Jamie Lewis Dealt to Windsor Spitfires

The North Bay Battalion’s hero from last season, Jamie Lewis, has a new team in the OHL for this upcoming season after the Battalion traded him. The Battalion flipped Lewis to the Windsor Spitfires in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2017, a seventh-round pick in 2016 and an 12th-round pick in 2019.

The Spitfires acquired Lewis to fill the void left by Brady Vail who signed a contract with the Toronto Marlies. The 20 year old forward, Lewis was acquired to provide veteran leadership, kill penalties and play a shutdown role with the Spitfires with Josh Ho-Sang on the shelf.

"“He’s the best overage out there. We needed this kid because we needed a veteran presence.” ~ Spitfires GM Warren Rychel"

Lewis though will not be able to make an impact right away with the Spitfires due to an eight game suspension he’s still serving for testing positive for methylhexaneamine back in May. He will be eligible to return to the line-up on October 23rd when the Spitfires play against the Plymouth Whalers.

He is the fourth member of the Spitfires under suspension with Cristiano DiGiacinto, Josh Ho-Sang and Ryan Moore also serving suspensions.

In three seasons with the Battalion Lewis never scored more than 11 goals, but with his leadership and solid defensive play he is a valuable asset to any team in the OHL.

"” He’s been well coached. He’ll kill penalties and can be that shutdown guy, but I expect he will score, too. He’ll put up bigger numbers.” ~Rychel"

In his OHL career of 95 regular-season games, Lewis has recorded 25 goals for 71 points adding 108 penalty minutes. Unhappy with his role with the Battalion, Lewis asked for a trade so that he could play a bigger role with another team in hopes of getting a little more attention. While he hasn’t scored much in the OHL throughout his career, he still classifies himself as a scorer and is hoping to get the chance to be one with the Spitfires.

Lewis was drafted in the third round by Niagara in 2010 after putting up 108 points in 83 games with the Toronto Young Nationals. Jamie Lewis is returning from a hip flexor injury but plans to start working out with the Spitfires on Wednesday.

The move to the Spitfires should help Lewis get back to his scoring roots and help the Spitfires with leadership. It seems like a win-win for both player and club.