While it’s safe to say it wasn’t the reason the return was what it was, the Soo Greyhounds now have a monopoly on all players named Brady Smith in the Ontario Hockey League.
Late Tuesday morning, the team announced a deal with the Oshawa Generals that sent veteran defenceman Andrew Gibson to the Eastern Conference club.
In return, the Greyhounds added winger Brady Smith and eight draft picks for the Team Canada blueliner.
The move also gives the Greyhounds all players named Brady Smith currently active in the league as the team’s roster already included 2007-born forward Brady R. Smith.
Shortly after the deal was announced, the OHL’s director of communications posted on the social media platform X the middle initials for both Smiths, which should make life easier for a lot of people going forward.
For reference, the newly acquired forward is Brady T. Smith.
“Ironically, when we were talking to him yesterday, he knew a couple kids (on the Greyhounds roster), but didn’t know them that well, but he knows Brady Smith fairly well with no relation,” Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis said through laughter Tuesday afternoon in discussing the deal.
“We’ll have to sort that out. I know hockey guys aren’t very creative with nicknames, so we’ll have to sort something out.”
For the Greyhounds, the deal wasn’t an easy one based on Gibson’s contributions to the team in his time with the organization.
“We had a good conversation with Gibby just after he made the World Junior team and chatted with him about the situation with where the team is at and tried to keep him in the loop a little bit on it,” Raftis said.
“He’s a huge part of this team. He’s been amazing on and off the ice. It’s never easy to see a guy like that go.”
Raftis called the Generals “a great spot for him to go to.”
A first round pick by the Generals in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection, selected 17th overall and one pick ahead of the Greyhounds opening round selection, Brady T. Smith had a pair of goals and seven points in 37 games with the Generals this season prior to the trade.
“It’s going to be about building up that confidence,” Raftis said of adding the former General to the lineup.
“With him the way he plays with the puck on his stick, he can score from anywhere. He’s scored at every level. Over the last little bit with Oshawa’s higher end forwards gone, you started to see that glimpse of the player he was last year.
"He looks like he’s starting to get adjusted to the league. The biggest thing for him is going to be that confidence level in terms of getting that opportunity and believing that you are a good player.”
A former fourth round pick by the Greyhounds, Gibson had four goals and seven points in 26 games this season prior to joining the Canadian National Junior Team for the recently completed World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa.
The 19-year-old suited up in 145 career games with the team, scoring 23 goals and 72 points.
A prospect of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, Gibson played regular minutes with Team Canada, averaging the second most ice time per game among all Canadian players in his five games.
In addition to Smith, the Greyhounds receive eight draft picks in the deal, including a second in 2027 (originally Owen Sound’s), a third in 2027, a fourth in 2026, two fourth’s in 2027 (one of which is originally Peterborough’s), a sixth in 2027, a sixth in 2028, and a seventh in 2028.
For the Greyhounds, Raftis said the injury situation and the number of teams looking to potentially add high-end players to their lineup this year made the decision to add younger players to the mix an option.
“It’s made it a little easier in that a lot of these ‘07s and our ’08 in (Carson) Andrew as well have been a big part of keeping us in that mix of where we are right now,” Raftis said.
“Let’s make some space and get some younger guys in the lineup and playing more crucial minutes and see where they can get to in the second half.”
The trade deadline for overage players in the league is noon on Thursday and noon Friday for all other players.