OHL trade deadline shaping up to be an interesting one
It may not yet be clear whether the Guelph Storm has turned the corner this season, but the team has shown enough in the last week to indicate it is in the process of doing so.
Wins over Mississauga and London, along with a solid effort in defeat against Kitchener that probably deserved a point, showed just what this team is capable of.
It also likely rejuvenated the notion that the Storm is only one major trade away from being a serious contender.
Richard Panik’s arrival and Tyler Carroll’s resurgence has solidified the forward corps.
Panik hasn’t scored yet but is setting goals up and has proven to be a very underrated player in his own end. Carroll is on fire after relinquishing the captaincy.
But the team is still at least one major forward (Taylor Carnevale? Marcus Foligno? Zack Kassian?) away from looking contention-worthy up front. And a top-two defenceman (Ryan Ellis? Dalton Prout?) is a must.
Those pieces are available, particularly after the Saginaw Spirit appeared to have settled for plan B when they acquired John McFarland and Ben Chiarot on Thursday.
Both McFarland and Chiarot are chronic underachievers. In fact Saginaw might have been better off asking for Guelph native Josh McFadden, who is having a breakout season with Sudbury.
With Saginaw seemingly all shopped out, teams such as Guelph, Kitchener, Mississauga and Ottawa are poised to hit the shopping mall.
There would seem to be two big deals still out there, and one mid-size one.
As they have been all season, the Crown Royal of the trading cabinet is Ellis and Kassian. But who knows if these two are still on the trading block. It would seem that Windsor wants the world for them, as well it should at this point. Who knows where those demands will stand come the January trading deadline.
