The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL have traded for Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Jonne Tammela. The Greyhounds acquired him from the Peterborough Petes for a conditional 15th round pick in the 2018 OHL Priority draft.
Tammela, a 2015 4th round draft pick by the Lightning, suffered a knee injury prior to the 2016-17 season. He missed the first half of the season before returning to play in just two games recording a goal. He re-aggravated the injured knee and has been out of the line-up since. He has spent this season with the Syracuse Crunch rehabilitating from his injury, but has not appeared in a game.
This trade may not mean anything, given the very low conditional draft pick, but it could signal that Tammela is close to returning. With Tammela missing basically all of last season and the first half of this season, closing out the season in the OHL would be the best for him and his development.
In the Greyhounds, he would be going to one of the best teams in the three CHL leagues, joining fellow Lightning prospects Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh. With this team being a power house, it’s very conceivable they could be going to the Memorial Cup.
Tammela is projected to be a pesky, bottom-six winger. He excels at getting under other players skin and fights hard for pucks. His injury has slowed down his development and growth as a player and it would be good to see him back in games this season.
