Wolves’ Trade Summary
The Sudbury Wolves will face the Mississauga Steelheads on Friday night in Sudbury with a different line-up that faced the Steelheads last Sunday afternoon in Mississauga. The Wolves will have four new faces in their line-up including a new starting goaltender, two new defenceman and a new young forward. The league’s top goaltender FRANKY PALAZZESE will make his debut for the Sudbury Wolves after being acquired earlier in the week from the Kitchener Rangers. CORY GENOVESE and KEVIN RAINE will see their first action as the newest defencemen on the Sudbury Wolves while MATT SCHMALZ will make his debut as the Wolves’ newest and youngest forward.
The new-look Wolves’ line-up will see the Wolves ice a team that has only one 20 year old forward (MICHAEL KANTOR) and one 19 year old forward (CHAD THIBODEAU) (who remains on the sidelines with an injury.) The remainder of the Wolves forward unit is made-up of forwards that are 18 years of age and under and all eligible to return next season. The Wolves began the season with only two 19 year old forwards and one 20 year old forward. With this youth, the Wolves will need to tackle teams in the Eastern Conference such as Oshawa, Barrie, Niagara and Belleville that are loaded with veteran players.
On the defensive side of things, prior to the trade deadline, the Wolves only had three defencemen set to return next season. The Wolves now have five defencemen expected back next year including free agent defencemen CORY GENOVESE, 18 and KEVIN RAINE, 19. Genovese was acquired from the Kitchener Rangers and the Hespeler, Ontario native is eligible for the upcoming NHL draft. Raine hails from Dryden, Ontario and the big, strong defenceman is expected to play more minutes in Sudbury and assume more of a leadership role with the Wolves.
“Josh, Frank, Justin and Joel are all good players that will help their new teams” notes Wolves’ GM Blaine Smith. “Unfortunately, all four players are scheduled to graduate from the OHL after the next two months so we will not be able to benefit from any future years of service. With the trades that we made, we have gained 8 more years of OHL eligibility which provides us with more stability moving forward.” Trading star players is a unique strategy for the Sudbury Wolves who have traditionally held-on to their best players and attempted to add a player or two at the deadline in order to have a good play-off run.
“Last year we had an 80 point season, we had the leading scorer in the OHL, and we had solid goaltending with Mattsson and Vienneau. Given all of these factors we were swept in the first round by an older and more experienced team and it was a very disappointing ending to a successful regular season. After making these recent roster changes, we have a group of 20 players that are eligible to return again next season. That is a very solid core of players that we can watch perform down the stretch this season and into the play-offs.” Smith notes that 20-year-old veterans MICHAEL KANTOR and CHARLIE DODERO will also be counted on heavily to continue to provide much-needed veteran leadership to the Wolves’ young group of players.
“From a fans’ perspective, I can certainly understand why fans would not like the idea of giving up players of this quality. All four players were key contributors to the team’s success of late. Having said that, we have also been getting significant contributions from younger players and these are the players that we have decided to build our team around for the next two years.”
“Franky Palazzese is recognized around the league as one of the best goaltenders in the OHL. Franky has the ability to win games on his own and I’m confident that our fans are going to love watching him perform here this season and next.”
“Cory Genovese is a solid physical defenceman. He was one of the Rangers’ best defenders, kills penalties and brings a physical style of play to the rink every night. Kevin Raine is similar to Justin Sefton in the way that he plays. Kevin also played 13 play-off games for London last year when they won the OHL title. His experience on the ice and in the room will prove beneficial.”
“Forward Matt Schmalz is a big, strong skilled player that is only 16 years of age. He was Kitchener’s first round selection from the Southern Tier Admirals where he led the team in scoring. He stands 6’5” and skates well for such a tall young man. Once Matt has the opportunity to play more and develop, the sky is the limit for him as he has all of the tools to become a dominant forward in this league in due time.”
Smith adds, “This time, the trade deadline was more about accepting the position of our team in the standings and realizing that we are already one of the youngest teams in the OHL. The decision was made to build around our young core of players to help make us a good young team this season and an older and more experienced team next season. I trust that our fans will welcome our newest players with open arms and give these changes time to play-out and see what we have here. I’m confident that our fans will be satisfied with the end result which is focused on winning a championship as opposed to just making the play-offs and having to rebuild again next season.”
Players Departing
JOEL VIENNEAU, 20 – overage free agent – ineligible to return next season. 0 years of OHL eligibility remaining.
FRANK CORRADO, 19 – drafted and signed by the Vancouver Canucks. 0 years remaining.
JUSTIN SEFTON, 19 – drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 3rd round. 0 years likely.
JOSH LEIVO, 19 – drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 3rd round. 0 years likely.
Players Arriving
FRANKY PALAZZESE, 19 – undrafted free agent. Eligible to return to OHL next season. 1 year remaining.
KEVIN RAINE, 19 – undrafted free agent. Eligible to return to OHL next season. 1 year remaining.
CORY GENOVESE, 18 – draft eligible in 2013. Will return to OHL next season. 2 years remaining.
MATT SCHMALZ, 16 – draft eligible in 2014. Will return to OHL for next 3 seasons. 4 years
