Hamilton Bulldogs trade captain Mackenzie Entwistle

Mackenzie Entwistle is leaving Hamilton.

The Hamilton Bulldogs captain has been traded to the Guelph Storm in return for two second-round draft picks in 2020, a third-round pick in 2020, a third-round pick in 2021 and a third-round pick in 2023.

Entwistle was part of Team Canada during the 2019 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

“Mackenzie is everything you could ask for in a Bulldog,” said Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer in a release. “For me, he represented the true meaning of a captain. He is a great leader who always handled himself with respect and humility while playing the game the right way, with a tenacity and intensity that ended up earning him a well-deserved spot on Team Canada in this year’s World Juniors.”

Andlauer continued: “I am so proud to have had Mackenzie as one of our original OHL Bulldogs and only wish him the very best the last few months of his OHL career and onto his next chapter with the Chicago Blackhawk organization.”

Entwistle was Hamilton’s second-round pick (40) in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection and was the third longest serving Bulldog, having played 192 games in the black-and-gold uniform, scoring 46 goals and adding 58 assists for 104 points.

He was a valuable member of the Bulldogs OHL Championship team in 2017-18, recording 17 points in the playoffs while adding a goal and an assist at the 2018 Memorial Cup in Regina.

“Since becoming a Bulldog after the 2015 OHL Priority Selection, Mackenzie has been tremendous for our organization, both on and off the ice,” said Bulldogs president and general manager Steve Staios in the release.

“His character, work ethic and determination have been nothing short of outstanding. It’s never easy to trade a player of this magnitude, especially given how much Mackenzie has done for the Hamilton community. I would like to thank Mackenzie and his family for four memorable years as a Hamilton Bulldog.”

Entwistle became the Bulldogs’ highest NHL-drafted player when he was selected by Arizona in the third round (69) of the 2017 NHL Draft before being traded to Chicago in the summer of 2018.