One of the toughest decisions for OHL sellers at the trade deadline is always navigating the pros and cons of the overage player situation.

While keeping any of these soon-to-be junior hockey graduates seems counter-productive to the long-term goals of a franchise, taking away valuable ice time from the youngsters, ridding yourself of one and all can leave a leadership void in the room, leaving those who are far closer to the start than the end of their CHL careers with precious little in the way of role models who have been there before.

While the Sudbury Wolves traded 21 year-old Alex Pharand as part of the Nathan Villeneuve deal with the Windsor Spitfires, the team opted to retain both Chase Coughlan and Gavin Ewles in the fold for the balance of the 2025-2026 campaign.

On Friday night, both 20 year-olds were central to a critical 4-1 win over the Brampton Steelheads that increased the local juniors lead in the race for eighth place to five points.

After rookie Brayden Bennett opened the scoring with the only goal of period one, with Coughlan drawing an assist, the latter proceeded to double the advantage for the homeside, netting his 13th goal of the year just 32 seconds into period two.

That would stand as the game-winner as Jan Chovan book-ended a tally from Mason Roy, the only puck that would elude Sudbury netminder Paolo Frasca.

Frasca registered 29 saves and Ewles finished the contest with an assist and a +2 rating as the Wolves now prepare for a Family Day afternoon battle with the Niagara Ice Dogs in Sudbury.