After a start that hasn’t lived up to expectations, the Lethbridge Hurricanes decided to shake things up on Tuesday. The team traded top point producer Brayden Burke to the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for forward Ryan Bowen, a second round draft pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, and a conditional draft pick in 2019.
Burke, the Hurricanes’ most dynamic offensive weapon, put up 109 points in 72 games last season. This year, his production is impressive again. He leads the team in points with 23 (four goals, 19 assists) in 15 games.
WATCH: Brayden Burke lighting up the WHL
Bowen, a 17-year-old forward has put up 12 points in 18 games this season with the Warriors. In 90 career WHL games with Moose Jaw Bowen has registered 27 points.
Through a statement from the Hurricanes, General Manager Peter Anholt had this to say about the trade:
“There’s a number of things that have happened over an extended period of time and we just felt it was time to make a move and kind of shake up our group. We know Burke is a good player but it was time for us to move on,” Anholt said. “We’re real pleased with adding Ryan Bowen who is a big kid with real good skill and has some upside for us and along with a couple draft picks too.”
Anholt took over as head coach of the Hurricanes in late October while Brent Kisio was away at the U-17 Hockey Challenge and mentioned at the time that he would be looking very closely at the roster.
“I look forward to learning more about our team, and then we can make some decisions going forward,” Anholt said. “Good, bad, hard, or easy, we’ll see.”
It appears trading Burke was a part of those decisions.
The Hurricanes are (2-6-1-1) in their last 10 games, and don’t play again until Sunday, when they host the Saskatoon Blades.
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