Adam Bateman
Adam Bateman
3 years after Lucas Lessio refused to report the Icedogs took a chance on Don Mills Flyers defenceman Adam Bateman as the team was primed to compete for an OHL title. Bateman was the defence partner of Darnell Nurse in minor midget and was coming off of an OHL Cup finals appearance. Bateman also suited up for Team Ontario at the Canada Winter Games.
As 16 year old he would help Team Ontario claim a bronze medal at the U17 hockey challenge where he added 3 points in 6 games. Over 3 years in Windsor he would pick up 29 points in 163 games before ultimatly taking his game to Saint John in the QMJHL.
Not only did Bateman become the first defected player not to get drafted but he became the first to no finish his career in the OHL. That is not to say Bateman did not have a solid Major Junior career as he finished with 249 games over 5 seasons across the 2 leagues. In the end he was caught in a situation where he didnt develop as planned and due to poor drafting and sanctions against the Spitfires it made sense for them to move on from Bateman.
Compensatory Draft Pick
Due to the fact that Max Domi was also a defected selection from 2011 the Icedogs compensation pick dropped and extra spot and the picked 20th in the 2012 priority selection. With that pick the went to Michigan and drafted defenceman Aaron Haydon.
Haydon would spend 5 seasons in Niagara playing in 278 games for the Icedogs and helped them reach their 2nd OHL Finals and played in 42 playoff games over his 5 years. In fact the 278 career games that Haydon laced up in places him 4th all time in Icedogs history while in Niagara and most by a defenceman. His 42 playoff games is also most all time by a defenceman in Niagara Icedogs history and 6th most among any skater.
This was really the first time it was a slam dunk that the comp pick ended up being a better player than the defected player. You could make a strong argument that Sam Bennett was better than Max Domi but Lessio and Rychel were definitively better OHL players than their comp picks.
Trade Compensation
In return for the rights to Adam Bateman the Icedogs picked up 5 guaranteed draft picks and 1 conditional pick. They never recieved the conditional pick as Bateman needed to suit up for 1 OA game in the OHL and he was out of the league in 3 years.
As for the picks the Icedogs did recieve they were Guelph's 6th in 2012, Peterborough's 2nd in 2014, Sarnia's 2nd in 2015 and Windsors 3rds in 2015 and 2016.
With that 6th round pick in 2012 the drafted a defenceman from the Peterborough minor midget program. He would spend his 16 year old season in the GOJHL for Thorold before exploding onto the scene in 3 seasons with Niagara. That player was current St. Louis Blues defender Vince Dunn. Dunn would play in 183 games with the Icedogs and pick up 132 points. His 132 points has Dunn14th all time among Icedogs skaters and 2nd all time among blueliners. A fantastic pick up with the 6th round pick.
What worked out for the Icedogs about the Bateman situation is the timing of the situation. They had a team that had the core to win a conference championship. What was more valuable than Bateman were the draft picks they got for him as they could trade them to improve their roster and the comp 1st round pick was an asset buffer to help speed up the rebuild.
The 2nd in 2014 belonging to Peterborough was 1 of 3 2nds that were sent to Sarnia for Brett Richie. That 2nd was later dealt by Sarnia to Mississauga for JP Anderson.
The 2015 2nd belonging to Sarnia was sent to Saginaw in the Jamie Oleksiak trade along with a host of other picks. 1 of the other picks was originally acquired by Niagara in the Lessio trade so both the Lessio and Bateman trades had an impact on Niagara getting the neccesairy assets needed to pick up the hulking blueliner.
The Windsor 3rd in 2015 was used by Barrie. I could not find where that pick was moved and how Barrie acquired it.
The 3rd in 2016 was sent to Hamilton as part of the package that brought Stephan Harper to the Icedogs for their most recent OHL finals run.
This trade didnt work out as planned for the Spitfires. They gave up some much needed assets and acquired a player who didnt live up to expectations. It actually was a bit of a trend for a few years for the Spits with their own 1st round picks and lead to some lean years which added to the pain of the traded assets.
As for Niagara they picked up a slew of picks and used them smartly to improve their team. They hit a home run with Vince Dunn but that was an exception with a 6th round pick where things fell into place from a development and opportunity point of view. It is easy to look back and judge how a trade worked out but when you make it you don't expect the 6th round pick to have the biggest impact on a teams future.
Essentially with smart asset management the Icedogs picked up 2 players in the next draft who would go on to have a bigger OHL impact than the player who refused to sign with them. They also went out and used the other picks to acquire 3 different players who would help the team reach 2 different OHL finals. They may not have won the title but only 1 in 20 teams wins the title every year. To be in the final 2 twice in such a short period of time is a heck of an accomplishment and likely wouldnt have been done without the extra assets picked up.
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