The North Bay Battalion have added Saginaw captain Nick Moutrey in exchange for goaltender Evan Cormier and a handful of draft picks.
Reports indicate the draft picks going Saginaw's way include 3 second round picks, 1 third round pick and 2 fourth round picks.
In Moutrey, the Battalion get a big 6'3" power forward who has registered 15 goals and 25 assists for 40 points in 36 games with the Saginaw Spirit this season.
The 1995 birth year forward was a 4th round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
In Cormier, the Battalion move their 2013 5th round pick who put up impressive numbers as a 16-year-old with the North Bay Jr. Trappers of the NOJHL last season. He played in 8 games this season accumulating a 3-2-1 record and a 2.50 goals against average.
“He’ll be here sometime tomorrow, but not for practice,” Stan Butler, Battalion director of hockey operations and head coach, said of Moutrey, who was Saginaw’s captain on www.battalionhockey.com
Moutrey was Saginaw’s first-round pick, 15th overall, in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection from the York Simcoe Express minor midgets. In 235 games in three-plus OHL seasons, he has 48 goals and 85 assists for 133 points with 212 penalty minutes. In 21 playoff games over three years, the Toronto resident has three assists.
Moutrey is the second member of the Spirit, the former North Bay Centennials franchise, to join the Battalion in the Gateway City. The Troops acquired Zach Bratina from Saginaw on Dec. 27, 2013, in exchange for forward Blake Clarke.
The move creates a goaltending void for the Battalion who currently have unsigned 2014 draft pick Jack Ondrovic playing nearby in Powassan with their affiliate team the Voodoos.
“We’ll be looking to sign a goalie in the next couple of days,” said Butler on www.battalionhockey.com whose Troops visit the Ottawa 67’s at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
