[{"id":32212,"date":"2026-06-23T20:14:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/?p=32212"},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:14:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:14:23","slug":"barrie-colts-sign-lucas-matheson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/article\/barrie-colts-sign-lucas-matheson","title":{"rendered":"Colts sign first-round pick Lucas Matheson"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The Barrie Colts are proud to announce that first-round pick Lucas Matheson <\/strong>has signed an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with the club. The Barrie native joins his hometown team after being selected 17th overall at the 2026 OHL Priority Selection \u2014 a moment that carried a lifetime of meaning for the 16-year-old.<\/p>\n

A puck-moving defenceman out of the Barrie Jr. Colts U16 AAA program, Matheson captained his squad throughout the 2025-26 OMHA season, backing up the “C” with elite offensive numbers: 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points in 34 regular-season games, then adding 4 goals and 3 assists in 8 playoff contests.<\/p>\n

Matheson <\/strong>reflects on being drafted and now signed by his hometown club<\/p>\n

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“It doesn’t feel real, getting the opportunity to be on the ice under the same roof that I’ve been in the stands watching games for as long as I can even remember.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

An exceptional skater with outstanding edge work, Matheson’s development is deeply rooted. Lucas models his game by Montreal’s Lane Hutson as a blueprint for his style of play as an elite offensive defenceman. General Manager Marty Williamson<\/strong><\/em> made clear that Matheson was a priority target from the start of the scouting process, and the organization’s confidence in him hasn’t wavered since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Lucas is an elite defenceman that we know will translate well into this level and our team. We have watched him all year and believe he will make an impact immediately on and off the ice.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Scouts who followed Matheson throughout the 2025-26 OMHA season consistently flagged him as one of the most exciting defencemen in the entire league to watch. His calling card at the blue line is his deception \u2014 constantly shifting his hips, selling one direction before attacking the other, leaving opposing forwards flat-footed and dangerous slot chances wide open. He’s far from a one-dimensional offensive player, though. Matheson backs up his offensive instincts with reliable defensive-zone play, a physical edge, and the kind of crisp breakout passing that translates immediately at the next level. The consensus among those who watched him all year: he has the tools to be a play-driving defenceman in the OHL.<\/p>\n

Head Coach Dylan Smoskowitz<\/strong> <\/em>reflects on the signing:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Lucas was always meant to be a Barrie Colt. From his character and natural leadership abilities, to his on-ice skill and high IQ, we could not be more excited to add Lucas to our team and get to work with him this coming season.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

As for Matheson himself, the focus is already on what comes next.<\/p>\n

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“I just can’t wait to bring everything I’ve done so far into the next level and continue to build with new people.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

For an organization that prides itself on developing homegrown talent, signing a Barrie kid who grew up in the seats at Sadlon Arena is a moment worth celebrating.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the club, Lucas.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”32215″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Barrie Colts are proud to announce that first-round pick Lucas Matheson has signed an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with the club. The Barrie native, selected 17th overall in the 2026 OHL Priority Selection, is officially a Colt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":32214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[751],"tags":[{"term_id":1022,"name":"Lucas Matheson","slug":"lucas-matheson","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1022,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw","term_order":"4"},{"term_id":1024,"name":"BMHA","slug":"bmha","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1024,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","term_order":"6"},{"term_id":904,"name":"Ontario Hockey League","slug":"ontario-hockey-league","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":904,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":53,"filter":"raw","term_order":"123"},{"term_id":779,"name":"Signing Annoucement","slug":"signing-annoucement","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":779,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":26,"filter":"raw","term_order":"240"},{"term_id":95,"name":"barrie colts","slug":"barrie-colts","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":95,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":103,"filter":"raw","term_order":"406"},{"term_id":275,"name":"ohl draft","slug":"ohl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":275,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":28,"filter":"raw","term_order":"803"}],"class_list":["post-32212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-lucas-matheson","tag-bmha","tag-ontario-hockey-league","tag-signing-annoucement","tag-barrie-colts","tag-ohl-draft","category-751","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/23200736\/0976554.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":32207,"date":"2026-06-15T16:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/?p=32207"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:14:38","slug":"colts-trade-cole-emerton-to-sarnia-sting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-colts\/article\/colts-trade-cole-emerton-to-sarnia-sting","title":{"rendered":"Colts Trade Cole Emerton to Sarnia"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The Barrie Colts have traded defenceman Cole Emerton<\/strong> to the Sarnia Sting in exchange for a significant package of future draft capital.<\/p>\n

In return for Emerton, Barrie receives:<\/p>\n