Silvertips’ trade underscores business side of WHL

Published 1:30 am Monday, January 8, 2018

EVERETT — Sunday was a bittersweet day for many in the Everett Silvertips organization — and that doesn’t even take the team’s 9-4 on-ice thrashing of visiting Victoria into account.

There was tempered excitement at the announcement the team had added two NHL-signed players in Garrett Pilon and Ondrej Vala from the Kamloops Blazers. There also was profound sadness as it meant second-year Everett fan favorites Montana Onyebuchi and Orrin Centazzo were headed the other way.

“It’s a business, but they’re still kids,” first-year Everett head coach Dennis Williams said. “They’re not making money, they’re kids, they’re emotional and obviously Montana and Orrin were big people to our program. They’ve been here a year-and-a-half, they’re well-liked by their teammates and it’s never fun. It’s the worst part of the job.”

The team found out a deal was in the works Saturday night after losing 4-3 at home to Portland. That allowed the players the opportunity to hold a meeting in the locker room where everyone had a chance to say good-bye.

“It was really tough,” Everett co-captain Matt Fonteyne said. “(We) kind of left (the meeting) with, ‘We’re always going to be brothers.’ We’re family all the time and it’s going to be good for both of them moving on — they’re going to a good organization with a young team and they’re going to play a lot.”

Centazzo and Onyebuchi are part of a youth movement as the Blazers look to gear up to potentially play host to the 2020 Memorial Cup. Kamloops is bidding for the event and both players would be in their 19-year-old seasons that year.

“They’re going into a good position,” Williams said. “They’re going to do well, both (their Everett teammates) and I can’t be thankful enough for what they did for us.”

The Silvertips made the trade because they’re in “win-now” mode. With a strong overage group and the league’s top goalie in Carter Hart — who is undoubtedly in his final junior season — Everett added two important pieces Sunday. That’s in contrast to each of the past two years when general manager Garry Davidson was only able to add a defenseman each time.

The addition of Pilon gives Everett a third experienced, point-producing center in addition to Fonteyne and Riley Sutter. That will help ease the pressure on rookie Reece Vitelli and recently acquired 18-year-old Ethan O’Rourke.

Vala is a big, imposing defenseman with scoring ability at a position where Everett has often found itself undersized come playoff time.

“We’re excited to get a little more depth, another power-play guy back there on the point in Vala,” Williams said. “I’ve only seen (Pilon) the couple of times we’ve played (Kamloops). But I liked his compete (level), his 200-foot game, a good skill set, he goes to those tough areas and I think he’ll complement our top six.”

Vala and Pilon come to Everett in the shadow of Wednesday’s trade deadline and a division where just five standings points separate all five teams. Tri-City added defenseman Jake Bean, arguably the top player available, from Calgary on Saturday. Portland, Spokane and Seattle could very well look to add before the deadline as well.

Davidson indicated Sunday he’d like to add more if he can, though Everett’s assets are dwindling.

“I give Garry a lot of credit because it’s not easy,” Williams said. “There’s a bigger picture, too. There’s a future, there’s a plan (and) we also have a great nucleus of players that you don’t want to disrupt. So you want to make sure the guys you’re getting are good hockey players and good young men that are going to embrace the culture of what it means to be an Everett Silvertip.”

For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.