Petes deal goaltender Mancina to Steelheads

The Petes would like to thank Matt for his time in Peterborough. We wish him well in Mississauga and hope he enjoys a successful future.” Mike Oke, Petes general manager

The Peterborough Petes have dealt their No. 1 goaltender for the past two seasons Matt Mancina to the Mississauga Steelheads in exchange for the Erie Otters’ third-round pick in the 2017 OHL draft, the team announced Monday night.

Mancina thanked the Petes for “two great years” and stated on Twitter that he’s “very excited to be joining” the Steelheads.

The trade opens the door for Dylan Wells to become the club’s No. 1 goalie after splitting duties with Mancina for the past two seasons.

Mancina was in a logjam as one of seven potential Petes overagers, along with Eric Cornel, Dominik Masin, Steve Lorentz, Josh Maguire, Kyle Jenkins and Brandon Prophet, with only three spots available for the 2016-17 season.

Cornel is expected to join the AHL’s Rochester Americans and Masin is joining the Syracuse Crunch, while Maguire opted in the off-season to join his hometown Cobourg Cougars of the OJHL.

That left four overagers for the three spots.

Mancina was originally acquired by the Petes from the Guelph Storm in 2014 in exchange for two thirdround picks.

He has played 113 games, registering a goals against average of 3.04 and a save percentage of 0.908. The Tecumseh, Ont. native was selected by the Storm in the third round, 49th overall in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection.

“The Petes would like to thank Matt for his time in Peterborough,” Petes general manager Mike Oke stated in a release. “We wish him well in Mississauga and hope he enjoys a successful future.”

The Petes training camp kicks off with fitness testing at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School on Tuesday. On-ice sessions begin on Wednesday at the Memorial Centre.