Petes deal Cuylle to the Spitfires
Nine draft picks are the largest haul a team has ever been compensated for a defected player
aggressive play by the Windsor Spitfires convinced the Peterborough Petes to trade firstround pick Will Cuylle on Friday.
Petes GM Mike Oke maintained from draft day until last week he did not intend to trade Cuylle even though the thirdoverall pick in April’s OHL draft was refusing to report. The Petes were hoping to change Cuylle’s mind but had been unable to secure a meeting with Cuylle and his family to plead their case .
An aggressive play by the Windsor Spitfires convinced the Peterborough Petes to trade first-round pick Will Cuylle on Friday.
The Petes dealt Cuylle to Windsor for seven draft picks and under the OHL’s defected player rule received two additional compensation picks including the fifth overall pick in 2019 and another pick at the end of the 2019 second round since Cuylle was a top five pick. Windsor sent three second-round picks, three thirds and a fifth to the Petes. It’s the biggest haul a team has received for a defected player under current compensation rules. It exceeds what was paid for Max Domi, Victor Mete or Ryan McLeod.
Oke turned down offers from Windsor but they kept upping the offer.
“We certainly didn’t intend to make this trade,” said Oke, “but when we were approached with such an aggressive offer it was something we had to consider. We’ve spent some time analyzing what we were getting in return and just felt it was too good an opportunity to pass up and a move that will help us move forward.”
During negotiations, Oke gave Rychel permission to talk to Cuylle’s advisers and it appears he will forego a commitment to Penn State University and join the Spitfires.
“I told (the Petes) before not to pick me,” Cuylle told the Windsor Star. “I didn’t really feel like Peterborough was the best place for me to play.
“There were a couple of teams that were also interested, but Windsor was my first choice,” Cuylle said. “It’s a nice team and a great hockey community.”
“It’s a good trade for both teams,” Spitfires GM Warren Rychel told The Examiner. “You have to pay for a third overall pick and Mike had to do his due diligence. He did break the reAn cord for this kind of a trade.”
Rychel said he had surplus picks from dealing Logan Brown, Gabe Vilardi and Sean Day last season. When he saw Cuylle didn’t report to camp he began calling Oke.
“The Petes are going to have some good picks to rebuild and the future looks bright there,” said Rychel. “It’s about timing. I need a scorer here. I don’t know how much he’ll score this year but next year and the year after we need a guy who is going to put pucks away and this will be the guy.”
The Petes hope to improve under new head coach Rob Wilson so future top picks will report but Oke said he’d do it all over again.
“We’re going to continue to take the same approach,” said Oke. “We’re going to take who we feel is the best player available or who meets our needs the most.”
The picks acquired from Windsor include: Kingston’s 2019 second, Barrie’s 2022 second, Kitchener’s 2024 second, Kingston’s
2020 third, Windsor’s 2021 third, Windsor’s 2023 third and Windsor’s 2020 fifth. Should Windsor acquire a second in 2020 or 2021, Peterborough will receive that pick and return Kitchener’s 2024 second to Windsor.