Brayden Mayea blockbuster headlines flurry of pre-draft moves

Brayden Mayea (Photo: OLA)

Ontario Junior Lacrosse League clubs have certainly been busy in the days leading up to this Sunday’s OJLL Entry Draft at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre (TRAC) in Oakville, Ontario.

Last night, the St. Catharines Athletics and Oakville Buzz made a significant swap that saw the A’s send Brayden Mayea to the Buzz in exchange for a sizeable package of players & picks.

St. Catharines receives: Davis Longlade, Logan Fletcher, Ryan Petterson, Oakville’s 2023 1st round pick, plus Burlington’s 2023 1st round selection that the Buzz had picked up when they dealt former captain Matt Di Lella to the Chiefs during the 2019 OJLL season, just prior to the league’s trade deadline.

Mayea, a sophomore attackman at High Point University (8G in 3GP so far this season, including a 5-goal effort against now #1 ranked Maryland), was an important & impactful player for the A’s when the team captured last year’s Iroquois Trophy. The Buzz-bound forward finished with 11G & 13A over nine games for the Athletics during the 2021 OJLL season.

The Athletics made the move for their future, after having pretty decent success with their present.

St. Catharines Athletics, 2021 Iroquois Trophy (Photo: OLA)

“We’ve been working on it for about a week-and-half now,” A’s GM Jeff Chcoski told BP Sports Niagara. “Not that I wanted to trade him now — I always thought I would do it at the trade deadline — but so many teams were coming at us and the offers were so outrageous we had to take it."

“We talked to Mayea and it was one of the hardest conversations I had to have, but we have to do what’s right for the organization at this point and start loading up for next next two to three years down the road.”

St. Catharines, who beat Brampton 14-13 in last year’s Iroquois Trophy Final, graduated a ton of top talent after their triumphant 2021 run, including: Alex Simmons (Denver), Carter Zavitz (Princeton), Thomas Whitty (Rochester Knighthawks), Sam Leclair (Colorado Mammoth), Kealan Pilon (Queens of Charlotte/Halifax Thunderbirds draft pick), Mason Kamminga (Detroit Mercy), Owen Friesen (formerly Canisius/Halifax Thunderbirds draft pick), John Kit (Western/Philadelphia Wings draft pick) Felix Cote (formerly McGill), Aidan Buis (Brock) and goalie Cam MacLeod (Panther City Lacrosse Club).

Curtis Goddard, Oakville Buzz (Photo: OLA)

Oakville finished last year’s condensed OJLL regular season 3-5, but bring back a number of highly regarded players and up-and-coming talent like Yale-commits Will Sheehan & Eddie Qu, Curtis Goddard (Jacksonville), and goalie Aden Walsh, currently with the NLL’s Georgia Swarm after being taken 25th overall in the pro league’s 2021 draft.

Earlier this week, the Mimico Mountaineers acquired Carson Moyer (University of Utah) from the Brampton Excelsiors in exchange for Noah Beaulieu and the 20th overall pick in this weekend’s draft.

Speaking of the Excels, the club also recently announced changes to their staff, adding Chris Lowe as the team’s new GM, and NLL Hall of Fame goalie and current Knighthawks assistant coach, Pat O’Toole, as their next head coach. Mike Burke and Dylan Evans were also named new assistants.

In Mimico, DJ Clevely has been officially announced as the Mountaineers new GM. After stepping down from his head coaching duties, Clevely confirmed Dean George as the team’s new bench boss. Troy Cordingley, Jeff Ivey and Riley Hutchcraft will serve as assistant coaches.

Sean Gillies, Burlington Chiefs (Photo: OLA)

And finally, the Burlington Chiefs have announced that Sean Gillies has taken over as the club’s new general manager.

“I am honoured to have been given this opportunity in a league that is regarded as the best junior lacrosse league in the world,” Gillies said in a team statement. “I am very fortunate to have a great board and coaching staff that have many years of experience in both pro and junior at a player and executive level—many of whom are former teammates and coaches of mine. While we have had a lot of success in the last four seasons reaching milestones the club has not achieved before, we will continue to push until we win the Minto Cup.”

Burlington selects 7th overall in Sunday’s draft.

Earlier this month, the Orangeville Northmen, who own the 1st overall pick this weekend, named Nick Rose as their new GM. Clevely, Gillies and Rose - all named new OJLL GMs in recent weeks - won the 2008 Minto Cup together while playing for the Northmen.

Click here for complete results from the British Columbia Junior A. Lacrosse League & Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League drafts, plus click here for a complete rundown of this Sunday’s OJLL Entry Draft taking place at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre.