Iceland continues retooling - part 3

 Welcome back sports fans. We continue our analysis of the in season moves made by the Icecats, and getting insight into their logic through discussions with GM Saouaf. Over two weeks passed before the Icecats made additional deals. In a pair of moves, the Cats traded and acquired a dman. Leaving is veteran dman Rasmus Ristolainen for prospect Cameron Schmidt and arriving was dman Olli Maatta. Those moves were curious and we asked GM Saouaf about them. “Well, since Savard had cemented a spot in our lineup, Risto was forced to be an injury replacement. Risto wanted to play and we found a place to get him some minutes, sending him to Denver. We still needed a veteran dman to be a substitute, so we acquired Maatta. We were pleased to get Maatta and a talented prospect in Schmidt.”

 

Would the Icecats now stand still after so many trades, nope. GM Saouaf continued his hard work in building a solid prospect pipeline, sending away two young goalies in Joel Hofer and Colten Ellis and acquiring uber talented Vaclav Nestrasil and also Xavier Bourgault. Nestrasil is off to a great start in the NCAA.

 

Never one to rest, GM Saouaf once again connected with Fort Erie to trade another long time Icecat, Colton Parayko. Colton was a staple in the top 2 defensive lines for the Icecats. Replacing him would be hard, but the Icecats acquired a solid replacement in Martin Fehervary. Fehervary is a few years younger and  provides some salary relief. Iceland also stocked their draft capital with a 2027 1st. The final touch, for now, was a trade with Amos to send Jordan Staal for JG Pageau’s second stint in Iceland and defensive prospect, Jacob Rombach. 

 

It’s been a whirlwind start to the season for the Icecats this season. Time will tell if GM Saouaf is done or will continue to adjust his roster. As always, stay tuned sports fans!