Much like most of the league, the North York Rangers made their mark on the recently passed Jan. 10 trade deadline; and then some.
The Rangers acquired winger Joseph Mizzi from the Newmarket Hurricanes in exchange for long-time Rangers’ forward Ryan Hunt on Tuesday.
They also dealt Louis Kereakou to the Georgetown Raiders, thus completing the previous transaction involving the sending of Ross Krieger, Jett Alexander, and Ethan Wiseman to North York, and the Raiders receiving veteran winger Keegan Blasby and goaltender Jacob Hutchings.
North York then utilized one of its open cards by signing free agent forward Jesse Anderson, who had been recently released from the North American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights.
Mizzi, 18, hails from Markham, and 58 games of Canadian Hockey League experience, mostly with the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs in the 2015-16 campaign. Primarily a right-shooting right winger, Mizzi notched 10 points in 12 games for the Hurricanes this season after joining them early in the season from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder was a member of a powerhouse Toronto Marlies 1998-birth year class, and was selected in the seventh round, 124th overall by the Bellville Bulls in the 2014 OHL Draft.
Hunt, 19, played in 102 regular and post-season games for the Rangers between 2014 and 2017, scoring 18 goals and adding 22 assists over that span. He got the chance to play with his older brother Ted on North York last season.
Kereakou, 20, played in 154 contests with the North York Rangers Junior ‘A’ between 2013 and 2017, adding 77 points over that span. A Richmond Hill native, Louis featured prominently for the Rangers ‘AAA’ midgets for two years before joining the Junior ‘A’ club full time in 2014.
Anderson, 19, joins the Rangers by way of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights of the NAHL, where he posted seven points in 24 games. The native of Wasaga Beach, ONT., has played in junior leagues all over Ontario, with the Ontario Junior Hockey League being his fifth. His resume includes stops at Junior ‘C’ Stayner, Junior ‘B’ St. Thomas and St. Catherines, and Junior ‘A’ Powassan of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. All told, Anderson has played in 197 games over his junior career.
North York will get its first chance to see Mizzi and Anderson on Saturday evening when it travels to Aurora to battle the Tigers; puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
Story by Jamie Neugebauer, Director of Communications
Image by OJHL Images
