Welcome to the Thursday ramblings, hopefully everyone had a good Canadian turkey day. This week’s ramblings will be a bunch of news, notes and general rambling.

But first! My #GoodTweet of the week (I have not tweeted a lot this past week. I need to be taught how to social media better haha)

{source}<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Because Carter whiffed on it <a href=”https://t.co/sioVvkjTB7″>https://t.co/sioVvkjTB7</a></p>&mdash; Pat Quinn (not that one) (@FHPQuinn) <a href=”https://twitter.com/FHPQuinn/status/1183585559584768000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
{/source}

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Liam Foudy was officially sent down to the OHL’s London Knights by the Columbus Blue Jackets as the forward came off of injury reserve after being hurt in the September prospect tournament. Foudy will serve as co-captain with Alec Regula (DET) in his fourth and final OHL season. The Knights are currently 3-3-1 and the speedy scoring forward should invigorate the team from its 500 status.

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Recent CHL Trades this week

WHL

On Tuesday (October 15) the Prince Albert Raiders acquired Duncan McGovern from the Winnipeg Ice for an 8^th round selection in 2022. Immediately after the Raiders then sent goalie Brett Balas (2020 prospect) to the Spokane Chiefs for a 9^th round selection in 2023.

Since Prince Albert was the only team trading this week, they also acquired Reece Vitelli (2020 prospect), a 2^nd and a 4^th in 2021, and a conditional 3^rd in 2022 from the Everett Silvertips for Cole Fonstad (MTL).

OHL

Tuesday this week the Kingston Frontenacs sent Billy Constantinou (2020 prospect) to the Soo Greyhounds for a 4^th in 2020 and 2021, and a 3^rd in 2024.

The Guelph Storm sent Owen Lalonde (passed over for two drafts) to the Flint Firebirds for Michael Bianconi (2020 prospect) a 2^nd in 2021, 2022 and a conditional 2024, and a conditional 5^th in 2022.

At the end of last week, the Soo sent Ryan Roth (a free agent that will likely be signed at the end of this CHL season) to the Sarnia Sting for a 2^nd in 2022, a 4^th in 2021, and a conditional 5^th in 2013.

There were no real QMJHL trades to discuss. Thumbs down.

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Speaking of trades, Ryan Merkley was set free on September 27 and traded to the London Knights for the low low cost of a 3^rd in 2022, and conditional 2024 2^nd and 3^rd round selections.

Merkley currently has eight points in five games as he is such an elite talent on the back end. The production should increase as long as he can show he is not a liability in his own end. Also, for those wondering he does have 10 penalty minutes so far but hopefully those totals do not increase. I have faith that this kid will put those “attitude issues” behind him, and thankfully he is not on the Islanders where apparently those type of issues makes it so you will never become an NHLer #FreeHoSang.

The only problem I see long term for Merkley in San Jose is that Burns still has five years remaining on his deal and Karlsson has eight, so good luck bumping those two off of a powerplay.

In regard to fantasy hockey if you are playing the long game keep him, but if you want to trade a big prospect name for a top player use Merkley as we will likely not see what he can do statistically in the NHL for at least five seasons, if Burns is not moved.

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Team Canada announced the 56-man roster for the U-17 World Hockey Challenge happening November 2-9 in Medicine Hat, Alberta and Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Those players are:

Goaltenders:

• Tyler Brennan (Prince George Cougars)
• Benjamin Gaudreau (Sarnia Sting)
• Jacob Goobie (Charlottetown Islanders)

Defencemen:

• Nolan Allan (Prince Albert Raiders)
• Nolan Bentham (Victoria Royals)
• Olivier Boutin (Gatineau Olympiques)
• Brandt Clarke (Barrie Colts)
• Ethan Del Mastro (Mississauga Steelheads)
• Isaac Enright (Niagara IceDogs)
• Tyson Hinds (Shawinigan Cataractes)
• Jacob Holmes (Soo Greyhounds)
• Carson Lambos (Winnipeg ICE)
• Jeremy Langlois (Cape Breton Eagles)
• Kyle Masters (Red Deer Rebels)
• Oscar Plandowski (Charlottetown Islanders)
• Connor Punnett (Saginaw Spirit)
• Graham Sward (Spokane Chiefs)
• Cameron Whynot (Halifax Mooseheads)
• Olen Zellweger (Everett Silvertips)

Forwards:

• Liam Arnsby (North Bay Battalion)
• Jon-Randall Avon (Peterborough Petes)
• Jack Beck (Ottawa 67’s)
• Zachary Bolduc (Rimouski Oceanic)
• Ethan Burroughs (Owen Sound Attack)
• Zach Dean (Gatineau Olympiques)
• Nathan Gaucher (Quebec Remparts)
• Jayden Grubbe (Red Deer Rebels)
• Dylan Guenther (Edmonton Oil Kings)
• Brett Harrison (Oshawa Generals)
• Wyatt Johnston (Windsor Spitfires)
• Riley Kidney (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
• Braeden Kressler (Flint Firebirds)
• Zachary L’Heureux (Moncton Wildcats)
• Kaleb Lawrence (Owen Sound Attack)
• Connor Lockhart (Erie Otters)
• James Malatesta (Quebec Remparts)
• Landon McCallum (Sudbury Wolves)
• Max McCue (London Knights)
• Mason McTavish (Peterborough Petes)
• Israel Mianscum (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
• Olivier Nadeau (Shawinigan Cataractes)
• Brennan Othmann (Flint Firebirds)
• Maxime Pellerin (Victoriaville Tigres)
• Francesco Pinelli (Kitchener Rangers)
• Justin Robidas (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
• Conner Roulette (Seattle Thunderbirds)
• Joshua Roy (Saint John Sea Dogs)
• Matthew Savoie (Winnipeg ICE)
• Cole Sillinger (Medicine Hat Tigers)
• Logan Stankoven (Kamloops Blazers)
• Chase Stillman (Sudbury Wolves)
• Sean Tschigerl (Calgary Hitmen)
• Kai Uchacz (Seattle Thunderbirds)
• Ryan Winterton (Hamilton Bulldogs)
• Shane Wright (Kingston Frontenacs)
• Danny Zhilkin (Guelph Storm)

Of course, all of the 56 players will play in the tournament for Canada

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There is a lot of talk about Quinton Byfield surpassing Alexis Lafrenière for top prospect of the 2020 draft, and I wonder if those people have watched Lafreniere dominate the QMJHL since 2017. Now I do understand the size and position of Byfield does appeal to 100% of GMs out there, and he will be a number one centre eventually, but I do not understand passing on the skill of Lafreniere.

To me in fantasy hockey this is not close, it is AF still by a large gap. I feel Byfield may be coming in a little more overrated due to his size where Lafreniere has the history and ever-evolving skill that has not stopped. This is likely a “we need to hype the 1-2 battle” that we have every year coming up to the draft from the sports media but there is a good chance an NHL team takes Byfield first due to the importance of the centre ice position, I would prefer Lafreniere myself.

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Thanks for reading, let us all hope the Devils turn the season around. Follow my twitter: @FHPQuinn