The Prince George Spruce Kings have added another big body up front to their lineup.
On Friday, the B.C. Hockey League squad acquired 20-year-old forward Michael Buonincontri from the Smiths Falls Bears of the Central Canada Hockey League in a three-team trade that included the Nanaimo Clippers.
The Kings sent the BCHL list rights of 20-year-old forward Brett Roulston to Nanaimo in exchange for another 20-year-old forward Korey Morgan and future considerations to Smith Falls in exchange for Buonincontri.
Buonincontri is six-foot-two 205-pound left-winger from Montreal who split last season between the Sioux Falls Stampede in the United States Hockey League and the Smiths Falls Bears in Ontario.
Buonincontri tallied 12 goals and 17 assists in 20 games with the Bears to go along with 30 penalty minutes. He's committed to attend St. Cloud University in Minnesota for 2015-16.
Kings general manager Mike Hawes had been working on the deal for quite some time and knows Buonincontri will fit in with the forward lines.
"He's a big body who'll play on the power play and he's a proven scorer," said Hawes. "We were a little smaller in stature and we wanted to get bigger up front. Of our 22 rostered players now, 16 of them are six-feet tall or bigger.
"We'll be a lot more physical and create some more space on our smaller ice surface."
Roulston, originally from Whitehorse, has spent the last two seasons with the WHL's Prince George Cougars. He appeared in 48 games last season, recording one goal and seven assists and had 11 points in 57 games.
"Brett told us he had a desire to explore opportunities outside of Prince George and he wants to play," said Hawes. "We told him we'd find him a good team and he'll be quite happy in Nanaimo."
Buonincontri will join the Spruce Kings Aug. 29 when their main camp opens.
