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Two Owen Sound Attack skaters are getting their first taste of professional hockey now that their junior major season is over.
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Colby Barlow will soon join the Manitoba Moose, and Smith scored a goal in the first game against the San Diego Gulls last Saturday.
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With the Attack eliminated from the playoffs last week, players signed with National Hockey League clubs can be reassigned to professional teams, and other players like Smith are also eligible to sign amateur tryout (ATO) contracts. can get.
Both the Moose and Gulls of the American Hockey League are coming to the end of their regular seasons. The Manitoba Moose have five games remaining, while the Gulls will play seven more this year.
Neither team currently holds a playoff position.
Barlow, 19, is on track to score 40 goals per 50 games with the Attack this season after spending an extended period off the ice with a hip injury earlier this year. He had one goal and two assists in four playoff games.
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The Winnipeg Jets selected the 6-foot-1, 190-pound winger with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and signed him to an entry-level contract later that summer. The Manitoba Moose are the Jets' AHL affiliate.
The Manitoba Moose next play at home against the Iowa Wild on Saturday, April 13 at 2 p.m., which will mark Barlow's first professional hockey appearance.
Meanwhile, Smith appeared for the San Diego Gulls on Saturday and scored the Gulls' only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Tucson Roadrunners.
Smith drove to the net and scored while deflecting Judd Caufield's pass into the top corner behind former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound goaltender Matthew Villalta.
Smith, 19, is a top prospect for the Anaheim Ducks and was originally selected in the fourth round with the 97th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
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Since he was born in 2004, he will need overage status if he returns to Owen Sound next season, but his late birthday (November 6th) means the Anaheim Ducks have no choice but to trade him for an entry-level player. He could wait another year to sign a contract. .
NHL teams have two years to sign prospects drafted from the Canadian Hockey League, after which they must either re-enter the draft or become unrestricted free agents.
In the meantime, the 6-foot-6, 209-pound defenseman can sign an ATO with the Ducks' AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, for the remainder of the campaign.
Smith has a goal and four penalty minutes in two games against the Gulls.
Smith finished the 2023-24 season with nine goals and eight assists in 62 OHL games, adding one goal in four playoff games.
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