Saginaw gets blueliner Prout from Barrie

The Saginaw Spirit have completed a trade with the Barrie Colts, acquiring defenseman Dalton Prout for defensemen Alex Lepkowski and Matt Ashman.

The Spirit also sent the Colts a third round pick in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection, originally owned by Kitchener, and Saginaw’s third round pick in the 2014 selection.

Prout is a five-year veteran of the league and is on pace to eclipse his offensive production from a season ago having posted seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in 23 regular season games since his return from the Columbus Blue Jackets in October.

In his OHL career, Prout has notched 15 goals and 39 assists for 54 points in 255 regular season games and one goal and nine assists for 10 points in 34 post-season games.

The 1990-born Kingsville, Ont., native was drafted by the Blue Jackets in the sixth round (154th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Prout started his OHL career with the Sarnia Sting in the 2006-2007 season. He was traded to the Barrie Colts during the 2007-2008 season and was a key cog of the team’s defensive unit the last two seasons, including their Eastern Conference title run last year that saw him post seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points and a plus-26 in 63 regular season games and one goal and six assists for seven points and a plus-11 in 17 post-season games.

Photo courtesy Aaron Bell/OHL Images