There's no revolving door attached to the Prince George Spruce Kings' dressing room and with less than a day to go before the B.C. Hockey League roster deadline, don't expect any large-scale exchange of troops between now and then.
However, Spruce Kings management will be keeping ears close to the trade rails right up until the 8 p.m. deadline tonight and head coach Dave Dupas says the team will make every effort to improve itself if the right deal comes along.
"We're shopping for anybody who is going to make our team better without destroying our future," said Dupas. "It has to be an impact-type player who we think is going to help us go a long way without really harming our chances because we have a lot of guys coming back next year and we don't want to break that up."
Aside from the 20-year-olds -- Bryant Christian, Christian Weidauer, Alex Murray, Sean Landrey, Coper Rush and maybe college-bound 19-year-old Mitch Eden -- the Kings could have as many as 18 roster players back next season.
"We don't want to throw that away for a guy who may or may not come in here and be the difference in us going on a long run," added Dupas. "There are some players out there who are just too good to pass up, it just depends what the price is."
The Surrey Eagles will occupy the visitors' bench at the Coliseum tonight and Saturday. The Eagles (17-22-1-0) rank fourth in the Mainland Division, 13 points behind the second-place Spruce Kings (22-13-2-2), who are seven points back of the division-leading Langley Rivermen.
This past week, Surrey unloaded its two top scoring forwards -- Nicolas Pierog and Brett Mulcahy (both 20-year-olds) -- in separate deals. Pierog went to the Penticton Vees for 18-year-old forward Anthony Conti and futures, while Mulcahy was sent for the Vernon Vipers in exchange for the playing rights to 19-year-old forward Chase McMurphy and futures.
"They're going to be a different-looking team and with that said, they're getting some very good players back," said Dupas. "A lot of times when you have a lot of 20-year-olds, even if they're very good players that aren't very successful, they just want out of there and sometimes the team gets better. It might be a better team we see here this weekend."
The Kings did make one move last weekend to acquire Rush, a 20-year-old defenceman, from the Chilliwack Chiefs for 19-year-old defenceman Caleb Thompson and future considerations. In 39 BCHL games with Chilliwack and one partial game with the Kings the six-foot-seven, 226-pound Rush has seven goals and 28 points and now ranks sixth-highest in team scoring. The Kings didn't get to see much of him on the ice last weekend. He joined them just before Sunday's game in Chilliwack and suffered a leg injury early in the second period. He won't play this weekend and is expected to be sidelined for the next two weeks.
"He's a big body with a long reach and he plays physical and clears the net," said Dupas. "He's got a bomb for a shot and he's a 30-point defenceman so that can't but help us on our power play when and if we get him back."
The only other injured Spruce King -- 17-year-old winger Mitch Barker -- is back skating after missing 22 games with a sprained ankle. He won't be ready for the Surrey series. Goalie Alex Murray is healthy again after being left out of the lineup last weekend with a back muscle issue.
The Kings salvaged their roadtrip last weekend in Chilliwack with a 3-0 win, after losing 5-2 to Alberni Valley and 2-1 to Powell River.
"We played Powell River really tough for the most part," said Dupas. "We had a long break [at Christmas] and just one practice coming back and we ran out of gas. We had a lead until there was 12 seconds left in the second period and they got one more in the third, but other than that we competed hard. The Alberni game wasn't good, we gave up three goals in the first 10 minutes and couldn't battle back. Besides that really bad stretch of 10 minutes or so I think we had a good weekend."
Game time tonight is 7 p.m.
