Linus Funck Trade Analysis
It's already well known that Oshawa's defensive corps is weaker than most others in the OHL. Well, just before the season started, the Generals made an attempt to improve that, acquiring Linus Funck, a 6-foot-3, right-shot defenceman and a former fourth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL Draft. In exchange for his services, they traded a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third-round pick. It's definitely a trade that caught a lot of people by surprise, myself included, not many expected Oshawa to spend draft picks on a 19-year-old defenceman in the middle of a rebuild/retool process. Regardless, Funck will help Oshawa this season, but will he be good enough to help them get back into the playoffs? In this article, I'll cover how this trade strengthens the Generals, what it could mean for potential line combinations, and my take on the front office's reasoning behind making it.
Linus Funck is an interesting player, style-wise. He's often credited for solid defensive play, using his long reach to disrupt plays and kill rushes, but he can also get caught flat-footed at times, with end-to-end speed and edgework being areas that still need work. Regardless, he's a great defence-first, shutdown, right-shot defenceman. Offensively, he's definitely a pass-first player, but combined with his size and long reach, that's a great asset to have, especially as a secondary skill. Last season with London, Funck posted 22 points (18 assists) in 65 games with a plus-18 rating, ranking second on the team in plus-minus, behind only his defence partner, Caleb Mitchell. Funck now steps into a situation where he fills an obvious need on the back end, and adding those kinds of numbers to Oshawa's blueline without giving up a player off the current roster sounds great — and it's definitely welcome. But was it the right move?
Funck's fit on the ice looks great, but my concern is what it could lead to given Oshawa's current position. On one hand, this could help Oshawa become much more competitive this season and maybe even grab a playoff spot. On the other hand, there's a very real possibility this trade backfires, leaving Oshawa with two fewer picks in the first three rounds to use as this transition period continues. My guess is that the Generals want to maximize the opportunity in front of them with Rogowski playing his final OHL season. With promising young offensive talent already in place and a weaker blueline holding them back, improving the back end gives them a real chance to boost their competitiveness. The part I don't fully understand is that they seem to be working against themselves in how they're using their draft picks. If last season was just a one-off and this is meant to be a retooling year, that logic tracks — but then why did the Generals trade Owen Griffin this past offseason for four draft picks, Cruz Reznik, and Mark Pape in the first place? The second-round pick used in the Funck trade is actually the Guelph pick originally acquired in the Griffin trade — meaning you essentially turned Owen Griffin into Linus Funck, three remaining draft picks, Cruz Reznik, and Mark Pape. But in that case, why trade Griffin at all after he led Oshawa in points last season, especially if you were just going to flip one of the return picks for a 19-year-old a few months later? I like the young talent Oshawa has, and I even like the addition of Linus Funck, but giving up two solid draft picks to bring him in is somewhat confusing given the position they're in right now.
Ultimately, the uncertainty around the team's direction doesn't change who the player is, and in this case, Funck's defence-first, responsible style will be a huge addition for Oshawa — especially since he's a right-shot defenceman, while Oshawa's best defencemen are all left-handed. Lineup-wise, the Generals have a lot of different options for who to pair him with. They could go with a shutdown-style pairing alongside a guy like Leo Laschon or Brady Murnane, or even Brady Blaseg, who's also projected to be in the lineup as a defensive defenceman. Funck could also be paired with a smaller, offense-first defenceman — almost the complete opposite of his own play style — like Anthony Timmerman. Personally, I'd love to see how Timmerman and Funck's styles complement each other — on paper, it seems like a no-brainer to at least try. That said, pairing Funck with Murnane or Blaseg could be intriguing options too. Nonetheless, Oshawa now has real options on the back end, and with a great top-pairing right-shot defenceman in the fold, they've given themselves a real shot at being much more competitive this season. The defensive corps seems mostly figured out, with Laschon, Murnane, Timmerman, Funck, and Blaseg rounding out the top five, while either Luca DiPlacido, a young right-shot defenceman, or Tyler O'Toole, a tougher defensive option, fills in as the sixth defenceman — with the other serving as the seventh.
This trade makes the start of the season all the more important than it already was. With Rogowski and Laschon both headed to the NCAA next season, and now with a 19-year-old defenceman who could very likely be re-flipped at this season's trade deadline (or next year's), Oshawa is really banking on this season being a quick turnaround from last year's. I'd say the first 15-20 games will decide Oshawa's approach for the rest of the season — very similar to how things played out last year, when they traded Ben Danford just 15 games in. One underrated part of this deal, however, is that Funck doesn't have to shoulder all the defensive responsibility on the back end — as mentioned, guys like Laschon, Murnane, and Blaseg fill a similar role, just not quite at Funck's level. This deal will undoubtedly make Oshawa a better team and should help in their pursuit of being competitive again, with a real shot at the playoffs this season. My only real concern is the team's overall direction — it feels like they're doing a bit of buying and a bit of selling, waiting to see how things play out before fully committing to one path. While that approach can work, it's a bold stance to take, especially with Rogowski and Laschon both playing their final OHL seasons this year. So, to answer the question I posed earlier — was this the right move? Given the team's current position on paper, I don't believe so. I just don't think you should trade away an offensive talent like Owen Griffin if the goal is to be a playoff team. In my season preview, I predicted Oshawa would land somewhere around 25-30 wins, and while I do believe this trade helps push them closer to the 30-win range, I can't help but wonder how much better their odds would have been had they simply kept Griffin. That said, there's a real possibility the Generals benefit greatly from this trade and prove to be a playoff team — and if that happens, I'll gladly be wrong. Regardless, this will be a big season for Oshawa, and adding Funck gives them some much-needed insurance on the back end.
All statistics were found from hockeydb.com, with additional information gathered from eliteprospects.com and chl.ca. All evaluations and analysis are made by myself.
Written by: Jalen Perera- Satgunem