SASKATOON – Not many teams would be willing to part ways with its top scoring defenceman, but the Blades did exactly that on Monday by shipping Brycen Martin and a conditional third round draft pick to the Everett Silvertips.
“It was too good of a deal to pass up on,” said Blades head coach and general manager, Bob Woods.
Brycen Martin elevated his stock this season by racking up 24 points in 25 games and the Blades believe they got a lot in return for the 19-year-old blueliner.
Saskatoon acquired a pair of 1999 born players in Jantzen Leslie and Ryan Anderson, plus a second round pick in 2017.
Leslie was drafted in the first round, 15th overall, in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft. The 16 year old defenseman from Lloydminster will practice with the Blades on Tuesday and could see game action as early as Wednesday.
“He’s big,” said Woods, “He plays mean, he’s a shutdown guy and we don’t really have that in our depth chart right now.”
The optics of trading away Saskatoon’s top point scoring d-man for a pair of 16 year olds and a draft pick suggest that this is a move for the future, but that’s not the case according the Woods. The team’s mission is still to make the playoffs.
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Saskatoon has a plethora of draft picks that Woods will not hesitate to trade away, if it means bringing in players that will help the team reach its goal.
“We’re going to use some of those picks to fill whatever holes that we feel we need to in order to be successful this year. Our goal is to make the playoffs and nothing has changed there.”
One player that won’t be with the Blades during their playoff push is goaltender Nik Amundrud. The Blades traded their backup netminder to the Calgary Hitmen for a sixth round pick in 2016.
Saskatoon has recalled goalie Jake Morrissey from the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. Morrissey posted a save percentage of 93.2 per cent in 11 WHL games last season with the Kelowna Rockets.
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