The Kelowna Rockets have made some earlier moves ahead of the WHL’s trade deadline on Friday.
On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the Kelowna management team made a pair of moves to free up space and strengthen the defence after the Rockets’ 1-0 loss to the Victoria Royals Wednesday.
General manager Bruce Hamilton’s first move was adding Regina Pats defenceman Tyson Feist, a move that will make an immediate impact with supporting injuries and the younger players.
“We’re just following up to what we’ve been saying all along, we need to acquire another defenceman,” said Hamilton.
“I think that the acquisition of Tyson will help us, he plays with a bite and brings a physical presence.”
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Hamilton then dealt recently-acquired forward Jadon Joseph for a future pick to the Tri-City Americans, a move that frees up a spot ahead of the WHL trade deadline and allows the Rockets to avoid surpassing the allowed amount of 20-year-old players.
“Just because of our situation with the overagers, having the four of them, and of course hitting the trade deadline tomorrow we had to get down to three,” said Hamilton.
“Jadon has been everything we were told he was going to be when we brought him in, it’s just unfortunate that we can’t have four 20-year-olds. We wish him the best moving forward.”
The Rockets have traded Jadon Joseph to the Tri-City Americans in exchange for a draft pick.
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) January 9, 2020
Details ➡️ https://t.co/0T129tXx3q pic.twitter.com/TsrruGpyL5
Joseph played in 16 games for the Rockets after being acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors in November. He had one goal, five assists and six penalty minutes with Kelowna.
Meanwhile, Feist is expected to join the Rockets ahead of their Friday night game against the Kamloops Blazers.
The 18-year-old defenceman has played in 32 games with the Pats this season.
With the pending WHL deadline, Hamilton and the Rockets are expected to make more moves and trades as the final spots for the roster are filled for the upcoming playoff run and the Memorial Cup.
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