PETERBOROUGH, Ont. — The Canadian junior team's golden goal scorer is the centre piece of a major deal just prior to the Ontario Hockey League trade deadline.
The Peterborough Petes have acquired centre Akil Thomas, who broke a 3-3 tie with Russia with the winning goal late in Sunday's world junior championship final in the Czech Republic, from the Niagara IceDogs.
Peterborough sends four draft picks and 17-year-old winger Cam Butler to the IceDogs for Thomas, a 20-year-old Los Angeles Kings prospect from Toronto.
The Petes (25-11-2-1) have the second-best record in the OHL's Eastern Conference, trailing only the red-hot Ottawa 67's (29-6-0-0), who have six games in hand.
The IceDogs (15-16-4-1) are seventh in the East. They unloaded another key player on Thursday, sending forward Philip Tomasino, a Nashville Predators first-round pick, to the Oshawa Generals for nine draft picks and the rights to David Gucciardi.
The Petes are looking for their first OHL title since 2006, while the 67's haven't captured the league crown since 2001.
The OHL trade deadline is Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2020.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. The Nashville Predators drafted Philip Tomasino, not the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Canucks as reported in a previous version.
