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Kitchener Rangers add Jake Paterson in bid to be a tough out in OHL playoffs

Paterson was part of Team Canada in 2013 and '14 (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)
Paterson was part of Team Canada in 2013 and '14 (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)

Detroit Red Wings prospect Jake Paterson, who wasn't even supposed to be in junior hockey this season, landed where no expected him to be with the Kitchener Rangers.

The strongest speculation had the two-time Team Canada goalie, whom the Wings returned to the Saginaw Spirit this season, ending up with a OHL championship contender such as the Erie Otters. Instead, minutes before Thursday's 12 noon ET deadline to trade 20-year-olds, the Kitchener Rangers, who are in a near dead heat with Saginaw for seventh and eighth in the Western Conference, scooped up Paterson for two relatively high OHL priority selection picks.

Given the circumstances of each franchise, it's not that strange an outcome.

 

Saginaw (.514 point pct., in 37 games, eighth in the West) was never coy about planning to move Paterson. General manager Jim Paliafito has already acquired pieces for the future by moving 19-year-old wing Nick Moutrey across conference lines to North Bay. Given the fact that getting Paterson back was found money, any return for him is more than the Spirit would have expected to receive in January. This also means that if the Spirit hang on to a playoff spot — and Saginaw is a franchise that really emphasizes making the playoffs each season — they won't have to face Paterson. That would have been the case if they had dealt with Western leaders such as Erie or Sault Ste. Marie.

The Rangers (.528 point pct. in 36 games, seventh in the West) are even farther from being a complete team after trading away leading scorer Justin Bailey to Sault Ste. Marie earlier in the week. General manager Murray Hiebert and coach Troy Smith, though, are under a bit of pressure from the team's demanding fanbase to demonstrate progress after being out of the playoffs in 2013-14. With Paterson playing behind a fairly stout defence corps headed by fellow overage Max Iafrate, there is certainly potential to climb a couple rungs in the standings and be a very tough out in the post-season. Outscoring any of the conference's top four is likely unrealistic, but the playoffs are a different game.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.