Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Sports
Fresh off of helping the Junior A Cobourg Cougars to an RBC Cup championship in the spring, Ryan Casselman is coming back to his hometown Napanee Raiders.
The 19-year-old, who first hinted a return was possible in an interview following the RBC Cup victory, made it official last week, returning to the Raiders in exchange for a player development fee. He skated with his hometown club for one season in 2013-14, earning the Empire B League’s rookie of the year honours, scoring 24 goals while adding 23 assists.
“It means a lot to have a player like Ryan come back to our program,” Raider head coach Mike Hartwick said in a release. “He is a highly skilled player who works extremely hard and has a fantastic character.”
Casselman brings with him a pedigree for coming through in the clutch, as he scored the tying goal with just 1:39 left in regulation to help set up Cobourg’s 3-2 overtime win the the RBC Cup finals back in May. That was the cap of a 73-point season, earning him the nod as the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s most improved player.
“I’m going to bring a hard-working attitude to the rink every day and, hopefully my scoring ability will continue to be my strong suit with the Raiders,” Casselman told the team’s website. “My expectation this year is nothing less than a Schmalz Cup because the coaching staff is putting together a team together to do exactly that. I’m very much looking forward to getting things started in August with my teammates.”
The Raiders weren’t done there, working out a deal with the Kingston Voyageurs to acquire defenseman Reed Kekewich.
The 20-year-old Kingston native had one goal, 15 assists and 191 penalty minutes over 67 regular season games. He served as an alternative captain with Kingston as well.
He described himself to the team’s website as a defensive defenseman with a great first pass. As evident by his penalty minutes, he has a knack for getting under his opponent’s skin. Should he continue that style of play it would give the Raiders a bit of a different look heading into next year, as last year they accumulated 497 total penalty minutes, fifth among the six team league. The Port Hope Panthers meanwhile led the way with 863.
The Raiders have been busy overhauling their roster over the last month, with main camp still a couple of weeks away. Earlier this month they announced they had acquired former Empire B League rookie of the year Austin Labelle, whom the team acquired from the Wellington Dukes in exchange for a player development fee.
The 19-year-old left winger had five goals and 13 assists in 49 games with the Dukes last year.
“Austin will help our team immensely,” Hartwick said in a release issued by the team. “He is a player that can play in all situations at any time of the game. He’s a special player who will be difficult to play against and we believe he will be a leader that will be depended on throughout the year, especially in the playoffs.”
Labelle last skated at the Junior C level during the 2014-15 season, when he scored 16 goals with 27 assists as a member of the Picton Pirates on his way to being named the league’s rookie of the year.
Napanee also reached deals to bring Justynn Steven, Brodie Maracle and Curtis Marrison back for another season.
Steven led the club with 25 goals last season while serving as the team’s alternate captain. The 19-year-old Kingston native will return for his third year with the Raiders. Prior to Napanee he was a member of the Dukes as well as wearing the ‘C’ while a member of the Quinte Red Devils.
Maracle, who was a member of his hometown Deseronto Storm before coming to Napanee, was an offensive force for the Raiders in last year’s playoffs, leading the team with 10 points in nine games. In the regular season he had 16 goals with 21 assists. He too spent time with the Dukes prior to arriving in Napanee.
Marrison returns to give the Raiders a scoring threat on their blueline, as he was the team’s top scoring defenseman with seven goals and 22 assists in 37 games, placing him third among the league leaders.
The Raiders are expected to hold their main camp late next month as they continue to prepare for their 29th season. They’re coming off a 26-12-1 finish last year which saw them advance to the league finals before losing to the Port Hope Panthers. The schedule for the upcoming season has yet to be finalized.