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Raiders bolster blueline with Belcourt

Jan 7, 2018 | 8:34 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders made their fourth trade of 2018 on Sunday evening, acquiring defenceman Konrad Belcourt from the Kelowna Rockets.

In exchange, the Rockets receive a fifth-round and an eighth-round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.

Kelowna selected the 2000-born Belcourt in the fourth round, 72nd overall, in the 2015 draft. This was the same year the Raiders selected current players Cole Fonstad, Carson Miller, Spencer Moe, and Justin Nachbaur. In 64 career games with the Rockets, the Sherwood Park native Belcourt has scored one goal and three assists for four points.

The Raiders have been short on the blueline in recent games, necessitating the use of 15-year-old Kaiden Guhle on an emergency recall basis to allow the team to ice a full complement of defenders. With the addition of Belcourt, the Green and Gold will have six full-time defencemen available, not including affiliates, while Sergei Sapego continues to recover from an upper body injury sustained in early December.