Barry Wright
When the Sarnia Sting parted way with first-round draft choice Brett Hargrave more than two years ago little did we know that deal with the Owen Sound Attack would allow the first dominoes to fall leading to the acquisition of Travis Konency.
The Sting got three draft choices in the October 2013 deal for the disgruntled power forward and two of those picks, a second-round selection in 2016 and a third-round selection in 2017 were sent to the Ottawa 67's last week for Konecny, just days after he returned from playing with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Tournament in Finland.
The transaction also included draft choices previously acquired in deals involving Anthony DeAngelo with Sault Ste. Marie, Vladislav Kodola with Saginaw and Alexandre Renaud with Oshawa.
The deal did not include any picks the Sting received earlier this season in exchange for former captain Daniel Nikandrov. One of those picks was used in November to obtain Matt Mistele from the Oshawa Generals.
Despite criticism the Sting gave up too much for the former first overall selection in the OHL priority selection in 2013, at presstime Sarnia still had picks remaining from the DeAngelo, Renaud and Nikandrov deals to use for future transactions, as well as a third-round selection this year coming back to Sarnia from the 67's in the Konecny deal, and a fourth-round pick acquired from Mississauga in the Jake O'Donnell trade earlier this season.
“Our draft pick inventory is still pretty good going forward. We didn't completely wipe that out by any means,” said Sting General Manager Nick Sinclair, following the deal which also included Sam Studnicka coming to Sarnia, while Sasha Chemlevski, Chase Campbell and as many as 10 draft choices were shipped to the capital.
Eight draft picks are guaranteed and two are conditional. The additional picks, in 2021 and 2022, will go to Ottawa if Konecny returns to the Sting next season.
The Bothwell-area product was taken in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL draft last summer.
With the origin of the deal having been put in place with Owen Sound, it was ironic that Konecny's first game in a Sting uniform was last Friday at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre against the Attack.