The Nelson Leafs acquired four players prior to Monday’s KIJHL trade deadline as the team looks ahead to the post-season.
Nelson sent defenceman Devin McNair and future considerations to the Sicamous Eagles in exchange for their captain, defenceman Kingsley Brockett.
The Leafs also acquired forwards Carter White and Wacey Easton-Keslick from the Kelowna Chiefs in exchange for a player development fee.
Then, less than an hour before the 4 p.m. deadline, Nelson traded for forward Presley Gordon in a three-team deal with the Fernie Ghostriders that sent Leafs forward Kevin Lawrance to the 100 Mile House Wranglers.
Brockett, a 19-year-old from Calgary, has three goals and five assists in 13 games this season. The six-foot-two, 180-pounder is essentially playing his rookie season in the league after suiting up just twice last year before the campaign was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trade takes Brockett from a last-place team to a first-place one. Nelson entered the trade deadline with a six-point lead atop the Neil Murdoch Division.
“Being on a team going for a playoff run is always exciting,” he said in a statement. “Playoff hockey is whole new game. It’s faster, more physical, and there’s more determination.”
McNair, also a rookie, had two goals and three assists in 21 games with the Leafs.
Gordon, a 20-year-old playing in his first full KIJHL season, has three goals and three assists in 26 games.
To get Gordon, the Leafs shipped Lawrance to Fernie, who in turn traded him to 100 Mile House. Lawrance had three goals and five assists in 21 games this season. In 57 career games with the Leafs, Lawrance tallied four goals and 11 assists.
White, 18, has one assist in 21 games, while Easton-Keslick, 18, had one goal in 19 games with Kelowna.
Meanwhile, Leafs goaltender Dylan Marshall was named one of the KIJHL’s three stars for the month of December.
Marshall won five-of-seven games for Nelson in December with a .939 save percentage and 1.42 goals-against average.
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