BIG DAY FOR PETES
Petes crack the CHL Top 10 for the first time this season, swing deal for veteran Ottawa 67's defenceman Hudson Wilson //
If Hudson Wilson couldn’t stay with the Ottawa 67’s, he wanted to join the Peterborough Petes.
In a rare deal between division rivals battling for top spot in the OHL’s Eastern Conference the 67’s deal the overage defenceman to the Petes in exchange for London’s 2022 fourthround draft pick.
Ottawa acquired overage forward Joseph Garreffa from the Kitchener Rangers on the weekend for three third-round draft picks. It gave them four overage players, including Austen Keating and Noel Hoefenmayer, but they could only play three. The loss of forward Graeme Clarke for four months to shoulder surgery left a hole on offence.
With a no-trade clause in his contract Wilson had a say in his destination.
“I know Peterborough, obviously, we’ve played them twice and haven’t beat them,” Wilson said. “I thought coming here wouldn’t hurt. It’s a great organization that has a lot of history behind it. I’m not scared to say it’s my first choice. I’m glad I’m here.”
He admits it will be strange being on the other side of what has been a good rivalry the past two seasons.
“I’ll be excited to beat those guys,” he said, with a laugh.
It solidifies the Petes overage situation with captain Zach Gallant and defenceman Jacob Paquette. Wilson attended the San Jose Sharks rookie camp with Gallant, who he played against growing up in Toronto, and messaged him out of excitement.
“They have the speed. They have the size. They have the coaching and the players and character in the room to do it,” Wilson said.
Petes GM Mike Oke said his staff has had high regard for Wilson since his draft year.
“He’s been a solid player in the OHL for the 67’s over the past four seasons,” Oke said.
“He’s got extensive experience at the OHL level. You talk to people he’s played with and for and he’s highly respected and is known as a real true team player.”
Ottawa GM James Boyd said Wilson wanted to remain with a contending team.
“He’s been just a great citizen and a great teammate and the coaches think a lot of him,” Boyd said.
“We felt this was the right thing to do. It’s a good place for him. He’s close to home. He improves the Peterborough Petes but we feel we improved with Joseph Garreffa.
“As an organization we felt for a player who has given us quality years of service and has really been a valuable member of our team with leadership, we wanted to provide him with a quality opportunity to finish his junior career. That was more important with us than trying to crunch numbers and figure out what would be the best destination for us.”
With veteran defenceman Matt McNamara sidelined two to four weeks with a lower body injury, Petes head coach Rob Wilson said the new arrival brings valuable depth to the blue line.
“He’s a big, strong defenceman,” Wilson said. “Ottawa really has one of the stronger D corps in the league and he is one of them. He plays a lot of penalty kill minutes, is a physical player who is hard to play against. With McNamara getting hurt timing is everything. Hopefully we can light a fire under him when playing Ottawa, too. He also has experience. Teams that have success usually have strong mature D corps.”
Wilson was Ottawa’s thirdround pick in the 2015 OHL draft. The six-foot-three, 193pound Toronto native has five goals, 36 assists, 41 points, 134 penalty minutes and a plus-38 rating in 218 regular season games. He also brings 28 games of post-season experience, 18 during Ottawa’s run to the 2019 OHL final.
Wilson joined the Petes on Wednesday for a workout at Hybrid Fitness. He’s expected to be in the lineup at 7:05 p.m. Thursday against the Sarnia Sting at the PMC. Semyon DerArguchintsev will return from a two-game suspension.
NOTE: The Petes were named the ninth best junior team in Canada in the CHL Top 10 rankings released Wednesday. The Sherbrooke Phoenix are first, the Oshawa Generals second and the Owen Sound Attack sixth while the Flint Firebirds were an honourable mention and the 67’s dropped out of the rankings altogether.