Barrie Colts the biggest spenders on OHL trade deadline day

The big names – Michael Dal Colle and Travis Konecny – moved ahead of schedule for the usual smorgasbord of top prospects and a bundle of draft picks.

So when it came to the final hours before the OHL trade deadline, teams clamouring to improve were left to plunk down similar prices for not-quite-similar players.

The Barrie Colts were the biggest spenders on Monday and acquired the biggest of the names on the go.

The Colts nabbed 19-year-old Dylan Sadowy, a nearly point-per-game left-winger, from the Saginaw Spirit as they attempt to maintain their hold on the Central Division over Niagara and Mississauga. They also got defenceman Gregory DiTomaso, 19, in the deal.

But in order to bring in Sadowy, a pesky San Jose Sharks third-rounder coming off a 42-goal season in 2014-15, they had to part with defenceman Rocky Kaura and 11 draft picks – five seconds, three thirds, two fourths and a fifth.

For point of reference, the Sarnia Sting coughed up fewer picks to acquire Konecny – a forward with world junior pedigree. The Sting did part with former first-round pick Sasha Chmelevski, though.

It didn’t take long for the Spirit to start using some of those picks in trades of their own.

Saginaw acquired 19-year-old right-winger Hayden Hodgson from Sarnia, with the 2019 second-round pick from Barrie being the key asset in a hefty return. The Spirit also sent the Sting centre Devon Paliani, 19, a third-round pick in 2017, a fourth in 2016 and a conditional fourth in 2018.

As for Hodgson, he has 45 goals and 82 points in 207 career OHL games. He’s scored five times and added nine assists in 36 contests this season.

When it came to the big five in the Western Conference, London and Kitchener made minor moves.

London acquired bruising left-winger Chad Heffernan, a player with 376 penalty minutes on his resume, for a fourth-round pick.

Kitchener obtained the rights to St. Louis Blue Robby Fabbri from the Guelph Storm for a third-round selection in 2020 and two conditional picks. The trade was a similar low-risk, high-reward move made earlier by London to get Sonny Milano’s rights from Flint.

Of note, oft-criticized Mississauga Steelheads defenceman Sean Day, a recent healthy scratch and the subject of several trade rumours, was not moved.