Ian MacAlpine – The Tillsonburg News
Coming off a split of games between Christmas and New Year’s, the Kingston Frontenacs acquired two new players late last week: goaltender Marshall Frappier from the Sudbury Wolves and defenceman Adrien Beraldo from the Peterborough Petes, both 18-year-olds, to replace a pair of Frontenacs who suffered season-ending injuries over the holiday break.
The Frontenacs sent a sixth-round pick in 2020 to the Wolves for Frappier and a 10th-round pick in 2021 to the Petes for Beraldo.
The trades were necessary after goaltender Ryan Dugas broke his left leg in two places while playing hockey at home in the Ancaster area and fifth-year defenceman Mitchell Byrne cut his hand in a freak accident at home in Brampton and required surgery.
Both are out for the remainder of the season. Byrne, in his last year of eligibility, is done with junior hockey.
In 27 games this season, Byrne recorded three assists and 20 penalty minutes. Dugas, in his rookie season, had a 6-3 won-lost record with a 4.25 goals-against average and a .869 save percentage.
Frappier dressed for Friday night’s 6-1 win over Peterborough and saw action in the team’s 8-0 loss Saturday night against the Niagara IceDogs. Beraldo missed both contests but was at practice on Monday.
They were trades Kingston had to make, Frontenacs general manager Darren Keily said in an interview on Monday.
“It kind of changed things here. We didn’t want to go the rest of the year with only six defencemen just in case something else happens to them,” he said.
Keily said the team has some depth in the goaltending position in the organization but didn’t want to affect players’ development by bringing them up to the team too soon.
“We went and got Frappier, who’s got some experience in the league,” Keily said.
Last season, Frappier appeared in 22 games for Sudbury with a 4.69 goals-against average and a .871 save percentage. This season, he’s played most of his games with the French River Rapids of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
At practice on Monday, he was still wearing his Sudbury Wolves pads and gloves but already has a customized Frontenacs mask.
Beraldo had one goal, four assists and 33 penalty minutes in 31 games for Peterborough this season.
“These guys aren’t just coming in for the rest of the year, they have an opportunity to make an impression and be here again next year,” Keily said.
As some general managers in the league are in a “buying” position, Keily said it’s quiet in his office as the Ontario Hockey League trade deadline looms on Jan. 10.
“We’re not too active in this year’s market compared to last year,” he said, referring to the acquisitions of forwards Gabe Vilardi, Cliff Pu and Max Jones and defencemen Sean Day and Byrne as Kingston loaded up for a championship run.
It’s a different focus this year, Keily said.
“The biggest thing for us is to have more games like Friday night and less games like Saturday night,” Keily said, referring to Friday’s 6-1 win over Peterborough and Saturday’s 8-0 loss to Niagara.
“With an extremely young team, there’s going to be some good nights and there’s going to be some other nights where we’re outmatched, and we have to find ways to develop here right through the end,” he said. “We just want this team to compete every night and get better. That’s our focus.”
The Frontenacs (11-24-1-0) begin the 2019 portion of their schedule on Tuesday when they travel to Oshawa to meet the Generals in a 2:05 p.m. start to kick off a four-game week. They are in Hamilton to take on the Bulldogs on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. before hosting Peterborough on Friday night at 7 p.m. and the Barrie Colts next Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.