The subject of our mystery trade. (Photo: Janson Duench, The Sault Star)

Here is a question nobody in power seems willing to answer: Why would the Peterborough Petes select a hometown star third overall in the draft, make him a pillar of a roster rebuild, then trade him away a year later for draft picks – none of which are in the first round?  

That is effectively what the Petes did when, on Nov. 27, they shipped Colin Fitzgerald off to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Peterborough received six picks in return, but none are in 2026, and none are higher than the second round.  

Fitzgerald is only 17 years old. This is only his second OHL season.  

Curious?  

So was Janson Duench, our excellent Greyhounds reporter at The Sault Star, who digs into the unusual series of events during a conversation with Fitzgerald.  

Did the teenager ask to be traded from Peterborough?  

“No,” Fitzgerald tells him. "I didn’t.” 

Well, then.  

“It was a weird thing,” Fitzgerald tells Duench. “I was committed to Peterborough. I was wanting to win a championship for that city. And then, obviously, they had their own plan.” 

Here are the picks the Petes received in exchange. There are a lot of them, but not enough to explain the transaction on its own merits.  

- 2nd round 2028 (North Bay) 
- 2nd round 2029 (Oshawa) 
- 3rd round 2027 (Oshawa) 
- 3rd round 2029 (Oshawa) 
- 4th round 2028 (North Bay) 
- 6th round 2029 (Sault Ste. Marie) 

“I have a girlfriend back home, so that was hard on her, and all my buddies at school," Fitzgerald tells Duench. "It was kind of a shock to them. It was a little bit hard to leave, for sure, but I couldn’t be happier to be here.” 

What are they saying back in Peterborough?  

Here is Mike Davies, the veteran Petes reporter with The Examiner: “Petes GM and VP of operations Mike Oke said they made the deal because it was a substantial offer from the Soo Greyhounds and wouldn’t address any other reasons for the trade other than it would benefit the team in the long run.” 

Neither Fitzgerald’s father nor his advisor have been reached for comment. 

“Again,” Davies writes, "a 17-year-old with Fitzgerald’s size and skill is an upside you build around, not trade.” 

Duench tries to make sense of the transaction, and you can read it all right here.

Gare Joyce, the veteran sports reporter, fell down a rabbit hole. He set out to write a piece on a local legend in Kingston and found a question that had not been properly answered in a century.  

Bill Taugher, a top-tier minor-league goaltender during the NHL’s formative years, had long been credited with playing precisely one game in the big show. In major databases, and in newspaper clippings, he was listed as playing a single game with the Montreal Canadiens.  

Joyce was intrigued. Superstars are interesting, but in terms of literary prowess, there isn’t much that can match the story of someone who spends a lifetime chasing a dream, only to live it for a single evening.  

“And when I landed a gig at the Whig-Standard this spring, the stars seemed to be aligning — at some point this winter we’d reach the 100th anniversary of Bill Taugher’s residency in that fabled piece of Montreal real estate, the Canadiens’ crease," Joyce writes. "I reckoned I could write a story about the man and that game in spotlight.  

“Some research to be sure, but that’s just business.” 

The research turned up results Joyce never expected to find. You can read Part One of his three-part series right here. 

Here for a good time, not a long time. (Photo: Dan Janisse, the Windsor Star)

Dale DeGray, the general manager in Owen Sound, is losing his first-line centre. The young player is not aging out. He is not (likely) moving into an NHL roster, and he is not leaving the game for other pursuits.  

Tristan Delisle, the 18-year-old with plenty of OHL eligibility left on his timecard, is leaving for the NCAA. He has added his name to the growing list of major junior players moving to the U.S. collegiate ranks, taking advantage of a rule change that now grants eligibility. 

“That’s not something we were figuring for or considering last week,” DeGray tells our Greg Cowan. "And we talk about it, other GMs throughout the league and even with the coaches, how do you plan for it when stuff like this can happen?” 

Deslisle is among the top 10 points producers in the OHL this season.  

“You still have to pencil guys in, you still have to have a blueprint, and if the rug falls out from under you, then you adjust,” says DeGray. “All 20 GMs knew this was going to happen to somebody, if not all of us.” 

Take a moment to read the full story right here.

Jan Chovan and his Sudbury teammates at practice, proving  teenagers can, sometimes, pay attention. (Photo: Ben Leeson, The Sudbury Star)

Writing in The Sudbury Star, Ben Leeson explores the growth and potential for Jan Chovan, the 18-year-old Wolves forward who departed Monday for Slovakia‘s world junior camp. 

“It’s good that I can play again at the World Juniors and I’m excited to go there,” Chovan tells Leeson. “But we still have two games left here, so I’m focusing on that and after that, I will focus on the national team.” 

As Leeson reports, he has 18 points in 29 OHL games this season.  

“I think he’s one of our best players at protecting pucks along the walls and he’s great in front of the net and he sacrifices his body there and he moves the puck,” Wolves head coach Scott Barney tells Leeson. "He’s understanding that in North America, you have to move your feet a lot and that’s something he’s continuing to work on.” 

You can read the full story right here. 

(Photo: Ben Leeson, The Sudbury Star)

Hands up if you, like us, have just now learned that, not only do the Sudbury Wolves have two mascots, but that they have names that rhyme. 

Howler.

Growler.