Leafs prospect Stephen Desrocher lands with the hopeful Kingston Frontenacs

The homing instinct that allows good hockey players to see what's developing out of sight also helps them form social packs off the ice, so it's no surprise that Stephen Desrocher and Roland McKeown became friends before they even formally met.

The Kingston Frontenacs, who have an Eastern Conference-best .625 point percentage despite a three-game dry spell, cast the first stone in the OHL's trading period on Tuesday by dealing six priority selection packs (four guaranteed) to the Oshawa Generals for Desrocher, who was integral to the Gens' Memorial Cup triumph in May. The deal reunites the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect with his high school classmate McKeown, the Frontenacs' two-year captain. Kingston's also become a more seasoned team within the past two weeks, with 19-year-old left wing Warren Foegele coming aboard after a season-plus at the University of New Hampshire.

"We've been best friends since Grade 9," Desrocher said after Kingston's narrow 2-1 road against the Ottawa 67's on Wednesday. "Roland was going to play for the Toronto Marlies [AAA program] and he was coming to my school, Richview Collegiate in Toronto. He messaged me on Facebook and just said 'hello' and we started talking. First day of school, maybe he joined us for lunch and it's just been like that every since."

The 6-foot-4, 198-pound Desrocher worked his way on to the NHL draft radar by contributing defensive acuity and a booming point shot to help Oshawa become world-beaters. The only team the Generals never solved was actually Kingston, which it went 2-4-0-2 against in the regular season. The Frontenacs bowed out in four games to North Bay in the opening round.

With a new season near a quarter-pole, Kingston has a deeper and older roster with a dozen 19-year-olds and overages. No Eastern team has jumped out as a favourite, but it bears reiterating that the potential of contending makes a team a more attractive post-Christmas destination for graduating players.

"There's certainly similarities with Oshawa," Desrocher said. "I think that this team has a chance to do something special this year, hopefully them bringing me in can help the team. I'm going to do whatever I can to try and do what we [Oshawa] did last year, with Kingston here."

Even after Bennett, 'the pieces are starting to come together'

As a captain and his team's blueline bellwether, McKeown is happy to take to a certain amount of ownership in the Frontenacs' endless quest for postseason success. The biggest season-to-season difference in the Carolina Hurricanes signing's play so far this season has been a renewed confidence to play an offensive game. McKeown's 16 points is tied for first in the OHL defenceman scoring race with the Flint Firebirds' Vili Saarijärvi. He had 32 points over his entire age-18 season.

"Last year, obviously, I really wanted to work on my defensive side of the game," the Listowel, Ont., native said. "This year I want to get to the well-roundedness of it, throw in some offense, Being on the top of the power play, that helps with Watty [right wing Spencer Watson] and the unit we have there. That is the mindset there.

"We're 0-3 in the last three, but we've had a great start," McKeown added. "The pieces are starting to come together and we want to win here. We haven't got past the first round in many years."

The Frontenacs, who have two more measuring-stick matchups this week against North Bay and league-leading Kitchener. They will at least be an interesting follow throughout the season as they aspire to go farther than they ever did while Sam Bennett, now of the Calgary Flames, was showing he was marked for pro stardom. Overage Lucas Peressini is the league's reigning goaltender of the year and a major reason why Kingstonis 8-1-1-1 in one-goal games (including 5-0-1-1 in overtime and shootout contests).

Foegele scored his first OHL goal on Wednesday, finding a crease to make a fast zone entry and create a chance he finished off after getting a pass from Spencer Watson. The Carolina third-rounder, who's unsigned, will shore up a forward corps that also includes two Florida Panthers prospects, Lawson Crouse and Juho Lamikko, who took a run at playing pro this fall.

"I just thought this was the right path, moving forward," Foegele said. "I know Roly [McKeown] from camp in Carolina, it's nice to know a few faces. He's great leader and there is a reason he wears that letter. He takes control of that dressing room.

"I took lot of learning experiences from last year and this year with New Hampshire," Foegele added. "I'm going to put that forward with this team."

Foegele and Desrocher have something in common in that neither was identified as a NHL prospect from an early age. Foegele played prep school at St. Andrew's College before joining UNH.

Desrocher's stock began to spike last season with Oshawa. The proof was in his playoffs, which means he's out to do it again in a new OHL centre.

"I've really grown, every day, every practice, every game, especially since midseason last year," the Markham native said. "Right when the playoffs started last year, that just brought my game up to the next level.

"The draft was crazy, to be picked by my hometown team, the Leafs," Desrocher added. "And to be home with my family when that happened was just a feeling that can't be beat. Development camp and main camp was special and I got some  experience with the NHLers. I took what I learned there and I'm trying to use it in the OHL."

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