Leafs prospect traded to better team in the OHL

Toronto Maple Leafs center prospect Tyler Hopkins has been traded from the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs to the Guelph Storm in a deal Sunday morning.

Hopkins was selected by the Leafs in the third round of the 2025 NHL Draft just this past June and was having an improved year in Kingston before the trade took him across the province to Guelph and a much better situation.

The full trade -- in classic OHL fashion -- is Hopkins being sent to the Storm for a whole whack of draft picks that include a 2027 second-round pick, a 2026 third-rounder, and a couple late-round picks in future years.

Leafs prospect Hopkins could see offensive boost in Guelph

But what is most interesting about this deal is just what the Storm are trying to put together. Just last month, Guelph dealt captain and Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick Jett Luchanko to the Brantford Bulldogs to accrue some of their picks, so why do they suddenly seem to be trading away those future draft picks for another player?

The context that is very important is that Guelph was named the host of the 2027 Memorial Cup, giving the Storm automatic entry into the round-robin tournament. And instead of resting on their laurels and probably being embarrassed by the best teams across the CHL, they're looking to ice the best team possible when that tournament rolls around in May 2027.

Luchanko was obviously not going to be a part of that team as he's going to be taking on professional hockey full-time next season, but someone like 18-year-old Hopkins can be one of their top-six centers for at least the next 18 months and add to their young core of similarly aged players that they currently have.

While Hopkins was not in a great offensive situation in Kingston, as he led the team with 12 goals and 25 points and no player on the entire team was even a point per game, Guelph at least has some interesting young forwards like Jaakko Wycisk and Carter Stevens.

We'll see if Hopkins is really able to improve his overall game with this move, but by all accounts he already has a high work ethic and defensive responsibility that coaches will love. If he can add a very solid offensive toolkit to that, he could be a very intriguing young player in a few years.