SASKATOON – The Saskatoon Blades have made what they are calling a blockbuster trade.
The Blades have sent last year’s top scorer Nikita Scherbak, a first round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, to the Everett Silvertips for goaltender Nik Amundrud, a 2015 first-round draft pick and a 2016 second-round pick.
The club also announced the release of 20-year-old goalie Troy Trombley.
“The immediate help in net in the form of a high-end like goalie Nik Amundrud, plus first and second round draft picks, is a trade that was too good to pass up,” said managing partner Colin Priestner.
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Amundrud, who is from Melfort, posted a 0.51 goals-against average and a .981 save percentage in the pre-season and only gave up one goal in four appearances.
General manager and head coach Bob Woods said the play of Amil Krupic and Nikita Soshnin forced the Blades to listen to offers for Scherbak.
League rules prevent us from trading the Euros we just drafted so we would have to outright release one of them to get down to two imports if we were going to keep Scherbak,” said Woods.
“The only option we had in terms of realizing any kind of return was trading him.”
Amundrud should see a lot of time in net.
“We scouted Nik in a pre-season tournament and he is a big, technically sound goalie. He is going to have every opportunity to play a lot of games here in Saskatoon,” said Woods.
“Getting a 1997 goalie is a key piece in our rebuild, as is having Nikita Soshnin for potentially four more years,” added Priestner.
Priestner also said getting the first-round pick will help position the club in building a championship team. The Blades now have two picks in the first round of the 2015 draft.
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