EVERETT — On Wednesday, the Everett Silvertips added a little veteran skill to their youthful club.
Thursday they did a little shoring up of their back end.
On the eve of its final two preseason games, Everett acquired defenseman Shayne Brown from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for banished defenseman Tyler Kieffer.
In Brown, 19, the Tips believe they’ve acquired a player who will add some leadership and a little muscle.
“He’s a big, stay-at-home defenseman and he’s a character kid,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “He wore an ‘A’ (as an alternate captain) a few times in Medicine Hat when they had injuries. He’s a guy who looks after his teammates, plays hard and keeps the game simple.”
Brown, a native of Stony Plain, Alberta, is entering his fourth season in the WHL. The 6-foot-1, 198-pounder had three goals, seven assists and 89 penalty minutes in 55 games for the Tigers last season. He was also a part-time player for Medicine Hat’s 2006-07 WHL championship team, though he appeared in just two games during the Tigers’ playoff run.
Kieffer, a 19-year-old from Stillwater, Minn., had three assists in 27 games as a rookie last season. He was expected to be a regular member of the lineup this season, but he and left wing Jordan Mistelbacher were sent home over the Labor Day weekend for violating team rules.
Thursday’s trade comes one day after the acquisition of 20-year-old left wing Daniel Bartek from Brandon. Brown and Bartek add some much-needed experience to a Tips roster that includes 12 rookies.
“(Brown) is an 89-born, so he brings lots of experience,” Soetaert said. “He comes from a good organization with a good coach, so he knows how to play the game at a high level. We think he’ll be able to step in without having to make many adjustments.”
Even though adding Brown gives Everett a robust nine defensemen on the roster, Soetaert said no one was going to be reassigned. Especially with Taylor Ellington leaving for the Vancouver Canucks training camp Thursday and possibly being gone into October — or even earning the chance to play professionally.
Neither Brown nor Bartek will play in this weekend’s exhibition games against Tri-City, today in Everett and Saturday in Kennewick. Brown is in transit and Bartek is getting his immigration situation sorted out.
That means it will be a bare-bones crew for the Tips this weekend. In addition to Ellington being gone, left wing Tyler Parker is not yet ready to return from his ankle sprain, leaving Everett with just 21 available bodies for the two games.
But while the Tips might be short on players, it means the coaching staff can focus on teaching rather than evaluating players to determine the final roster spots. That’s been particularly important this preseason with the abundance of rookies on the team.
“It’s given us the opportunity to work on things,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “We can focus on team teaching rather than evaluating practices and scrimmages and preseason games. Hopefully it helps us get a little ahead of some teams in regards to teaching.”
Much of this week’s teaching has been focused on the defensive end. With Ellington expected to miss the Sept. 19 season opener in Kamloops, the Tips will have just two D-men — Graham Potuer and Mike Alexander — who have played more than 46 games in an Everett uniform.
“We spent the week working on our (defensive) coverage,” Becanic said. “It’s something that’s kind of an Achilles heel for us right now in the sense that when you have so many new guys, that’s the system that can cost you a game. You have to make sure of that first, then other things will follow.”
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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