The Everett Silvertips added some more scoring punch on Saturday, acquiring Ty Kolle from the Regina Pats in exchange of a 2020 fourth-round pick, a 2021 fifth-round pick and unsigned prospect Ean Somoza.
Kolle, who is primarily a left winger, doesn’t solve Everett’s main roster deficiency, which is center. But nonetheless, Kolle is expected to contribute as a top-six forward and provide a veteran scoring punch for the Silvertips in the second half of the season, according to general manager Garry Davidson.
“He can make plays, he’s got skills, he’s got some good feet and he’s got another year of eligibility left (after this season),” Davidson said. ” I think we’ve added a 19-year-old, mature guy that can help us with the stretch run and in a playoff run.”
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Kolle, a 2000-born forward from Kamloops, British Columbia, has recorded 14 goals and 23 assists in 35 games for the Pats this season and boasts 37 goals and 68 points over his 172-game Western Hockey League career.
His 14 goals were the second-most on Regina — behind former Silvertip Robbie Holmes, who has 15 this season — and should provide a nice scoring boost to Everett’s lineup. The Silvertips could use the extra scoring, too, as Everett ranks fourth in the Western Conference behind Kamloops, Portland and Spokane in goals per game at 3.35.
“I don’t think there’s any question we felt like we needed to do a few things up front,” Davidson said.
It won’t take long for Kolle to play against his former team. The Silvertips and the Pats will face one another for the only time this season this upcoming Sunday at Angel of the Winds Arena.
Kolle, a 5-foot-7 forward, has been a bit of a journeyman in his four-year WHL career. He was drafted in the fourth round by Portland in the 2015 bantam draft and spent three-plus seasons with the Winterhawks before being traded to the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season. Then, Kolle was a piece in the two-player, seven-draft pick blockbuster deal that sent Nick Henry and Jake Leschyshyn to Lethbridge last season.
The Silvertips are his fourth team in two years.
Somoza, a 2003-born forward, has 14 goals and 29 points in 16 games for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings under-16 program this season and was taken in the 13th round in the 2018 bantam draft by the Silvertips.
The fourth-round pick sent to the Pats was the one Everett acquired from Seattle in the trade that sent Max Patterson to Seattle in December.
It was the second trade Davidson and the Silvertips completed in a 24-hour stretch, as Everett traded 19-year-old goaltender Keegan Karki to the Prince Albert Raiders in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft late Friday evening.
The Silvertips likely aren’t done adding via trade, as Davidson has yet to add a center to the roster, which he stated was his main goal before the Jan. 10 WHL trade deadline.
Josh Horton covers the Silvertips for the Herald. Follow him on Twitter, @JoshHortonEDH.
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