The Estevan Bruins dropped a bit of a bombshell on Friday, trading star defenceman Tyler Kauk to the Flin Flon Bombers for 17-year-old defenceman Connor Vermeulen.
Kauk, who will turn 20 in September, has been the Bruins' No. 1 defenceman the last two years, breaking onto the scene with a tremendous rookie season and building on that last year.
The hard-hitting minute muncher posted 23 points in 58 games in 2011-12 and 22 points in 51 last year. ]
Bruins head coach and GM Chris Lewgood said the deal was initiated by Flin Flon, not Estevan.
"Since I took the job, there's been phone calls and emails on a daily basis inquiring about Tyler. A 20-year-old multi-faceted defenceman, they're hard to come by at his skill level. Some of the teams that are making a push right out of the gate for a title, teams that feel they're in contention, are looking for just that. That's the No. 1 puzzle piece that most of those teams are looking for and he fit the bill.
"We weren't actively shopping him around at all, it was a reactionary thing, and having so many offers out there, we began to kind of do inventory on our club and see where we could improve and use that as an avenue to bring in some assets. One thing we felt we were missing long-term was offensive defencemen and once Flin Flon showed us their immense interest in Tyler - there was a lot of interest but they were very aggressive - it was a no-brainer for us to go after Connor Vermeulen at that point."
Vermeulen, a 1996-born Saskatoon product, made his debut in Saskatchewan midget AAA last year and led the struggling Beardy's Blackhawks in scoring, with 16 goals and 28 points in 44 games, along with 66 penalty minutes.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound rearguard spent the 2011-12 season playing AA in Medicine Hat, where he had two goals and eight points in 34 games.
Lewgood said Vermeulen is a talented offensive blueliner who can play a physical game, but needs some work on his defensive play.
"Anybody who's going to score 16 goals at the AAA level has offensive ability, but for a defenceman to do it is exceptional, and a rookie defenceman nonetheless. We have to make sure to work with him and make sure he's ready to go on his defensive game. It's not quite as rounded, but I think his upside is there. He's also a big body and he's not afraid of the rough going. He looks after himself. Hard in the corners, hard to play against, which is sometimes what lacks with offensive defencemen. In his case, he doesn't have that problem."
With the team's top defenceman gone, Lewgood said he doesn't expect any particular player to replace Kauk, but feels the Bruins are deep enough on the back end to offset the loss.
"We don't expect Connor to come in and replace Tyler this year. That's one of the best defencemen in the league we're losing, and we understand that. But we feel we have the depth at defence right now that can help fill that void by committee, and I think that long-term it'll improve our team. Tyler was a one-year guy for us going into this coming season, and we potentially get, realistically, anywhere from two to four with Connor."
In particular, Lewgood said he's excited to see improvement from the likes of Brett Blatz, David Robertson and Zach Douglas, and also noted rookie defenceman Nolan Nicholas should make an impact.
Here's a look at the defencemen the Bruins have in the picture for next season (Nick Egan is not returning):
Brett Blatz
Leighton McLachlan
David Robertson
Zach Douglas
Nolan Nicholas
Connor Vermeulen
Carter Forsyth (possibly)
