On a relatively slow SJHL trade deadline day, the Estevan Bruins turned heads in bringing back a former player to help turn around their sagging ship.
Dylan Smith, who left the team in the off-season to join the Connecticut Oilers of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, is coming back.
Smith, 20, has 13 goals and 28 points in 25 games in the EJHL this season. He led the Bruins in scoring last season with 37 goals and 74 points.
Obviously this move is being made to try to address the team's Achilles heel: scoring. Smith is a proven producer in the SJHL. When he left, you got the feeling the ties were cut for good, but then the Bruins didn't expect to find themselves in this situation.
The Bruins have also acquired 19-year-old defenceman Nick Egan from the Philadelphia Revolution, also of the EJHL. The 6'2", 225-pound blueliner has four points in 31 games this year.
Finally, as I reported on Twitter this morning, the Bruins have parted ways with Nick Weiss. Weiss was presented with three teams he could be traded to (one being the Notre Dame Hounds) and decided to retire from junior hockey instead.
