Free-scoring London Knights among OHL's Western clubs in dealing mood

It’s shaping up to be quite the arms race in the OHL’s Western Conference.

Less than 24 hours after the Sarnia Sting bolstered their lineup by acquiring Canadian world junior Travis Konecny and overage centre Sam Studnicka, the London Knights countered with a pair of relatively low-risk, high-reward deals.

The Knights, leading the OHL with 185 goals scored, augmented their blue-line by bringing in overage defenceman Jacob Graves from the defending Memorial Cup champion Oshawa Generals. The Knights also received a third-round pick in the deal, but had to part with 17-year-old forward Eric Henderson to better their chances in the powerhouse conference.

As London Free Press reporter Ryan Pyette pointed out, Graves had a plus-13 rating for a Generals team that sits near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. With two goals in 250 career OHL games, it’s clear he wasn’t sought out for his offensive acumen.

Speaking of offence, the Knights’ other move on Thursday more closely reflects what they’re known for – goals, goals and more goals. London sent a 15^th-round draft pick to Flint in exchange for the rights to American world junior Sonny Milano.

Milano was a first-round NHL pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2014 and had 22 goals and 68 points in 50 OHL games last season. He spent the year playing for the Plymouth Whalers, who moved to Flint in the off-season.

Milano has spent this 2015-16 campaign playing for the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. Despite being 19, Milano is permitted to play in the AHL because he was drafted while a member of the United States National Development Team and not as an OHLer.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound forward has four goals and seven assists in 22 games with the Monsters, leading the Knights to take a gamble.

If he does suit up in London green, Flint gets a fourth-round pick in 2016 and second-round pick in 2019 instead – still a modest return for a world junior-calibre player.

Milano would join American teammates Matthew Tkachuk and Christian Dvorak in London.

While London’s moves garnered most of the headlines on Thursday, the Sting didn’t sit on the sidelines.

Sarnia made another deal, grabbing overage goalie Charlie Graham from Hamilton for 17-year-old netminder.

As London and Sarnia beef up now, other Western rivals made their big additions earlier in the season.

The Windsor Spitfires acquired second-round NHL pick Brendan Lemieux from Barrie on Dec. 10. The Kitchener Rangers were the beneficiaries of winger Jeremy Bracco – a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect – leaving Boston College in October. Both players are averaging well over a point-per-game with their new teams.

There could still be moves to come. The incentive for a team like the Rangers, who have lost just six times in regulation this season, would be to move up in the standings. Surely, they don’t want their reward for a tremendous campaign to be a first-round, four-vs.-five matchup against the Sting.

That just leaves the Erie Otters as the quiet bystanders. Led by coach Kris Knoblauch, the Otters have been the OHL’s top team all season, even without Connor McDavid.

They have plenty of talent with Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat, Travis Dermott and goaltender Devin Williams on the roster, and have mortgaged several future pieces to be major buyers over the last two seasons.

Regardless, there are likely still more moves to be done by one of the top five teams in the Western Conference before Monday’s deadline. The way things have been going, there’s no use stopping now.