The Nelson Leafs used the KIJHL’s trade deadline to add what they hope will be some stability to their most uncertain position.
Nelson traded goaltender Frederick Larochelle to the Chilliwack Jets of the Pacific Junior Hockey League for future considerations on Wednesday. The Leafs then refilled the position by picking up goalie Karl Soneff of the La Ronge Ice Wolves from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League for futures.
What the Leafs get between the pipes has been unpredictable since the start of the season.
They started the campaign with Jackson McLeod and Todd Hiscock, then in November swapped out Hiscock in exchange for Larochelle who Nelson had acquired the previous season in a trade with the Kelowna Chiefs.
But with the Leafs still fourth in their division, general manager Lance Morey said it had become clear the team required a change in net.
“We realized that we needed to get a goaltender in here, because as good as we’ve been playing one of our deficits seems to be no consistency at the backend,” said Morey.
“In December, we upgraded on defence, which I think has helped us drastically. We’re starting to put the offence together, but we felt that we needed somebody who had the ability to maybe play two, three, four or five games in a row and be consistent every night.”
Soneff, a 19-year-old from Copenhagen, Denmark, will give Nelson plenty of size, another possible season after this one, and some unique experience in net.
He’s six-foot-three, 175 pounds and spent the first 10 games of the season with the Ice Wolves where he had a 4.62 goals-against average and .892 save percentage.
Soneff’s hockey career began in Denmark. He played minor hockey with teams in Herlev, a suburb of Copenhagen. Morey said the Leafs had been considering acquiring a La Ronge forward, but when that deal fell through Soneff’s name came up.
The trade, Morey said, was done in half a day.
“He’s a big goalie, and we watched lots of video and the way he played, he plays big. That’s what we needed.
“Some of the games we’ve lost to teams in our division that have good goaltenders, their size have played a part in some of the games. We outplayed them badly and don’t win. And now we feel that we brought in the best goalie in the division, and we hope that that will turn us into a threat come playoff time.”
Larochelle meanwhile joins Chilliwack who are currently third in their conference. He had a 3.00 GAA and .910 save percentage in 61 career regular season games in the KIJHL, 35 of which were with Nelson.
Morey said he expects Soneff to make his debut with the Leafs on Friday when Nelson hosts the Kimberley Dynamiters.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated Soneff was from Edmonton. Actually his father was from Edmonton, and Soneff was born in Copenhagen.