The Oakville Blades are pleased to announce the acquisition of veteran OJHL defenseman Sal Filice from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. In return, the Blades have traded Brayden Sampson to Toronto.
Filice, 20, is currently in his fourth season in the OJHL, playing all 180 games with the Jr. Canadiens. In that time, Filice has recorded 12 goals and 48 assists for 60 points, with 15 of them coming in 2016-2017. Prior to his OJHL career, Filice was chosen in the seventh round by the Brampton Battalion in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection. Additionally, he was selected by the Fargo Force in the USHL Futures Draft during the same year and later by the Bloomington Thunder in the 2014 USHL Entry Draft.
“Going to the Blades means a lot to me,” Filice said. “Throughout my time in the league, Oakville has always been a top team and a lot of guys want to play here. I'm grateful I get to pull the Blades sweater over my head and go to battle with these guys. This is a very talented group of players and they obviously have high expectations and so do I. This group has championship aspirations and I couldn't be happier to join them on their run to bring a Buckland Cup back to Oakville.”
Filice will wear #25 when he first dresses for the Blades on Friday against the Orangeville Flyers at 7:30 PM at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
Sampson, 19, was an affiliated player with Oakville for two years before joining the Blades full-time in 2015-2016. A product of the Oakville Rangers Midget AAA team, Sampson recorded four goals and 34 points in 91 games over four years, two of the being full-time duty.
Oakville also announced that they had released defenseman Owen Kipke. The Blades would like to wish Kipke and Sampson the best of luck and are looking for many great battles during the rest of their OJHL careers!