PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League have traded away the rights to Leon Draisaitl. The club announced Tuesday Draisaitl was sent to the Kelowna Rockets for players and draft picks.
“Under the circumstances we are very pleased to announce that we have acquired draft assets and two players that will help our team through the rest of the season and in the future,” said Raiders general manager Bruno Campese.
The trade was expected after the Edmonton Oilers assigned Draisaitl, the third overall pick in the 2014 NHL draft, back to the Raiders on Jan. 4, 2015. In 37 games with the Oilers this season, Draisaitl had 2 goals and 7 assists.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers assign Leon Draisaitl to CHL
Coming to the Raiders are two 18-year-olds, forward Kris Schmidli and defenceman Dalton Yorke. The Raiders also receive the Rockets first-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft, a fourth-round pick in 2016 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2016 or 2017.
Schmidli, an import from Switzerland, has 14 goals and 38 assists in 101 games with the Rockets and recently played for his country at the world junior championships. Yorke has tallied 6 assists in 66 games to go along with 106 penalty minutes.
READ MORE: Schmidli skates to 2015 World Junior appearance
Campese said both players bring different abilities to the rink, with Schmidli’s skills fitting in with how he wants the team to play and Yorke bringing a physical presence.
It’s the second blockbuster trade between the two clubs this season. In December, the Raiders traded defenceman Josh Morrissey, a first-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets, and forward Gage Quinney to the Rockets for Austin Glover, Jesse Lees and two draft picks – one in 2016 and the other in 2017.
The Raiders made another move, sending import defenseman Tomas Andrlik to the Prince George Cougars for a twelfth-round draft pick in 2015. The move was necessitated by the acquisition of Schmidli.
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