Having won six of their last ten games in OHL action, the Sudbury Wolves are currently one of the hotter teams in the OHL.
And not only has that run turned Sudbury's season around, but it's put them just ahead of the Brampton Steelheads for eighth in the Eastern Conference, good enough for the conference's final playoff spot.
But even with their current run of form in mind, it seems the Wolves are still eager to sell off some of their assets. That eagerness took the form of a trade that can be viewed as a bizarrely-timed transaction, one that sends two of Sudbury's top players westward.
Sudbury is trading Alex Pharand and Seattle Kraken second round pick Nathan Villeneuve to the Windsor Spitfires, who currently sit in first place in the Western Conference. In exchange, the Sudbury Wolves are receiving centre Jean-Christoph Lemieux, two second-round OHL draft picks (a 2027 pick from Ottawa and a 2028 second-rounder from Windsor), three third-round draft picks (including Peterborough's third-round pick this year, Windsor's 2028 selection, and Oshawa's third-rounder in 2028), a fourth-round pick from Windsor (for the 2029 draft), and two fifth-round picks from the Spitfires (for the 2028 and 2029 drafts).
Outside of Sudbury's current form, the two players' statistics don't necessarily justify a trade at this moment. Sure, it gives Sudbury some draft capital and a younger prospect for the future, but it doesn't exactly give some clarity on the team's motivation.
With regard to Alex Pharand, the Chelmsford, Ontario native has been a longtime contributor for Sudbury on the offensive side of the ice. Since joining the Sudbury Wolves midway through the 2021-22 season, Pharand had been a consistent contributor on the offensive side of the ice. Despite putting up just ten points in thirty-three games with the Wolves in 2021-22, his production would increase significantly over the next three seasons. Pharand would record thirty points or more in each of the next three seasons, while cracking twenty assists in two of those campaigns. Prior to being traded to Windsor, Alex Pharand reached twenty-six points on the season, putting him on pace for one of his best seasons since entering the OHL.
The same can be said for Nathan Villeneuve. Despite playing fewer games than Pharand, Nathan Villeneuve has also been a significant piece in Sudbury's offence. Of his three full seasons with the Wolves (2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25), Villeneuve would put up 50+ point seasons in two of them. One of his three full seasons with the team would also see him score 34 goals.
So far this season, Nathan Villeneuve has scored sixteen goals while also tallying twenty-eight assists; combined, that's 44 points on the season. That would put him on pace to potentially surpass his previous career-high in points, which he set last year when he put up 70 points.
For the Windsor Spitfires, this move has been just one of many moves completed in recent weeks as the team looks to turn their fast start, which has seen them win twenty-six of their first thirty-eight games, into a deep postseason run.
As for the Sudbury Wolves, it will be interesting to see how this move impacts their ongoing run of form. Their first game following this trade will take place Wednesday night against a Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds team that has won six of their last ten. This road game precedes two big home games against the Niagara IceDogs, who sit in sixth in the Eastern Conference, and an Ottawa 67's side that is seemingly on course for a first-place finish in their division.