Steal of a deal
Soo Greyhounds left winger Bobby MacIntyre represents the return on one of the more one-sided trades made in the Ontario Hockey League in quite some time.
In a league where marginal veteran players fetch a minimum return of a fourth-round draft pick, Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis committed a major theft prior to the start of the 2015-2016 season when he heisted the-then 19-year old MacIntyre from the Mississauga Steelheads for a mere ninth-round draft pick.
That’s correct, a ninth-round draft pick is all that Raftis gave up for MacIntyre, who is currently fourth on the OHL scoring chart with 18 goals, 37 assists, 55 points in 37 games for the Hounds thus far this season.
This follows MacIntyre’s first season in the Soo in 2015-2016 when he had 20 goals, 28 assists, 48 points in 62 regular-season games before putting up 5-6-11 totals in 11 playoff outings.
Highly-rated as a second-round selection by Mississauga at the 2012 OHL draft, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound speedster never really found his game with the Steelheads, putting up just 21 goals, 34 assists, 55 points in 181 games over three full seasons.
But the trade from Mississauga to the Soo has worked wonders for the Oshawa native, who has gone from being employed as a shutdown winger with the Steelheads to the leading scorer on the Greyhounds.
MacIntyre had came into the OHL with Mississauga with plenty of potential and promise, having scored 26 goals, 23 assists, 49 points in 32 regular season games with the Whitby Wildcats minor midget squad that competed at the coveted OHL Cup during the 2011-2012 season.
But after three sub-par seasons with the Steelheads, he was traded to the Greyhounds for that aforementioned ninth-round draft pick — a steal of a deal if there ever was one.
At the time MacIntyre was obtained by the Greyhounds, the aforementioned Raftis told Postmedia that the feisty forward could flourish with the Soo.
“He’s a classic case of a guy who’s been put into a defensive role in the past but I think he can flourish offensively in our style of play. He’s always had great speed and he’s relentless on the forecheck,” Raftis said at the time.
Un-drafted as far as the National Hockey League goes, MacIntyre appears poised to earn himself a pro contract for next season.
Meantime, with the Greyhounds involved in a frantic race for first place in the hotly-contested, 10-team Western Conference, one wonders where they would be without MacIntyre, especially with world-class forward Blake Speers having missed almost all of the OHL season to date with a wrist injury.
PHOTO: Bobby MacIntyre, in action with the Soo Greyhounds. (Photo by Ali Pearson.)