With 24 hours to go before the Canadian Junior Hockey League trade deadline, the Surrey Eagles have made a move in the crease.
On Thursday afternoon, the BC Hockey League team acquired the junior ‘A’ playing right of 1999-born goaltender Reece Klassen from the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons in exchange for future considerations.
This season, Klassen has been in the Western Hockey League with the Swift Current Broncos, but he was squeezed out of that team’s goaltending picture after they acquired a new netminder.
To make room for Klassen in Surrey, the Eagles moved backup goaltender Cal Schell to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers, in exchange for future considerations.
The Canadian Junior Hockey League’s roster deadline – after which no trades are permitted – is Friday at 4 p.m. Teams must be under the 23-player limit by that time.
The 20-year-old Klassen has three seasons of major-junior hockey under his belt. In addition to his time in Swift Current, he has also played for the Spokane Chiefs and Lethbridge Hurricanes. In nine games this season, he posted a save percentage of .878 for a Broncos team that is in last place in the WHL.
Schell, 18, was in his his first season with the Eagles – and his first full season of junior hockey in general – and posted a 4-9 win-loss record for the Birds.
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