The Prince George Cougars have acquired sniper Radovan Bondra from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for forward Bartek Bison and prospect Tyler Ho.
The deal was announced on Tuesday, trade deadline day in the Western Hockey League.
Bondra, a 19-year-old from Trebisov, Slovakia, had 19 goals and 31 points in 32 games with the Giants this season. In 90 career WHL contests, all with Vancouver, he has 34 goals and 61 points.
The six-foot-five, 221-pound Bondra is property of the Chicago Blackhawks, who chose him in the fifth round (151st overall) of the 2015 NHL draft.
Bondra is expected to meet his new teammates tonight in Red Deer, where the Cougars will take on the Rebels in the first game of a four-game road trip.
With the addition of Bondra, Cougars general manager Todd Harkins has now completed three major transactions in recent weeks. First, on Nov. 19, he brought in 19-year-old defenceman Brendan Guhle, a smooth-skating Buffalo Sabres draft pick who had been suiting up for the Prince Albert Raiders. Then, on Thursday, Harkins added six-foot-five Russian forward Nikita Popugaev in a deal with the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 18-year-old Popugaev piled up 22 goals and 51 points with the Warriors this season and is considered a hot commodity for the 2017 NHL draft.
Bison, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands, had five goals and one assist in 22 games with the Cougars this season. In 56 games last season, he scored six goals and added nine assists.
Ho, a 16-year-old forward from Surrey, is currently playing for the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League. Last season, he was a member of the Prince George-based Cariboo Cougars.
Also Tuesday, the Cougars found a trade partner in the Spokane Chiefs and dealt for 19-year-old depth forward Tanner Wishnowski. In exchange, the Chiefs received a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2018 WHL bantam draft.
The 19-year-old Wishnowski, from Oakbank, Man., started the season with the Kelowna Rockets (10 games) and was then shipped to the Chiefs (13 games). In his 23 starts, he has three goals and seven assists.
Wishnowski will join the Cougars when the team gets back home from the road trip.
