Warren Foegele may appear overlooked on the Erie Otters' star-studded club. But the veteran winger has proved himself to be clutch.

Warren Foegele grinned sheepishly when asked about his consistently strong play during the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.

“I think the team has done unbelievably well,” he said, and that grin grew a bit larger with each word.

Foegele is comfortable with hanging around the fringes of the postseason spotlight, even while his contributions on the ice draw more eyes his way every night.

He has an interesting story to tell about his circuitous path to within four wins of a league championship, which began 400 miles away from the nearest OHL city in Durham, New Hampshire, but quickly found a home in Erie in his final amateur season.

But that’s not the Foegele way, which is a quiet, workmanlike approach that was evident in the days after the January 2 trade with Kingston. He was what Otters general manager Dave Brown called a “big name” and a “big add for us.” Yet, he joined a star-studded club that was the much-publicized frontrunner to acquire 2015 OHL and Memorial Cup champion Anthony Cirelli from Oshawa.

“There’s a lot of stars on this team. But you need a deep team to win championships,” Cirelli said. While waiting to learn his new OHL destination, Cirelli knew he would rather have his former Eastern Conference rival as a teammate than an opponent.

“We were line-matched against each other a lot,” Cirelli said. “He’s a hard player to play against. He’s fast. He’s strong, physical, takes the puck to the net, does all the little things right. Now that we’re on a line together, it’s a lot easier playing out there.”

Foegele accepts that he isn’t “one of those big, I guess, sexy names,” he said. “I just try to contribute and be a good team player,” which may not lead to many headlines, but recently led to his first NHL contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, and now has provided an opportunity to play for an OHL championship and, possibly, a Memorial Cup title. It wasn’t what he imagined two years ago, when he left the Toronto suburb of Markham, Ontario, to begin his NCAA Division I career at New Hampshire.

“It’s kind of crazy how things work out for a reason,” Foegele, 21, said.

His year-plus with the Wildcats didn’t unfold the way he envisioned, although he played in 39 games (5 goals, 12 assists, 17 points). The Frontenacs held his rights after choosing him in the seventh round (No. 135 overall) in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection.

He made an immediate impact, averaging barely under a point per game in the 2015-16 regular season (13 goals, 35 assists, 48 points in 52 games), and nearly a goal per game in the playoffs (8-2-10 in 9 games). He has maintained that steady production this season (35-46-81 in 78 regular-season and playoff games). Yet, that has been overlooked at times by other facets of his game.

Foegele is one of the league’s top faceoff specialists, and he’s equal parts reliable and dangerous on the penalty kill.

“He was a guy that fit a lot of our needs,” Brown said, which fit into his plan to fill any perceived weak links on the roster that could derail the club’s title hopes for a fourth straight year. So it’s no surprise Foegele has played a frontline role in the Otters’ success.

Still, he’s fine with quietly doing his job.

“This team has really come together,” he said, “That’s why it’s pretty exciting to be here.”

Victor Fernandes can be reached at 870-1716 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/GoErieHockey.