One of the hottest names in the OHL regarding trade talk is Carter George. He’s the OHL’s best goaltender, and his name has been involved in trade rumors since last season.
Greg Cowan of The Sun Times spoke with Owen Sound Attack GM Dale DeGray recently regarding his star goalie and whether it makes sense to trade him.
Based on Cowan’s article, it would appear that DeGray isn’t inclined to move on from his 19-year-old netminder, even though it’s been “rumored” that George being traded before the OHL’s Jan. 9 trade deadline is a forgone conclusion.
Owen Sound got off to a scorching hot start to the season. All of a sudden, fans and opposing teams were looking at them as a team to be feared. Alas, that heat has fizzled out. The Attack are winless in their last seven games and have fallen to sixth place in the Western Conference.
Flint are buyers. Sault Ste. Marie has added. Kitchener just traded a bucket load of picks for 19-year-old forward Gabriel Chiarot, and Windsor is expected to be a buyer. Owen Sound may not be ready to turn the corner just yet, but the right deal has to come across DeGray’s table for him to trade away Carter George.
“The trade has to make sense. I’m not just making a trade, especially for somebody like Carter, unless it’s going to work for us, whether it’s now or in the future,” DeGray said via Cowan’s article.
George will move on to the professional level next season, and I don’t think it’s far-fetched to predict that he could play in a tandem role at the AHL level right now. Hanging on to a 19-year-old who won’t be around next season doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, but maybe DeGray is hoping his team can turn back the clock and play the way they did to start the season.
“Why can’t he help us?”
Perhaps DeGray wants to hang onto George to help the Attack provide an upset in the playoffs.