Trade frenzy
Kitchener Rangers swap for some impact players to take shot at OHL title
KITCHENER — The Kitchener Rangers are loading up for a run at an Ontario Hockey League championship.
General manager Mike McKenzie made a pair of bold swaps to bring in three impact players Sunday in a bid to keep the Rangers in the hunt for their first title in a decade. And the rookie GM had to work with a fierce rival and the defending Memorial Cup champs to get it done.
The first move broke in the afternoon.
The Blueshirts pried one of the biggest pests in the league away from the Guelph Storm by acquiring forward Givani Smith for three second-round draft picks.
Hours later the bomb dropped when a long-rumoured exchange with the Windsor Spitfires became a reality.
That deal saw Kitchener get top centre Logan Brown and veteran defenceman Austin McEneny for rookie blueliner Grayson Ladd, two second-round picks (2018 and ’19), a third-round selection (’18) and a fifth (’19).
When the dust settled, the Rangers, who own the third-best record in the 20-team league, are tougher, more skilled and ooze experience.
“In the summer, I talked to our older guys and the message to them was that if they take care of their business on the ice and show us we have a team that can compete at the top of the league, then we would do our part to make sure we surrounded them with the right guys to make it a special year,” said McKenzie.
Smith — a Detroit Red Wings second-round pick — has terrorized the Rangers for 3½ seasons with his bone-crushing bodychecks and crease-crashing play.
“We’re lacking a big body and a player that has some edge,” said McKenzie. “He’s a guy that everyone hates to play against. Usually, when there are guys that you don’t like, like that, they’re doing their job.”
Brown was picked 11th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2016 NHL draft and is coming off a Memorial Cup championship with the Spits.
“We were looking for a bona fide No. 1 centre in the league,” said McKenzie, noting the club has rotated several candidates down the middle on the team’s top line this season. “He can play against any line, he’s big, strong, skilled and can score and make plays.”
He’s also out with a knee injury suffered while representing the United States at the recent world junior hockey championship. The Rangers did their due diligence to make sure it isn’t serious and expect Brown back within a week or so.
McEneny could prove to be the real sleeper. The 20-year-old overage defenceman was passed over twice in the OHL draft and eventually latched on with the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL before signing as a free agent with Windsor two years back.
“We’ve coveted him for awhile,” said McKenzie. “He’s an underrated player. He’s really smart, moves the puck well and can play in all situations.”
The Waterdown native can play top-four minutes and gives the Rangers some much-needed depth at the back end.
Parting with Ladd is tough. The rearguard was the team’s firstround pick in last year’s OHL draft and has really rounded into form over the past month.
“It breaks your heart to see a
kid and player like that go,” said McKenzie. “But it seems to be the going rate to get an elite player. I think he’s just scratching the surface and will be a top defenceman in our league at some point.”
The moves leave the Rangers with four overagers and the team has until Tuesday at noon to get down to three. McKenzie said the heavy lifting is done but that he isn’t necessarily done tinkering.
It has been a long haul to get to this point.
Kitchener has only made it to the second round of the playoffs twice in the past five years, but hasn’t moved beyond that.
Throughout it all, the team has been accruing picks and prospects while seeing some of its brightest stars moved to other teams.
McKenzie is hoping Sunday’s changes will help boost this season’s already strong squad.
“I think we really owe it to our fan base to try to make some noise and put a good product on the ice that can win some hockey games and hopefully do something special here,” he said.
The OHL trade deadline is Wednesday at noon.