Thunderbirds send Nick Holowko to Prince Albert in trade
Sep 16, 2016, 10:25 AM
Seattle sent forward Nick Holowko to Prince Albert in a trade Thursday. (T-Birds)
(T-Birds)
With the start of the 2016-2017 regular season just over a week away, the Thunderbirds made a move on Thursday afternoon.
Seattle sent 19-year-old Nick Holowko to the Prince Albert Raiders for right winger Layne Bensmiller as well as a conditional 2017 draft pick. Holowko was preparing for his third season with the club after appearing in 135 games with Seattle. He tallied 11 goals and 29 points over his T-Birds career.
Bensmiller, also 19, began last season with the Calgary Hitmen. He was off to a good start with Calgary, notching eight goals and 24 points in 44 games. After being traded at the deadline in January, his production fell off and he only scored six points in 30 games with the Raiders.
In an interview with PANow.com Thursday, Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt told Jeff D’Andrea that when they lost No. 1 center Austin Glover to injury, it hampered any chance that Bensmiller had to build chemistry with his new club.
By all accounts, Bensmiller is a hard-working player with decent quickness and will chip in offensively.
In Holowko, Seattle loses a player that had a tremendous amount of speed and could play up and down the lineup for head coach Steve Konowalchuk. Playing on a team with depth at forward, he was never able to consistently crack the top-six with the T-Birds but was still a valuable player for the defending Western Conference Champions.
Seattle will host the Everett Silvertips Friday evening at the ShoWare Center in an exhibition game. The T-Birds will then travel to Everett Saturday for a rematch in what will be their last tune-up before the regular season starts next Saturday in Portland.
