After trading away Roger Tagoona and releasing Brandon Halbgewachs, the Bruins lost another forward on Wednesday with left winger Austin Daae leaving to join the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders.
Daae, 19, was tied for the team scoring lead with five goals and 16 points, and he seemed to be hitting his stride the last little while.
The Raiders, currently sitting first in the Eastern Conference and third overall in the WHL, are losing several players to the world under-17 championship and other tournaments. They are bringing in some Junior A players to fill in.
My own opinion is that this is puzzling. It's extremely rare for 19-year-olds to come up to the WHL and play in any kind of core role. Daae was a depth forward with the last-place Prince George Cougars last year, so I'm surprised that a team like the Raiders would be interested. Daae was playing a major role with the Bruins lately, seeing lots of ice time and getting better as the season progressed.
We'll see if this is a temporary callup or if he is sent back down after the Raiders get their regulars back.
I haven't had a chance to blog lately, so here's a rundown of the Bruins' other moves in the last week or so.
Last week, they acquired 19-year-old defenceman Leighton McLachlan from the AJHL's Drumheller Dragons for futures. McLachlan adds some size, at 6'1", 201 pounds. The Edmonton native was pointless in 19 games this year between Fort Mac and Drumheller.
McLachlan made his Bruins debut last night in a 4-1 loss to Yorkton. Bruins coach Keith Cassidy said he was "steady, physical, moved the puck well."
On Monday, the team traded right winger Roger Tagoona to the MJHL's OCN Blizzard for futures. Tagoona, 20, joins his third team this season. He lasted only a month with the Bruins, after coming in from the North Stars on Oct. 25.
Tagoona struggled offensively with the Bruins, with a goal and an assist in nine games.
The Bruins also shipped 1994 F Ben Williams to the Virden Oil Capitals. Williams struggled here, being held pointless in eight games, and he just didn't show what the team was hoping to see from him.
Released earlier this week was 1994 F Brandon Halbgewachs. He was one of several rookies who have been in and out of the lineup. In 11 games, he had a goal and an assist. I know he was not happy about spending time in the press box.
So here's what the Bruins' 23-man roster looks like right now:
Forwards (13): Tyler Paslawski, Hudson Morrison, Darcy DeRoose, Tanner Froese, Cole Olson, Nick Weiss, Matt Brykaliuk, Wyatt Garagan, Taylor Reich, Dustin Jesseau, Dayton Picard, Brett Dumaine, Calder Neufeld (injured).
Dumaine is a natural d-man, but we'll likely see him up front for a while now, with only 11 other healthy guys, plus the addition of McLachlan on the back end.
Defencemen (7): Tyler Kauk, Austin Yano, Tyler Poskus, Zach Douglas, Connor Milligan, Dave Robertson, Leighton McLachlan.
Goalies (3): Curtis Martinu, Travis Pelletier, Steven Glass (injured).
