By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders trade in their Glover for a D-Jay; Oly’s whirlwind

Dec 28, 2016 | 6:01 PM

Moments before Wednesday’s game against the Saskatoon Blades, the Prince Albert Raiders made a big-time deal.

On Wednesday, they sent overager Austin Glover to the Red Deer Rebels for 1999-born centre D-Jay Jerome and a third round pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

To fill the empty 20-year-old spot, the Raiders picked up Kolten Olynek from free agency. He was waived by the Saskatoon Blades on Dec. 14, after starting the year with the Raiders.

Glover was second in Raiders scoring with 26 points in 35 games. He was scratched for Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Saskatoon Blades, as the team said he was ill. Glover game into the Raiders’ fold in the 2014-2015 season, arriving in the Josh Morrissey trade. He had 85 points in 113 games with the Raiders.

Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt said that although he’s happy with the return, he also knows he had to send a lot back the other way.

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“We give up experience, we give up leadership and we’ve given up first minute, last minute trust shifts,” Hunt said on moving Glover. “Those are the things veterans give you that we’ve given up. And a good Raider over the last two years.”

Jerome, who’s from Lethbridge, has five goals and eight points in 23 games during his WHL rookie season with the Rebels. Last year in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League, Jerome put up 35 points in 34 games with the Lethbridge Midget AAA Hurricanes.

Hunt said it was important to not just acquire draft picks this season, but to add players to bolster the lineup as well.

“If you’ve been watching us closely for the last little while, our team competes extremely hard so I didn’t want to take away from our team. I wanted to add to our team and that’s where D-Jay fits in,” Hunt said. “I know D-Jay’s a prospect but we think he’s a real good prospect. We think he’s got a tremendous skill set. I think he’s cutting his teeth right now in the Western Hockey League and he’s going through those growing pains just like our young guys are too. But we thought this makes a lot of sense on a lot of levels for us.”

What a year for Oly

Kolten Olynek started out the year for the Raiders, scoring three points in as many games before getting waived by the Raiders, who were in the midst of figuring out their 20-year-old situation.

He was picked up almost immediately by the Saskatoon Blades on Oct. 5 and played against the Raiders the following night at the SaskTel Centre.

Olynek was waived again by the Blades on Dec. 14, only to be picked up by the Raiders on Wednesday, just in time to face the Blades in the SaskTel Centre in visiting colours.

Hunt said that he was “very fortunate” that Olynek not only returned to the Raiders, but was ecstatic to do so.

“He was really excited [and asked] ‘really? Can that happen?’” Hunt said. “I’ve always liked Oly, he’s been a great Raider, he’s great in the community and he does a lot of intangibles on the ice. He gives you everything he’s got every night. I think our fans identify with that type of player.”

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW