Lucas Lessio
After Jordan Meyer refused to report to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 2008 the league instituted a rule where teams can trade a draft pick refuses to report and is deemed "Defected" and receive a compensatory 1st round pick the following year.
Since this rule has been placed there have been 13 such instances where a player has refused to report to his drafting team or has yet to report to their drafting team. 10 times the drafting team has deemed him defected 1 other time (Jordan Greenway) a player did not report but his drafting team (Plymouth) kept his rights and 2 times (McBain and Hughes) the player was used with a compensation pick and thus did not qualify for further compensation.
What does it take to be deemed a "Defected" player and what qualifies a team for compensation. For a player to be dubbed defected he must not show up to training camp and the drafting team must declare him defected. Once this happens the team qualifies for a compensatory 1st round draft pick the following year 1 spot behind where they drafted. They also have a 15 day window from September 1st to 15th where they can trade the player.
A few rules in regards to the compensatory pick. They can not receive a 1st round compensation pick 2 years in a row. If their 1st round is deemed "defected" for a 2nd consecutive year then the drafting team would only be awared a compensatory 2nd round pick the following year. Also as mentioned earlier you can not receive compensation if a compensatory pick chooses not to report.
Every Thursday and Sunday for the next few weeks I will look back at 7 of these picks and see how things turned out for not only the drafting team but also the team that acquired the "Defected" player. The 3 that I wont be looking at will be Nick Ebert who was traded to Windsor after not reporting to Mississauga. Jacob Tortora who went to Kitchener for conditional picks and the Kirill Nihznikov trade which happened so recently and had so many odd conditions on it that I dont want to take the time to research it all.
This isn't really about looking back and who won each trade. When draft picks are involved there are so many variables and ways that you can extract value from them. Drafting, developing, trading picks. Asset management is really a science and not to mention most of the public still vastly over value draft picks. The point of this is to look back and see how the transaction worked out for both teams.
This isn't really about looking back and who won each trade. When draft picks are involved there are so many variables and ways that you can extract value from them. Drafting, developing, trading picks. Asset management is really a science and not to mention most of the public still vastly over value draft picks. The point of this is to look back and see how the transaction worked out for both teams.
Lucas Lessio
The Icedogs took Lessio 7th overall in the 2009 OHL priority selection. As a 15 year old he amassed 113 points in 72 games with the Toronto Marlboros and was named the MVP of the OHL cup after an 11 point performance in leading the Marlboros to the title. He was committed to the University of Michigan but the Icedogs still took a chance and drafted him. The Icedogs dealt Lessio to the Oshawa Generals once it became obvious he would not suit up for the team. In return for Lessio the Icedogs received a 2nd in 2010 (Oshawa used their own 2nd in 2010 so it is safe to assume the Icedogs received Londons 2nd which Oshawa had acquired in the Tavares trade) and a conditional 15th. That conditional pick became Londons 2nd in 2012 and Oshawas 2nd in 2013 if Lessio played 1 OHL season and 2 3rds Oshawas in 2012 and 2013 and a 4th Oshawas in 2014 if Lessio played 2 seasons in the OHL.
As a 16 year old Lessio suited up for the St. Michael's Buzzers of the OJHL where he picked up 72 points in 41 games while also helping Ontario to a Silver medal at the U17 hockey challenge. The following year he would commit to the Generals where he would play 3 seasons.
While Lessio never lived up to the billing he had coming into the leauge he did have 3 solid seasons with the Generals picking up 150 career points in 167 games although he never averaged more than a point per game in any of his 3 seasons. He would suit up for the Generals in 25 playoff games picking up another 17 points.
The Generals and the Icedogs would actually go on to meet each every year in the playoffs that Lessio was in the league with the Icedogs prevailing in 2 of the 3 seasons.
The Compensatory Pick
The Icedogs recieved the 8th overall pick in 2010 since Lessio was taken 7th overall the year before. That gave them 2 picks in the top 8 as their regular pick was 6th that draft. With the 8th pick they took Luke Mercer from the Toronto Nationals program. The defensive partner of their 6th overall pick Jesse Graham.
Mercer would go on to have a solid career with the Icedogs. He would suit up for Niagara in 5 seasons although his OA season was cut short due to injury. In all he would play in 232 games for the Icedogs and chip in with 85 career points from the blueline. He would also add 35 playoff games chipping in with a further 6 points in helping the Icedogs reach an Eastern Conference finals his rookie year and an OHL final his sophomore year.
The Trade Compensation
In all the Icedogs received 6 draft picks for Lessio. 3 2nds, 2 3rds and a 4th. The 2nds were in the first, third and fourth drafts following the trade which gave them very good present value at the time of the trade. The 3rds where in the third and fourth drafts following the trade and the 4th was five years down the road.
The first 2nd round pick they received came in 2010 and was originally London's 2nd round draft pick. The Icedogs used that pick to draft Joel Wigle. Wigle would go on to play 2.5 seasons with the Icedogs picking up 38 points in 140 games before being moved to the Erie Otters for 2 draft picks. Sarnia's 2nd in 2013 and Erie's 4th in 2015. The Erie selection eventually made its way to Kitchener but the Icedogs used Sarnia's 2013 2nd on defenceman Zach Wilkie.
Zach Wilkie would go on to play parts of 3 seasons patrolling the blueline for the Icedogs. He would skate in 107 regular season contests and pick up 11 points before being moved at the deadline in 2016 along with import Mikael Aagaard for Sudbury import Pavel Jenys.
Jenys would only add 25 points in 42 games for the Icedogs but came on strong in the Playoffs. Jenys would go on to add 17 points in 17 playoff games for the Icedogs helping lead them to their 2nd OHL finals appearance.
London's 2nd in 2012 ended up back in London's hands. Possibly via Owen Sound as the Attack picked up a 2012 2nd for Niagara in the Steven Shipley trade.
Oshawa's 2nd in 2013 ended up in the hands of the Sarnia Sting as part of the Ritchie trade
Oshawa's 3rd in 2013 ended up with the Saginaw Spirit as part of the Oleksiak trade
Oshawa's 3rd in 2014 was turned into defenceman Ryan Sarris. Drafted out of the Whitby Wildcats system Sarris was never really able to make a dent in a deep Icedogs D-core and ended up only playing 2 games for the Icedogs before bouncing around the OJHL and GOJHL to end his junior career.
Oshawa's 4th in 2014 was turned into Kyle Langdon. The gritty forward who could be back as an OA this year has suited up for 174 games in an Icedogs jersey while picking up 43 points. He has also chipped in with 5 points in 24 playoff games.
In all the Icedogs added 697 games of service with the Draft picks from the Lessio trade and 3 of the players drafted or acquired for drafted players suited up in the OHL finals. The Icedogs also used 3 of the draft picks in packages to acquire 3 other players who helped them reach their first OHL finals.
From the Icedogs perspective this was a win. The 2009 draft wasnt the strongest and they were able to maximize their return. It should be noted however they benefited from drafting arguably the best player in the draft in the 2nd round in Dougie Hamilton and picked up the 2nd best player in Ryan Strome at the deadline when they moved Alex Peiterangelo to the Barrie Colts.
For the Generals on paper it doesn't look like the biggest bang for their buck but bringing in Lessio helped coincided with the team turning things around post Tavares. They progressively got better before finally breaking out after Lessio left and winning the Memorial Cup.
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