Sault Ste. Marie product Nick Porco will be making a return to play in his hometown a little sooner than expected.
Porco was dealt by the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts on Wednesday to the Owen Sound Attack, who are scheduled to play in Sault Ste. Marie against the Greyhounds on Jan. 15 at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
Porco was one of four overage players on the Colts roster and with the OHL trade deadline approaching, the team was looking to get down to the league maximum of three.
“This is one of the harder things to do,” Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson said of the trade. “Unfortunately, it is a numbers issue.”
The Colts receive a 5th round draft pick in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection along with a 12th round pick in the 2023 draft as part of the deal.
In 19 games with the Colts this season, Porco scored nine goals and 13 points.
Porco started his OHL career with the Saginaw Spirit, playing two full seasons with the club before being dealt midway through the 2019-20 season to Barrie.
In 193 career OHL games, Porco scored 43 goals and 83 points.
The trade was one of a pair of deals made by the Attack on Wednesday.
The addition of Porco meant the team would need to move an overage player to make room for the forward and dealt defenceman Andrew Perrott to the Windsor Spitfires for four draft picks.
Windsor also completed a second trade on Wednesday, sending overage defenceman Grayson Ladd along with 19-year old forward Kyle McDonald to the North Bay Battalion for 19-year-old forward Josh Currie and three draft picks, one of which is a conditional pick.