The Saginaw (Mich.) Spirit are riding a nine-game winning streak.
But that didn’t keep Saginaw general manager Dave Drinkill from adding another major piece to the lineup.
The Spirit, a major junior team of the Ontario Hockey League, traded five draft picks Thursday to the Barrie Colts for center Hunter Haight , a second-round pick by the Minnesota Wild in the 2022 draft.
“Hunter is a player we have really coveted going all the way back to his draft year in 2020, and to be able to acquire him today is very exciting,” Drinkill stated in a press release. “Players of this caliber who have years of eligibility left in our league don’t become available very often. We feel he will make an immediate impact on our already strong group of forwards both this year and the next.”
The Spirit sent Barrie five draft picks, including North Bay’s second-round pick in 2024, Saginaw’s second and third-round picks in 2025, Saginaw’s second-round pick in 2026 and Kingston’s third-round pick in 2026.
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This season, Haight has three goals and six assists in 20 games. The 18-year-old center was Barrie’s first-round pick in the 2020 OHL Draft and ninth overall. He has played 83 games in the OHL with 25 goals and 25 assists.
The trade for Haight comes two weeks after the Spirit traded Josh Bloom, Brayden Hislop and a sixth-round pick to North Bay for five picks, forward Nicholas Sima and defenseman Cam Gauvreau.
“The trade we made a few weeks ago allowed us the flexibility to make a move like this and use the draft picks we acquired in that deal,” Drinkill stated in a press release. “Hunter brings an extremely high skill level to our group, and I know that once he gets into our system with our coaching staff, his game will take off.”
Haight will join the Spirit for their game Friday at Sault Ste. Marie.
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