Tips deal Sonne to Red Deer for offense

EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips have been desperate for secondary scoring this season.

On Monday the Tips took a step toward addressing that issue.

Everett added some offensive punch to its lineup with the acquisition of left wing Clayton Bauer from the Red Deer Rebels.

“It became a priority for us to find a forward who could put some numbers up,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “We need to improve our secondary scoring and I think we did that.”

The Tips acquired the 20-year-old Bauer and a sixth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft in exchange for 20-year-old right wing Brennan Sonne and 17-year-old defenseman Matt Strong.

Everett has been heavily dependent upon its top line of Zach Hamill, Dan Gendur and Kyle Beach for scoring this season. Each of those three have at least 24 points. No other Silvertip forward has more than nine.

The acquisition of Bauer is meant to change that. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Kelowna, B.C., has just four goals and four assists in 20 games between Red Deer and Kootenay this season. However, he compiled 24 goals and 28 assists in 68 games for the Ice last season.

“He’s a first-line player, he’s proven that in the past,” Soetaert said of Bauer. “He’s a strong kid, he’s got good hands and he’s a character kid. This puts everyone into their right spots in the lineup. Teams have been looking to shut down our top line, but now we feel we’ve got two lines that can score some goals, which will make us tougher to defend against.”

To acquire Bauer the Tips had to part with one of their leaders and a youngster with potential.

Sonne was in his third season with the Tips. Known for his checking and fighting abilities, the 5-foot-10, 179-pounder from Maple Ridge, B.C., had two goals, one assist and 44 penalty minutes in 19 games this season. He was also one of Everett’s alternate captains, a role he also served for part of last season.

“It took me by surprise,” Sonne said of the trade. “But the team does need secondary scoring, I guess. I’m not sure about making a move this early in the year, but you do what you have to do.

“I’m going to miss my billets, the fans and the guys on the team,” Sonne added. “(Playing in Everett) is the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey. But I’ll just make the best of the situation.”

Strong is technically a rookie, though he did appear in games for Everett each of the past two seasons. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder from Calgary, Alberta, had one goal and no assists in 17 games for the Tips this season. He was Everett’s third-round pick in the 2005 bantam draft.

Soetaert said he nearly had a deal with Kootenay for Bauer at the overager deadline. However, the uncertain status of Peter Mueller, the former Everett playmaker who’s a 19-year-old rookie with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, prevented that deal from happening, and instead the Ice sent Bauer to Red Deer.

Mueller, whose slow start with the Coyotes prompted speculation of a possible return to Everett, has improved his play lately. He has six points in his past three games.

“We were holding out to see if Peter Mueller came back, it was a 50-50 chance,” Soetaert explained. “We’ve been waiting on this for a while. Red Deer has been very interested in (Sonne and Strong), but we wanted to see if Peter came back.

“You never want to give up a guy like Sonne or Strong,” Soetaert added. “Sonne’s been a very valuable part of our organization the last couple years and is a great character kid. Same thing with Strong. But to get someone with this ability we had to give something up.”

Strong’s departure left Everett with just six defensemen on the roster. The Tips gave themselves a spare by recalling 16-year-old Jeff Regier. Regier had been playing for the British Columbia Hockey League’s Surrey Eagles, appearing in 10 games without scoring. Regier played well when called in as a defensive replacement during last season’s playoffs.

Reekie update: As of Monday former Everett goaltender David Reekie, who the Tips were forced to waive last week because of overcrowding at the overage positions, still had yet to find a team. Soetaert said Reekie, who was not picked up by any other team in the WHL, was leaning towards playing professionally rather than playing in one of the other major junior hockey leagues.