The London Knights and Peterborough Petes have made quite the splash on Tuesday afternoon, sending overage goaltender Michael Simpson to London, in return for 2006-born goaltender Zach Bowen and a 3rd-round pick in 2025 that originally belonged to Kingston.
After making another trade with the Niagara IceDogs a few weeks ago, the London Knights opened up an overage spot for the teams 2023-24 roster. The reigning Western Conference Champions sent overage forward Ryan Humphrey and 2005-born forward Mattheu Paris to Niagara, in return for a 2nd-Round pick in 2026, a 3rd-Round pick in 2026 that belonged to the Flint Firebirds and 2005 born forward Juan Copeland.
Trading 2005-born goaltender Zach Bowen does sting a little bit, but acquiring Michael Simpson is totally worth it. In fifty-one games last season the Peterborough goaltender had a 2.73 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. However, it was Micahel Simpson’s playoff run for the Petes that really turned heads. The 20-year-old goaltender had a 2.80 goals against average and a .918 save percentage in twenty-three playoff games according to EliteProspects.com.
Another thing to note about this acquisition is that Michael Simpson was also recently invited to the Penguins training camp ahead of the new season. Despite not getting into any preseason action before being assigned back to Peterborough, the 20-year-old goaltender did participate in the team’s prospect challenge as a member of the Penguins in Buffalo.
When the London Knights moved out Ryan Humphrey, all eyes turned to Knights General Manager Mark Hunter and what London’s management decided to do with the newly opened spot. After last season’s impressive run despite not winning it all, the Knights are yet again expected to be a contender this upcoming season. With the London Knights already adding forward Kasper Halttunen, and defenseman Henry Brzustewicz this offseason, the Knights only got stronger by now adding the Peterborough goaltender.
The overall roster of the London Knights already looked like one of the best in the Ontario Hockey League prior to the trade, but now having the overage goaltender who led the Peterborough Petes to the Ontario Hockey League championship last season, makes them easily the early favourite on paper for this upcoming season.
After losing goaltender Brett Brochu this offseason, the London Knights goaltending depth was clearly the team’s biggest question mark ahead of the new season. Now acquiring a proven starter in Michael Simpson, who is a solid replacement for Brett Brochu, should lead this team to success in 2023-24. The London Knights will open the season on Friday, September 29th against the Niagara IceDogs at the Budweiser Gardens in London.
A cool thing about the Knights acquiring Michael Simpson, is that the newly acquired Knights goaltender is actually from London,Ontario. The 20-year-old goaltender spent time playing youth hockey with the London Jr. Knights program before transitioning to Peterborough.
Michael Simpson coming home in his overage season to play for the Knights is going to be fun, and something that I can’t wait to see.
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