-born goaltender for a fourth round pick. He was 12th in the OHL last season with a .910 save percentage, well below Michael Houser's .925. It's not just the saves that Bailie will need to replace, it's that everyday goaltender that the Knights have had for the last two seasons. Houser had 62 games played last season and 54 the year before.

A fun aspect of this deal is that Bailie's grandmother Ruth has season tickets to the Knights:

If Kevin Bailie ever forgets the expectations that come along with being the London Knights' starting goaltender, all he has to do is have a little chat with his grandmother, Ruth.

"She's been a season ticket holder for 25, 30 years and she's seen all the Knights play," said the 20-year-old Belleville native and former Oshawa first-rounder picked up as an overager from the Generals on Wednesday for a fourth-round pick next year. "I'm very excited about it. London's always been like a second home to me. [London Free Press]

The other major deal in the Ontario League was completed between Plymouth and the Soo Greyhounds. Gianluca Curcuruto, taken with the Greyhounds' first pick in the 2010 OHL Priority draft, was dealt for a couple of '95-born forwards in Mitchell Dempsey and Dylan Mascarin.

Of those two forwards, only Dempsey saw any time in the OHL last season, scoring a goal and four assists in 34 games with the Whalers, but limited scoring is to be somewhat expected with 16-year old players, particularly ones that don't need the offensive pieces. Dempsey was the 11th overall pick in last season's draft and should be the major piece in the deal for the Soo.

Overall it can be seen as a trade that will end up benefitting both teams, as Plymouth needed to bolster their defense and for Sault Ste. Marie from the offensive perspective. It would also seem as though the sky's the limit in terms of how the trade works out for both teams, however, we will just have to wait and see. [OHL Writers]

The Greyhounds, who acquired Alex Gudbranson before the trade freeze, could afford to part with a defenceman. That happened to be Curcurato, made expendable by the acquisition of Alex Gudbranson before the trade freeze. The Greyhounds and general manager Kyle Dubas appear to be building for a strong 1995-born core, so one that could compete in the 2014 or 2015 season after another year of adding pieces.