Multiple trades make up much of Erie Otters' midseason report

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The Canadian Hockey League’s 2025-26 season is the first full one since teams in its three leagues, the Ontario Hockey League included, were permitted to sign NCAA recruits.

What’s followed has been a steady barrage of in-season signings and trades.

Kris Mallette experienced that new normal before his Jan. 10 dismissal as coach of the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna (British Columbia) Rockets, and again when the Erie Otters hired him on Feb. 11.

“It’s part of the game now,” Mallette said. “It’s never about hard feelings. We’re never trading players because we don’t like them. We’re trying to strengthen our (franchise) moving forward.”

“We need to understand that (players) are going to be moving more, and you’ve got to take care of what you can as an individual.”

Ryder Boulton (dark uniform, center) scores Brantford's third goal against Erie goaltender Noah Erliden within the second period's first five minutes for the teams' December 31 Ontario Hockey League game at Erie Insurance Arena. They were the difference for the Bulldogs, who won 5-2.

Mallette spoke with Erie media before the Otters’ two-day, home-and-home series with Brantford. Each won as a visitor, Erie 3-2 on Dec. 30 and the Bulldogs 5-2 on New Year’s Eve at Erie Insurance Arena.

Those results left Erie with a 14-21-1-1 record going into the 2026 portion of its regular season. What transpired during its 2025 half included:

Roster swaps

The 2025-26 Otters have already experienced four player transactions by general manager Dave Brown.

The first was the Halloween acquisition of Michael Dec from Owen Sound. In return, the Attack received fellow forward Wesley Royston.

Dec has made good on his end of that deal. He’ll go into the new year as Erie’s leader for assists (25) and points (41).

Gabriel Frasca, a second-year Otter acquired from Kingston, is their leading goal scorer with 17. Dec trails him by one.

That duo became Erie’s top offensive threats with the Dec. 13 trade of overager Dylan Edwards to the Kitchener Rangers. Edwards led Erie in goals (16) at the time of his deal for Evan Headrick and a fourth round draft pick for the league’s 2029 draft.

Amid those trades was the Otters’ Nov. 23 acquisition of Johnstown native Kase Kamzik from Sarnia. The Miami (Ohio) University recruit returned his home state in exchange for Tyler Challenger, whom Erie chose with the 10^th pick in the league’s 2024 draft.

Kamzik scored once over his first 12 games in an Erie uniform.

The Otters’ most recent roster alteration occurred three days after the arrival of Headrick, whose brother Owen played for the franchise’s 2016-17 Robertson Cup title team.

The Flint Firebirds dealt Ulysses Lombardi to Erie in exchange for a 2027 12^th round draft pick. The forward primarily played this season for the Waterloo Siskins, Flint’s Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League affiliate.

Lombardi recorded an assist in two appearances as an Otter.

More: Why the Erie Otters traded scoring leader Dylan Edwards to Kitchener

Fort Erie as fallback

While Waterloo is Flint’s GOJHL affiliate, the Fort Erie Meteors now hold that role with Erie.

The Otters made that formal announcement on Nov. 12. The affiliation will cut down on Brown’s search for reserve talent, if needed.

Nik Passero is the coach and general manager for Fort Erie, which was third in the GOJHL’s Eastern Conference standings (21-6-2-0) at the time of the league’s holiday break.

More: OHL's Erie Otters make Fort Erie Meteors formal GOHL affiliate

Work to be done

The Otters’ New Year’s Eve loss left them with 30 team points, last in the OHL’s Midwest Division standings. They’re three back of the fourth-place Guelph Storm.

If Erie does qualify for the postseason, it’s likely to be as the eighth and final seed for the league's Western Conference bracket. Saginaw and Sarnia also seek that berth.

The Spirit (31) and the Sting (27) were fourth and fifth in the league’s West Division at 2025’s conclusion.

More: Trade to Erie Otters doubles as de facto homecoming for Kase Kamzik

What’s ahead

The Otters open 2026 with Jan. 3 action against the visiting Windsor Spitfires. That game has a start time of 7 p.m., as will all but three left at EIA.

One is a school day game on Feb. 5. The puck drop between the Otters and Guelph scheduled for 11 a.m.

Erie also has 4 p.m. starts on back-to-back Sundays. Owen Sound is here on March 1 and Saginaw on March 8.

The Otters’ last home game is March 21 against Guelph. Their regular season concludes the next day at Niagara.

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Trades top storylines for Erie Otters going into 2026

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