LONDON, Ont. - The London Knights have made a huge splash on the eve of the Ontario Hockey League trade deadline.
The team has acquired star forward John Tavares from the Oshawa Generals.
Tavares's agent Pat Brisson confirmed the deal. Other details of the trade weren't immediately available.
"In the end it became obvious to us that it made more sense for Oshawa to move John to another team," Brisson said Thursday. "We are glad that it was done in a professional matter by (Generals GM and coach) Chris DePiero.
"After being in Oshawa for three and half years, it's not an easy departure for John."
It's not known when he will make his Knights debut but if he's in the lineup Friday, he'll face his former Oshawa teammates as London hosts the Generals.
Tavares is favoured to be chosen first overall in the 2009 NHL draft. The 18-year-old forward had 26 goals and 28 assists in 32 games for the Generals this season.
He also helped Canada win its fifth straight gold medal at the world junior hockey championship and was named tournament MVP after putting up 15 points.
The Oakville, Ont., native was the Canadian Hockey League's MVP at 16 when he scored 72 goals for Oshawa. That erased Wayne Gretzky's record of 70 goals scored by a 16-year-old.
Tavares had to waive a no-trade clause for the deal to be made. When he returned to Toronto on Tuesday, he was asked about the possibility of being dealt to another club.
"Oshawa's been my home for three-and-a-half years and my heart will always be there," Tavares said earlier this week. "No matter whether I get moved or not it's been a big part of my life and a stepping stone in my career and they gave me the opportunity to play hockey in the OHL.
"I'm very thankful for that."
The OHL's trade deadline is Friday. The league instituted a trade freeze on Canadian junior team players from Dec. 11, which was the start of selection camp, until the world junior tournament concluded Monday.
That move came in response to goaltender Steve Mason finding out his rights were traded from London to Kitchener the same day he was to play in the tournament semifinal last year.
Tavares had 40 goals and 78 assists in 59 games for the Generals in 2007-08. In its first set of rankings this season, NHL Central Scouting made the six-foot, 203-pound forward the No. 1 prospect in the OHL for the NHL draft.
His main competition to be No. 1 comes from six-foot-six, 220-pound Swedish defenceman Victor Hedman, who plays for Modo in the Swedish Elite League.
While not the fastest skater in his draft class, Tavares has superior puck handling skills and finish around the net. He turned 18 on Sept. 20 -- five days too late to be drafted in 2008.
Tavares has twice played for Canada's under-20 men's team. He had four goals and an assist in seven games at the 2008 world junior hockey championship at age 17.
He was 16 when he had a power-play goal and eight assists in an eight-game series against Russia in 2007.
Tavares was allowed to play in the OHL as a 15-year-old under a newly created "exceptional player clause" and was named the CHL's top rookie of 2005-06, when he had 45 goals and 32 assists in 65 games.
His former agent approached NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and the NHL Players' Association during the summer of 2007 about the possibility of creating a similar clause that would allow Tavares into the 2008 NHL draft, but did not pursue it.
