Wolves trade Windsor’s Lalonde to Storm
The second-overall pick from the 2016 OHL draft is on the move.
Defenceman Owen Lalonde, the Sudbury Wolves selection who was preceded only by No. 1 pick Ryan Merkley, is about to join the talented rearguards with the Guelph Storm.
In return, Sudbury seriously bolstered its slate of upcoming draft selections, also adding another northern Ontario product in the process.
The Storm shipped off a pair of second-round picks (Windsor in 2018; Peterborough in 2019), a pair of third-round picks (Windsor in 2018; Sault Ste. Marie in 2021), 18-year-old defenceman Nolan Makkonen and a pair of conditional picks (Windsor’s second in 2019; Guelph’s second in 2021) for Windsor native Lalonde, who played just one season with the Wolves, recording two goals and 10 assists in 64 games.
Sudbury general manager Rob Papineau felt more than comfortable with the haul of draft choices he was able to extract from Guelph, tackling a definite need in the overall makeup of his hockey team.
“We’re happy with the trade because it allows us to address an area of concern that we had right from the time we took over,” he said.
“At the time of the ownership change, Sudbury did not have a second-round pick in 2017, 2018 or 2019. There were a couple of times, through the process of last season, where you really feel how painful that can be.
“At the trade deadline, when there’s some pretty good names out there, but you simply do not have the assets to be in the conversation. On draft day, when you don’t have the pick to select one of those players that our guys have scouted, watching more than 100 games, but you just don’t have the pick.
“When we’re managing the hockey club, we’re managing the players and we’re also managing the future, which is the draft board. We felt like we had a weakness in our draft board, specifically with high-end draft picks.”