Paper Kings via Jr. Spitfires
Ontario Hockey League draft pick Carter Trudell is moving up from the Windsor Jr. Spitfires of the Under 16 level Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario to the Espanola Paper Kings of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for the ’26-27 season.
Hockey News North has confirmed that Trudell, a 6 foot, 175 pound forward who was picked by the North Bay Battalion in the 12th round of the 2026 OHL priority selections draft from the U16 Jr. Spitfires, is headed north to Espanola and the NOJHL.
Marc Gagnon, who is the general manager of the NOJHL Paper Kings of Espanola, noted that Trudell, who has a 2010 birth date, “is a big strong player with lots of skill who makes room with his physical presence. Most importantly, he is a great human being, Carter will be given every opportunity to continue with his development and hopefully get to the OHL one day.”
Gagnon, who besides being the GM in Espanola, also scouts for the OHL Battalion, told Hockey News North that he saw enough of Trudell in ’25-26 to know that the youngster has OHL potential.
Trudell put up good numbers for the U16 Jr. Spitfires in ’25-26 with 32 goals, 23 assists, 55 points in 54 games.
Notably, Trudell has hockey roots as well as northern roots from his parents. His dad, Brett Trudell, is a former OHL forward of note with the Soo Greyhounds, Guelph Storm and Oshawa Generals. And his mom, Ashley Trudell (formerly Rathwell) is from Sault Ste. Marie — and a former high school basketball and volleyball standout at Mount St. Joseph College.
