‘We know him well’: London Knights acquire OHL Playoff MVP in trade with Peterborough

The London, Ont. goaltender Michael Simpson shut down his hometown team, as the Petes won the J Ross Robertson Cup for the first time since 2006. (Source: Peterborough Petes Twitter)

If you can’t beat him, acquire him.

The London Knights made a deal Tuesday to bring in OHL Playoff MVP Michael Simpson from the Peterborough Petes.

The London, Ont. local will finish out his OHL career at home, after eliminating the Knights in the OHL Championship series last season.

“With Michael we are bringing in a smart and mature goaltender with a lot of experience in our league,” says Mark Hunter, London Knights general manager.

“He has a history of winning and that’s what we want to continue to do this season, win hockey games. It’s the second year in a row that we have brought in a former London Jr Knight to our team (George Diaco in 2022-23), and we know that’s special for Michael and his family as he play’s his final year of Junior in his hometown.”

Simpson has been at Pittsburgh Penguins training camp, and is on his way to London.

“He’s a goalie we know well with being a local kid,” says Rob Simpson, Knights associate general manager.

“We feel he fills our position in net with him and Owen Willmore, two local guys which is interesting, so we couldn’t be happier.”

The Knights are currently ranked number one in the OHL rankings, and Simpson helps put the roster in a good position.

“We’re still waiting for a number of players from NHL camps, and we should have word (on) what our roster is going to look like on opening night. Now it’s just getting the people in and let our coaches go to work.”

The 20-year-old goaltender was 24-22-4 in 52 regular season games in 2022-23 with the Petes with a goals-against average of 2.73 and a save percentage of 0.914.

In the post season, including his series win over the Knights he went 16-7-0 with a goals-against average of 2.80 and a save percentage of 0.918.