| Subject: Cleaning the Silo |
Author:
Saskatoon Sun
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Date Posted: 21:21:51 09/14/02 Sat
With the Calgary Cougars now crowned as Hoser Cup champs, the GWHL trade ban has officially been lifted. And as was rumored in the past couple of weeks, the Saskatoon Silos' management has begun the process of remaking the club.
Two deals have been completed by Silos' GM Ken McKenna, with both trades having been made with Western Conference teams. The first deal sent LW Rod Brind 'Amour to the Whitehorse Warriors, in exchange for defenseman Robyn Regehr and two 2003 2nd round draft picks (B.C. and London). This trade certainly helps Saskatoon in acquiring young talent for the club, but they had to give up a reliable veteran to do it.
"Trading Rod was a difficult decision, since it will weaken our club for the near term" said the GM. "But acquiring a good, young d-man like Robyn, plus getting two of the better picks in the 2nd round of this year's draft, was hard to pass up."
The second trade brought in defenseman Derian Hatcher from the Yellowknife Blades. In return, the Silos surrendered LW Lubos Bartecko, who was a late-season acquisition, and defensive prospect Filip Novak. This move seemed to run counter to the youth movement Saskatoon seems to be heading towards, but adding Hatcher should help the defense.
"Derian Hatcher will help make our defensive unit stronger, so I felt we could afford to part with a couple younger players. Bartecko was a guy that intrigued us late in the season, and he performed well for our farm club in Prince Albert. We like Novak's potential, but with Barrett Jackman and Anton Volchenkov in the system, plus the acquisition of Regehr, we felt we could part with Filip."
The GM is still trying to acquire another '03 draft pick, and possibly some help on the wings. "We could move Marty (Straka) to left wing, since he has played that position before" theorized the Saskatoon GM. "But we'll still need to add some talent, because we stand to lose some in free agency."
The Silos are likely to say goodbye to veteran free agents Gary Roberts, Pat Verbeek and Sylvain Lefebvre. And, although the GM wouldn't confirm it, the team may also release players like Sergei Berezin and Jeff Hackett, whose contracts and lack of performance don't merit their being on the payroll. These moves should free up more money for the Silos to use in the free agent derby.
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