Coach and general manager Kent Lewis was in mid-season form when he pulled the trigger on a four-player trade during Powell River Kings hockey club main camp.
While new recruits with the Kings battled returning veterans for starting jobs, Lewis dealt Jordan Paddock (93), Matthew Dupont (93) and Landon Robin (94) to the Winnipeg Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for highly regarded centre Kurt Keats (95).
Coaching staff is very excited for the opportunity to land a player with Keat’s credentials and potential.
The young centreman is from Winnipeg and already has two years of Junior A with the Blues. He was a teammate of the three Kings who went to the World Junior A Challenge last year so there is some familiarity already and positive feedback with regard to his skill and energy.
He is 5’8”, 170 pounds and scored 25 goals and 71 assists in 106 games but more than his stats as a 16- and 17-year-old he brings an energetic style of hockey to the Kings reminiscent of a recent graduate.
“He’s small, tenacious, works very hard,” said assistant coach Chad van Diemen, “It’s tough to compare him to Chad Niddery but he works like that and the fans are really going to like him.”
He added, “Just what he brings every day, he doesn’t stop working. He hits, he kills penalties and he’s got all that offensive ability and a good piece that we’re hoping to have for two years.”
The timing of the trade certainly got the attention of the players and veteran Matt Scarth welcomes any move that improves the Kings.
“You expect trades on or near the January 10 deadline,” he said, “but we need to get the team set with a full line-up with the depth of the team. I think we added a great centreman with Kurt coming in to us and just added a piece of the puzzle that we needed.”
Asked what the early move means to the players, he said, “This year there’s no holding back. The coaches and players look at last year like a black stain on the history. We needed a top centreman and we got that. Obviously when you get a top player like Kurt, you lose some solid players as well but this trade is a very positive one for us.”
To match the aggressive move off the ice, Kings have some good young talent coming in. In addition to skilled youngsters like Jarid Lukosevicius (95), Ryan Scarfo, (94), Luke McCaw (96) and Jeremy Leclerc (95) they added the sandpaper Lewis wants on the team this year.
Lucas Grayson (94) is a former Everett Silvertip of the Western Hockey League who promises to keep the other teams honest when it comes to the rough stuff.
Grayson is a 6’0” 200 pound winger who racked up 202 penalty minutes in 76 games with the Silvertips but also showed his nose for the net with a couple of goals in the scrimmages.
Kings were put through their paces and played three intersquad games last week after which coaches seemed very pleased.
“Guys have come back in pretty good shape,” van Diemen said. “We’ve been pretty open with the guys about what we want and for the most part we’ve been impressed.”
Kings had a bit of a wrench thrown into their exhibition schedule when Surrey pulled out of their Sunday afternoon game leaving the Kings to play Coquitlam on Friday, August 30 and Langley on Saturday, August 31.
