While the MSL season is still months away there was a huge trade made between the Oakville Rock and the Kitchener Waterloo Kodiaks. In this trade Oakville receives Scott Johnston along with defender Brad Gilles and the Kodiaks first round draft pick which is the third pick in this year’s upcoming MSL draft which takes place this Saturday on January 19th.
The Kodiaks in this trade received Daryl Veltman, Dean Hill, Jay Card and transition players Jake and John Quarrie along with Oakville’s third round pick in this year’s draft. The key piece in this trade for the Kodiaks is definitely Veltman who has played in Coqutilam for the past few seasons. Veltman had a successful season with the Adanacs this past summer posting 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points. Veltman will add some much needed offensive punch to the Kodiaks lineup as he will join Aaron Wilson who posted 80 points last season. The Kodiaks offense was stagnant last year as defenseman Mike Teeter finished second in team scoring with 49 points. The Kodiaks will hope Veltman will help move the ball around and boost their forwards. The risky part of this trade is that Dean Hill has played senior B lacrosse the past two years in Quebec while Jay Card has not played since 2007. The Kodiaks made a smart move in acquiring Veltman and they will be hoping that either Card or Hill is a diamond in the rough.
For Oakville this was a smart trade as they picked up a much needed draft pick which will help to continue to build this young team which has struggled the past few years. Johnston did not play a single game for the Kodiaks in 2013 and in six games in 2012 he only had two points. Brad Gilles had only one point in nine games for the Kodiaks in 2013.
The winner of this trade cannot be determined until Oakville makes their election in the 2014 draft with the Kodiaks pick. If Oakville can pick up a young core player that can perform they will hands-down be the winner of this trade. If Oakville though cannot get a core player the edge goes to the Kodiaks as Veltman brings a boost to their offense in the short term.
