The Sudbury Wolves reduced their number of overage players (20-year-olds) down to three after trading Derek Schoenmakers to the Windsor Spitfires. In return, the Wolves acquired a third-round draft selection in 2013, as well as a second-round draft selection in 2016.  

The big right-winger was a solid forward for the Wolves since being acquired from the Mississauga Majors back in January, a press release stated.

The overage players remaining with the club are:  Forward Michael Kantor, defenceman Charlie Dodero and goaltender Joel Vienneau.
 
“We wanted to get down to our maximum number of overage players as quickly as possible and there was a good interest in Derek from other teams,” Wolves’ GM Blaine Smith said. “We feel we received fair value in draft selections as we now have a couple of top draft choices to consider for our team’s future.

“Derek is an excellent hockey player and a fine young man and he will be missed in our locker room," Smith added. "He understands that he will be a go-to guy in Windsor and this is a very good situation for him to conclude his OHL career this season. Making this move also saves us from having to rotate our extra overage players in and out of our lineup, which would not be practical to do in the long-term.”
 
The vacancy created by Schoenmakers’ departure will provide other Wolves’ forwards with an opportunity to move up on the Wolves’ team roster. 

“It will now be up to our remaining forwards in camp to prove that they can handle the added responsibility that comes with being a top six forward,” Smith said.
 
The Wolves had five overagers make the trip to Russia and also to open Main Camp on Saturday.  Defenceman Ryan Hanes was also a finalist for the three overage positions on the team. The Ottawa native returned home on Monday to await reassignment by the club.   

“Ryan is a quality defenceman and a quality individual and we are going to miss his leadership and solid play on our blueline," Smith said. “It is unfortunate that we cannot keep all of our overage players because they are all solid OHL players. We hope to find Ryan a new OHL home very soon.”
 
The Wolves’ pre-season roster is now down to 27 players, including: 15 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders. The Wolves will travel to Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday before returning home on Friday night to host the Kitchener Rangers in exhibition play. Game time at the Sudbury Arena on Friday night is 7:30 p.m.