Eagles trade Muscoby, gain D-man at deadline

The Canmore Eagles added experience to their blueline at the AJHL trade deadline, however, they paid with a piece of the future.

The Eagles dealt 18-year-old defenceman Chris Muscoby to the Brooks Bandits in exchange for Mitch Kauffman and future considerations on Jan. 10.

Muscoby had 18 points and 55 penalty minutes in 44 games for the Eagles. The 5 foot 7, smooth skating defenceman quarterbacked the powerplay for parts of the season, and had his ice time increased after Davis Claffey was moved to forward.

In return, the Eagles get Kaufmann, a six foot, 190 pound defenceman with nine points in 38 games for Brooks this season to go along with 113 penalty minutes.

Eagles head coach/general manager Andrew Milne said Brooks approached the Eagles in respect to the trade.

“He’s a physical defenceman whose got some skills and shoots well. He’s familiar with the guys which will help with the transition,” Milne said.

Muscoby was expected to play a large role with the team next year, however, he was recently taken off of the squad’s top powerplay unit.

“We gave up Muscoby, who is a heck of a player, so we gave up some youth and potential for some much needed experience on the back end,” said Milne.

The Eagles then acquired Josh Martin from the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Martin is a hulking 6-foot-3, 210-pound defenceman who was born in Calgary. He has five points in 25 games for the Mustangs this season, and 16 penalty minutes.

“They had aquired a guy from the WHL and had to move out a 20-year-old. They said they didn’t want to play against him, and I imagine he was a top four guy for them and a pretty rugged player,” Milne said.