Foulk traded, Mueller selected

Some Silvertips news to digest during your post-Thanksgiving recovery.

First, the Tips traded 17-year-old defenseman Griffin Foulk to Seattle in exchange for a pair of bantam draft picks. Everett receives fourth and sixth rounders in 2014 in return. The sixth rounder is the one the Tips sent to Seattle earlier this season in exchange for goaltender Daniel Cotton. Foulk, a rookie from Broomfield, Colo., was pointless in 14 games with Everett.

This was a move made because Everett was overloaded on defense. The Tips have been carrying nine defensemen all season long, which is too many, and four of those were 1995-born. Moving Foulk eases the logjam, particularly with Austin Adam now back from injury. The trade means the likes of Adam, Ben Betker and Cole MacDonald should get plenty of ice time.

Of course, the Tips had already sort of solved the crowding problem on defense — or had it solved for them. Ryan Murray is out injured for the long term, and Landon Oslanski was moved to forward, where he’s looked good. The plan is to keep Oslanski up front for the time being, meaning Everett now has just six healthy d-men. If there are any injuries, Oslanski would switch back to defense, and even Lucas Grayson is an option.

This brings Everett’s roster to 23 players, including Murray, so the Tips would do well to avoid any more injuries.

The other news is that defenseman Mirco Mueller was selected for Switzerland’s team for the World Junior Hockey Championships. The 17-year-old Mueller has been excellent since being picked in the first round of the import draft during the offseason, and he’s inherited Everett’s No. 1 defenseman role with the injury to Murray. Mueller’s selection wasn’t a surprise, as Mueller has already played for Switzerland’s U-20 team, and Switzerland isn’t one of hockey’s superpower nations. Nevertheless, it’s still quite the honor to play in that tournament at 17.

Mueller heads out Dec. 10 for Switzerland’s pre-tournament training camp, so he’ll miss Everett’s final three games of the first half.

Mueller’s selection means the Tips will have four roster players competing in international tournaments during the holidays, as forwards Tyler Sandhu, Ty Mappin and Dawson Leedahl will be playing at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. That will leave Everett depleted when the second half begins. Everett general manager Garry Davidson said signed prospects Kyle Raymond, Micheal Zipp and Kevin Davis would likely get call-ups to help fill out the gaps.