Ex-Chilliwack Bruin Kevin Sundher has been dealt from the Victoria Royals to the Brandon Wheat Kings in a Western Hockey League trade deadline day swap.
The 19-year-old Surrey native was sent east Monday night in exchange for Jordan Fransoo, Dakota Conroy and a 2012 first round bantam draft pick.
Sundher, the WHL’s seventh leading scorer, is on contract to start his pro career in the Buffalo Sabres organization later this spring. Having won just once in the past 10 games, Sundher’s departure will leave the already-reeling Victoria Royals with a major gap.
It’s been a breakout season for Sundher, who came out from the shadow of last year’s stars Ryan Howse (Abbotsford Heat) and Roman Horak (Calgary Flames). How he has managed to retain minus-3 on the worst defensive team in the country reeks of the quality of his play. As of Monday morning the Royals’ 212 goals against in 42 games puts the club beside the OHL-worst Erie Otters, who’ve let in 200 in 39 games, and the Quebec-worst Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who have allowed 206 in 43 games.
In Fransoo, the Royals get a player who may help address their defensive deficiencies. Drafted in the seventh round (186th ova) of the 2011 National Hockey League entry draft, the 18-year-old doesn't bring much to the table offensively, but lends stability and a defence-first mindset to the Royals blueline.
Seventeen year old Conroy, an Edmonton native, has four goals and eight points in 37 games this season.