There were no lack of doubters circulating around Sudbury Arena Friday night, insisting that GM Rob Papineau would not make the kind of trade that many who follow the Sudbury Wolves franchise closely felt that he should.

To be clear, for as much as the team has played better in the past six weeks or so, a 5-2 loss on Sunday versus the North Bay Battalion following a 4-1 setback versus the Barrie Colts on Thursday (with a 6-2 home ice win over North Bay on Friday squeezed between the two) reaffirmed what many have maintained since the team broke camp in September.

Even with their goaltending situation solidified, the Wolves are likely to battle it out for the eighth and final playoff (perhaps 7th place, at best) and are unlikely to proceed beyond round one of the playoffs.

Most would agree that an entertaining first round series that is highlighted by a handful of competitive games, with Sudbury extending their heavily favoured opponents to five or six games would constitute a positive experience for the large segment of this team eligible to return now next year.

That number only grew larger on Monday as the Wolves announced the trade of veterans Nathan Villeneuve and local product Alex Pharand to the Windsor Spitfires in return for 17 year-old forward Jean-Christoph Lemieux and a total of eight draft picks.

Picks are as follows: 2nd Round - Ottawa 2027; Windsor 2028 - 3rd Round - Peterborough 2026; Oshawa 2028; Windsor 2028 - as well as a Windsor 4th (2029) and two fifths (2028 & 2029).

Lemieux was a second round pick of the Spitfires in 2024 and has appeared in both the U17 WHC (2024) and Hlinka Gretzky Cup (2025). A 5'11" native of Ottawa, Lemieux has recorded 18 points (10G-8A) in 33 games this year after kicking off his OHL career with 19 points in 46 games in 2024-2025.

In dealing the team captain (Villeneuve) and a fellow former 1st round pick (Pharand), the Wolves part company with two of their top three scorers, with only OHL leader Kieron Walton (52 pts in 32 games) still on hand for now.

The Wolves also confirmed on Monday the signing of Slovakian forward Adam Nemec (2nd round - 96th overall - 2024 CHL Import Draft), fresh off his appearance at the World Juniors in Minnesota.

Nemec (1G + 4A) and Team Slovakia / Sudbury Wolves teammate Jan Chovan (one goal) will make their way back to Sudbury as the Wolves prepare for a busy stretch that sees the team travel to Sault Ste Marie on Wednesday before hosting the Niagara Ice Dogs (Friday) and Ottawa 67's (Sunday) on the weekend.