Greyhounds deal Carroll as overage situation finalized

The overage situation for the Soo Greyhounds became a lot clearer on Thursday afternoon.

Ahead of its first road game of the regular season, the Greyhounds dealt overage forward Joe Carroll to the Peterborough Petes in exchange for three draft picks.

“Even leading into training camp, we were looking to get our numbers down, but it wasn’t necessarily something that we were going to scramble to do, but it was one of those sooner-than-later things,” Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis said.

“We wanted to make sure we had our team set,” Raftis added. “When we got to our short group of OA’s, we were happy with what we had.”

Raftis said the initial market for overage players was “a little bit slower that what we’ve seen in the past.”

The Greyhounds general manager added that the deal with the Petes came together relatively quickly.

As part of the deal, the Greyhounds get a third round pick in 2023 (originally Sarnia’s), a 12th round pick in 2023, and a conditional sixth round pick in 2023.

The specific conditions of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Raftis confirmed that the pick could move up pending the conditions.

“Joe’s been a great player for us,” Raftis said of Carroll. “He was a young player on our team that went to the final (in 2018). It’s not easy. He came to camp in good spirits and worked really hard, even knowing that somebody was going to be moved out. It was tough on that side of it, but it’s good to see him in a good spot.”

In a prepared statement, Carroll said he was excited to join the Petes.

“In my fifth year in the league, I’m expecting big things from myself and want to do whatever it takes to push the Petes to the next step,” Carroll said.

“He is a proven goal scorer at the OHL level and will be adding some excellent leadership to our group,” Petes general manager Mike Oke said in a release.

Raftis also confirmed on Thursday afternoon that overage forward Alex Johnston has cleared waivers, meaning the Greyhounds will move forward with defenceman Robert Calisti, and forwards Tye Kartye and Cole MacKay as its overage players.

Raftis said that Johnston planned to take a few days before deciding what his next move was going to be.