At the end of what had already been a very busy week for the Kootenay Ice, general manager Matt Cockell made another trade on Friday, acquiring forward Colton Veloso from the Portland Winterhawks.
The Ice gave up a conditional fourth round draft pick at the 2018 WHL Bantam draft to receive the 1997-born player, a veteran of over 150 WHL games.
“Colton will add experience and skill to our forward group,” Cockell said in a team release. “He contributed on a very good team last year and we look forward to his arrival.”
TRADE ALERT 🚨: ICE acquire forward Colton Veloso from @pdxwinterhawks https://t.co/Gl2o5cRkiA #ICEcountry pic.twitter.com/PJoZY5Ujgj
— Kootenay ICE (@WHLKootenayICE) September 15, 2017
Veloso, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has put up five points in five preseason games with Portland. In 156 career games, he has 30 goals and 22 assists, and also served as an alternate captain last season.
With Veloso’s arrival, the Ice now have four 20-year-old players which is one more than the maximum number of overage players allowed by league rules.
At the beginning of the season, Kootenay will be allowed to have forward Colton Kroeker, defenceman Jordan Henderson, goalie Mario Petit and Veloso all on the roster, but only three will be permitted to dress during each game. Eventually, the lineup will have to be cut down to only three 1997-born players.
Last season, Veloso recorded 18 goals and 32 points in 71 regular season games for the Winterhawks. He added two goals and six points in 11 playoff games.
Earlier in the week, the Ice traded away veteran forwards Max Patterson and Noah Philp and acquired goalies Bailey Brkin and Kurtis Chapman. With four goalies andnow four overagers, competition for roster spots will be high to start the season.
The Ice now have 31 players on their roster and play their final two preseason games in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta on Friday and Saturday night.