Peterborough is in their rebuilding phase, and they are acquiring a dangerous amount of young talent. Nico Addy, Carson Cameron, Caden Taylor & Aiden Young were all 2023 first round picks, and now they are all Peterborough Petes.
The Peterborough Petes were very busy at this year's OHL Trade Deadline, trading away several of their top players and bringing in some youthful talent for the future.
Among these trades, three OHL first round picks from 2023 were brought in; Nico Addy, Aiden Young, and Caden Taylor.
Nico Addy
Nico Addy was brought in the Konnor Smith/Sam McCue trade with Owen Sound. Addy was selected 12th overall in the 2023 OHL Draft by the Attack, but he hasn't seen much ice time with the team. He has been stuck on the fourth line in Owen Sound, only cashing in a couple shifts per-game.
In Peterborough — especially with their lack of depth — Addy will get some new opportunities, and has already. Against Kingston last night, he played right wing on the second line. Addy even scored in his second game in the maroon and white, where he was able to find the loose puck in front and put it home.
Addy's skill and finishing ability around the net is what got him drafted in the first round. He has a strong release, and is able to make plays with his hands down low and in tight. Addy's mobility with a 6-foot-5 frame as a sixteen-year-old is impressive, as many tall players aren't fully "grown in" to their legs at this age.
Addy will serve as a strong power forward in this league, and he is finally getting a better chance in Peterborough
Aiden Young
The 16th overall pick in the 2023 OHL Draft was Aiden Young, and he was selected by the Saginaw Spirit. As the Spirit prepare for their Memorial Cup run, they have dealt a lot of their young talent to bring in prime veterans. Young was one of the young pieces moved from this team, in the trade for Owen Beck.
Young sees the ice on an advanced level for a sixteen-year-old, he reads plays quickly and he is always making plays a step ahead. Similarly to Addy, Young has been playing on the Spirit's fourth line with not much opportunity. In Peterborough, that will also change for Young.
Against Kingston, Young played across the ice from Addy on his left wing. He picked up an assist on Addy's goal, on what was an impressive night for the Petes' rookies.
Caden Taylor
Players that can shoot like Caden Taylor need to play in the top-six, and he was not getting that opportunity in Sudbury. The highest pick of this bunch is Taylor, whom Sudbury picked 9th overall in 2023.
He can shoot the puck better than most, and talent like Taylor's needs to get high-end opportunities to succeed. So what did Taylor do when he got to Peterborough? He played on the Petes first line and scored in his first game, after scoring just one goal with the Wolves this season.
Taylor's shot release was one of — if not "the" — best in the 2023 OHL Draft, where he carried the Mississauga Sens in his draft season. He put up 58 goals in 60 games.
He may not be the quickest or the hardest working player on the ice, but if Taylor gets an opportunity to carry the puck into the offensive zone, he is finding a way to create with his shot.
Carson Cameron
The fourth first round pick that the Petes have, is their own. Peterborough selected Cameron with the 13th overall pick after winning the OHL Championship last season.
Cameron has been playing sizeable minutes from the get-go, but will now get to be the go-to guy on the blue line. The Petes dealt a lot of players — including defencemen Konnor Smith and Donovan McCoy — who were the top two defence on the team. With these two players gone, Cameron is the player that has stepped onto the first pair.
Cameron is an efficient two-way defenceman that doesn't give up a lot in either end. He is not afraid to carry the puck in transition, but he ensures that he is not giving up anything defensively at the same time. He moves the puck well in all three zones, and has shown he can be trusted with increased ice-time as a sixteen-year-old.
The Petes have accepted that they are in a rebuilding phase, but they are rebuilding in an honourable way. They have found away to accumulate an abundance of young talent, and these four rookies will be the cornerstones of the Petes for the next few years.