Tarasevich off to Oshawa
NORTH BAY, Ont. — The North Bay Battalion has traded forward Nikita Tarasevich to the Oshawa Generals, further reducing the Ontario Hockey League club’s overage candidates, it was announced Friday.
North Bay receives an eighth-round pick in the 2027 OHL Priority Selection for Tarasevich, who plays both left and right wing.
The Battalion acquired Tarasevich, a native of Minsk, Belarus, who turned 20 on Feb. 9, from the Sarnia Sting on Jan. 5, 2022, for an eighth-rounder last year.
In 102 regular-season games with the Troops, he scored 19 goals and earned 39 assists for 58 points. In 32 playoff games as North Bay twice advanced to the Eastern Conference final, he had one goal and six assists for seven points.
Tarasevich was a 10th-round choice by Sarnia in 2019 from the Detroit Little Caesars U16s. He was traded a day after the Battalion sent defenceman Brayden Hislop, another potential overager, to the Guelph Storm for a conditional 15th-round pick in 2024.
“This move allows Nikita the opportunity to play his overage season in the OHL, which was his goal,” said general manager Adam Dennis.
“He contributed a lot to our program over the season and a half that he was with us, and we will be forever grateful. We wish him good luck in Oshawa.”
OHL teams are permitted to dress a maximum of three overagers, those who turn 20 in the year the season starts, in any given game.
The Battalion now has seven 2003-born players, including left wingers Matvey Petrov, a Russian import who has signed a National Hockey League contract with the Edmonton Oilers, and Josh Bloom, signed by the Vancouver Canucks. Others number forwards Liam Arnsby, a Florida Panthers draftee, Justin Ertel and Pasquale Zito and defencemen Paul Christopoulos and Luc Brzustowski.
Training camp is set to open Aug. 28.