At the end of the day, there just wasn't a deal out there that made sense to the Guelph Storm.
As the OHL trade deadline passed at noon Friday, Jett Luchanko remained a member of the Storm. The team's best player was an obvious target in trade discussions, given that this could be his final year in the OHL and the young Storm are in rebuild mode.
Storm general manager George Burnett was asked point blank if Luchanko invoked his no-trade clause leading up to the deadline.
"We had great discussions with Jett and his family. He's quite happy to be here in Guelph. There was lots of dialogue (with other teams) but nothing that made sense for the Guelph Storm," Burnett said Friday after the deadline passed.
"It's a difficult decision. We've had regular discussions with Philadelphia, we've had lots of discussions with all the parties involved here, and at the end of the day there wasn't a deal that made the proper impact in the minds of our ownership," Burnett said.
"We weren't out shopping necessarily."
Luchanko could make the Philadelphia Flyers next season as opposed to returning to the OHL for his 19-year-old campaign. He can't play in the American Hockey League next season, but could get a cup of coffee there once the Storm season ends this year and if the Flyers want him there, which is likely.
Luchanko won't be in the Storm lineup tonight in Flint or Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie. He was given a two-game suspension by the league Friday for the cross-checking major he got Wednesday night late in the game against Erie. He can return Jan. 17 when Guelph plays in London.
The Storm did add a familiar face to the roster Friday with the return of Ryan McGuire.
McGuire was the odd man out in the overage department in early December and left to play for the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League's Caledonia Corvairs. McGuire returns to Guelph to fill an overage spot that became vacant Thursday when defenceman Tommy Budnick was traded to the Brantford Bulldogs for draft picks.
"It's a good fit for us and he's excited to be back. He'll be a good influence on the younger kids and it's good to have a guy like that out there supporting them and leading the way," Burnett said.
McGuire had four goals and 10 assists in seven games with Caledonia.
With the focus on developing the team's group of 16 and 17 year olds in the rebuild, Burnett said the team feels confident moving forward. It was also able to restock the draft pick war chest for future deals, adding a total of 15 draft picks in its four trades leading up to the deadline: four second round picks, six thirds, two fourths and three fifths. They dealt away one fifth.
"There's always lots of discussions," Burnett said of activity leading up to the deadline, although Guelph had already made four significant deals prior to the deadline in moving overager Tommy Budnick and 19-year-olds Vilmer Alriksson, Brayden Gillespie and Cam Allen.
Burnett said the signing of 16 year old defenceman Eric Frossard out of the USHL created a bit of a logjam on defence and the team wanted to focus on providing playing time to its young group.
"At the end of the day we needed those seven young kids playing lots of minutes and that's going to happen."
Guelph's next home game isn't until Jan. 24.
