SPITFIRE SPOTLIGHT with CONOR WALTON
Veteran defenceman Conor Walton has proven himself to be a valuable player for the Windsor Spitfires ever since the Toronto native was acquired in a September, 2023 trade with Sudbury Wolves in exchange for fellow blueliner, Nick DeAngelis and prospect Trevor O’Dell In fact, the deal, which also saw Windsor acquire five draft picks, including a 2026 second rounder, has proven to be something of a steal for the Spits.
The hulking six-foot-five, 210lb. Walton returned for his third season with the Spitfires after attending the training camp of the Winnipeg Jets last fall as a free agent and has been one of the go-to guys on the Spits blueline on the team’s penalty-kill unit both during the 2025-2026 OHL regular season and now into the playoffs.
Walton, who turned 20 on April 22, spoke with In Play’s OHL Editor, John Humphrey, following the Spitfires 6-3 loss to the Kitchener Rangers on April 29 at the WFCU Centre and in an exclusive, revealed his desire to return to the Spitfires for an overage season this fall.
In Play! Magazine: You have been with the Spitfires now for about two and a half seasons and the team is probably playing better than ever. What do you attribute that to?
Conor Walton: “We have a very deep team and a lot of talented guys throughout the lineup. And then we became even better after the trade deadline (January 10) when we made a couple of big trades (picking up forwards Nathan Villeneuve and Alex Pharand from the Sudbury Wolves in exchange for forward JC Lemieux and draft picks and defenceman Jakub Fibigr from the Brampton Steelheads for defenceman Carter Hicks and draft picks). We’re all focused and we’ve all bought into our systems and that’s why we are playing so well.”
In Play! Magazine: Speaking of trades, there was speculation that your twin brother, Kieron (a high scoring forward with Sudbury) was possibly on his way to Windsor in a trade. How would you have liked that?
Conor Walton: “I was very happy and excited about the prospect of my bro coming to Windsor. I was on the phone with him a lot in the days leading up to the deadline. I did mention it to (Spits general manager) Bill Bowler that I was hoping that a deal could be made, but in the end, it was decided that we were going in a different direction. After the two trades that we did make, we really didn’t have enough left in the tank to make a deal to pick up my brother.”
Editor’s note: Kieron Walton was eventually traded to the Peterborough Petes
In Play! Magazine: You are also playing the best of your junior hockey career right now. How are you accomplishing that?
Conor Walton: “Thank you! I love play-off time. I love the intensity of the games and I love the physicality of everything being so intense”
In Play! Magazine: Did the battle with the Flint Firebirds for first place in the West Division during the last month or so of the regular season help prepare the team for the playoffs?
Conor Walton: “Absolutely! We wanted to win the division for the fourth time in the last five seasons for the organization. And playing so many important games down the stretch, especially against Flint, gave our guys, especially the young guys, a taste of the play-offs before the play-offs even started. And everything Came down to the last game of the regular season, it was so exciting.”
In Play! Magazine: For someone who hasn’t seen you play, what’s the strength of your game? What type of player are you?
Conor Walton: “I’m a shut-down d and I like to play with physicality without taking stupid penalties. My brother has the offensive skills in the family, and I didn’t inherit much of that. I’m not out there to score goals. I’m out there to stop the other team from scoring goals.”
In Play! Magazine: But you did score a big goal to give the Spits a come from behind 4-3 in the second game of the Western Conference semi-final against Flint. Talk about that.
Conor Walton: “That was exciting! The rebound came out to me and I jumped on it. That’s the way that I have scored most of the goals (nine) of my junior career. The WFCU Centre erupted when I scored.”
In Play! Magazine: Who have your defence partners been this past season and so far in the playoffs?
Conor Walton: “We rotated a lot during the regular season, and we’ve done some of that during the play-offs. I played during the regular season with (Andrew) Robinson, (Carson) Woodall, (Jonathon) Brown, (Wyatt) Kennedy and a little bit with (Jakub) Fibigr too.
If I’m not out there on the penalty-kill with Kennedy during the playoffs, I’m usually playing with Brownie.”
In Play! Magazine: After tonight’s loss, the Spitfires are now down 3-1 to the Kitchener Rangers in the Western Conference final. What’s the mindset of the team heading into game five in Kitchener on Friday night?
Conor Walton: “We’re not out of this yet. They came back against us last year in the play-offs after being down 3-0, so that showed that it can be done. We’ve been in every game so far and the two games in Kitchener have been one-goal games. We’re taking things one game at a time. We’re not done yet.”
In Play! Magazine: You are eligible to return as an overage player next season. A number of other overage candidates (Cole Davis, Woodall and Fbigir) on the team have already announced their plans on by-passing an OA season and are heading to college in the United States starting this fall. Do you want to come back to the Spitfires next season?
Conor Walton: “I absolutely do! I’ve always done well in school (Walton was the Spits’ Academic Player of the Year in 2024-2025) and that is something that I will look into doing later down the road. I wish everyone who is going to school next season nothing but the best but if they all came back, I would probably be traded away and I want to come back to Windsor again.
I’m hoping that maybe Cristo (Anthony Cristofaro) and I can return along with someone else and hope lead the way on the team next season.
It’s not going to be a total rebuild for us as we do have some talented guys returning. We are going to be competitive next season, and I want to be part of it.”