Blue-liner Cam Allen didn’t much like the London Knights. Then they traded for him

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Cam Allen’s jaundiced view on the green and gold has changed in a hurry.

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“If you asked me a year ago if I was going to be a London Knight, I would have told you no, probably,” the former Guelph Storm defenceman said. “As the trade talks went on (the past few weeks) and I was evaluating what team I would best fit in with, I thought London was an extremely high-class organization and a place I wanted to be.

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“When it came down to it, it was the only team I wanted to go to.”

Allen helped immediately with a three-point outing in a road win at Erie Wednesday. That star turn happened a few hours after catching the Knights bus at a Tim Hortons near Woodstock and meeting his new teammates on the way to the game.

“The guys have been so welcoming and knowing some from before helped, too,” the 19-year-old from Toronto said. “It’s tough being bitter rivals for so many years and then switching sides. From another team’s perspective, all you can do is hate on the Knights because they’re always winning. You have to find some corrupt excuse for it. It’s a hard team to like, but I get it. It’s just the style they play with and the confidence they have.

“I felt like I had support all over the ice. Guys want the puck and to make plays with it. It’s really easy. It almost feels like you’re playing a little bit of pro hockey.”

The Knights have coveted Allen, who makes his home debut Friday against Sarnia, since his minor hockey days. He was the third overall pick in the 2021 OHL draft – the one that brought Denver Barkey, Easton Cowan, Oliver Bonk and, now, Blake Montgomery to London – and utilizes the skating skill, agility and puck movement the club cherishes for its system.

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There aren’t a lot of rearguards on the OHL trade market at the moment and the Storm were willing to make the deal now without London having to give up first-round rookie forward Logan Hawery. The price ended up being promising 17-year-old d-man Noah Jenken and seven draft picks.

“Cam fit what we were looking for,” Knights associate GM Rob Simpson said. “We never want to give up a good, young D like Noah, but we understood we had to give up something to get a player like Cam. We’ve been of that mindset the longer you can have with the player in your system and get them in earlier, then we will do that.

“It gives them more time to get comfortable with the roster, who’s in the locker room every day and for the coaching staff to get to know the player, too.”

Allen was picked to become a franchise cornerstone for the Storm. He was the OHL’s rookie of the year in 2021-22 and captained Hockey Canada’s under-18 and Hlinka Gretzky teams before signing with Washington, who took him in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL draft.

“In my draft year, I dealt with injuries and had a tough second OHL year in general,” he said. “I had to get the (shoulder) surgery done at the start of (2023-24) so I missed a lot of time. This is my first season back really since my first year. It’s been really tough but I think I’ve handled it well and continued to improve.

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“I didn’t roll over and call it quits. I came out on the other side of it a lot better than I was.”

The Knights needed a centre to play with Barkey and Cowan in 2023 and acquired the outstanding Ryan Winterton. They brought in Michael Simpson to be their No. 1 goaltender last season and he delivered.

Now, Allen gives London a shot at replicating the success of a blue line that had to replace Isaiah George and Jackson Edward this season.

“It’s really special,” he said. “We’ve got an awesome D corps. I can only imagine when (Oliver) Bonk and (Sam) Dickinson get back from world juniors. You can never complain when you’re on a first-place team and have a legitimate chance of going to the Memorial Cup and winning it.

“It’s nice to get a couple points in the first game but I’m more focused on playing a hard two-way game, keeping pucks out of my net and making a good first pass. In the end, it’s finding what the team needs and filling that role.”

rpyette@postmedia.com

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