EVERETT — The Silvertips rolled the dice Friday.
Everett took a gamble when it acquired talented-but-troubled right wing Dale Hunt from Prince George in exchange for defenseman Jeff Regier. The Tips also picked up a seventh-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft in the deal.
Hunt, an 18-year-old from Sanford, Manitoba, was the third-overall pick in the 2005 bantam draft. However, that potential never emerged in Prince George, where in 113 games he had just 14 goals and 22 assists.
This season, the 6-foot, 197-pound Hunt had one goal and two assists in seven games before being sent home by the Cougars for insubordination. He last played on Oct. 8.
“He kind of fell out of favor in Prince George and we had been showing some interest in him a little bit earlier,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “We just felt we’re willing to look at him and give him the opportunity to play here. We’ve had pretty good luck with that type of player. He’s a very hard-working skilled type of guy who maybe needs a change. We’re willing to take that chance on him.”
Hunt is expected to arrive today, but won’t play in tonight’s game against Edmonton. The Tips want to make sure he’s in game shape before throwing him into the lineup.
Soetaert said he doesn’t expect Hunt to come in and immediately become an impact player. However, the Tips are hoping he eventually develops into a top-six forward, either later this season or next season.
“We don’t look at him as a high pick, we look at him as a player who’s going to come in and have to work hard to get his ice time.” Soetaert said. “He comes here with a clean slate. He understands that, he’s learned from his mistakes there, and we’ll move forward.”
In trading Regier, the Tips gave up one of their better young defensemen. The 17-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., was Everett’s second-round pick in the 2006 bantam draft and the only 16-year-old to crack the Tips roster on a full-time basis last season, getting six assists in 58 games. This season, he had two assists in 12 games with 32 penalty minutes.
“You have to give something to get something,” Soetaert said. “We also felt that with (Drew) McDermott and (Paul) Sohor we have two very capable (17-year-old defensemen). We were going to start playing them more, and instead of creating a problem by sitting Jeff out, we decided to be fair to him. He’ll be a regular in Prince George. He’ll get lots of ice time and we wish him the best.”
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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