Only two weeks before the start of Bruins training camp comes the news that right winger Dylan Smith is leaving the team.
Smith, 20, will play for the Connecticut Oilers of the Eastern Junior Hockey League this season. He is already in Connecticut.
The Big River native posted 79 goals and 167 points over three seasons in Estevan.
It appears Smith is making the move in an attempt to get more exposure to NCAA schools, moreso because of the EJHL's location (northeastern U.S.) than the quality of the league.
Smith hasn't returned the message I left earlier, but I did talk to Bruins coach and GM Keith Cassidy, who had some thinly veiled thoughts on the matter.
"This coming about is certainly not a shock to myself or the organization. We were certainly prepared for it at the end of last year. He made his desires very well-known throughout last year in terms of where he wanted to be," Cassidy said.
"His wish to find better exposure, in his mind, was something he thought a lot about and I guess he decided that in Connecticut he would receive that."
The Bruins had been trying to deal Smith somewhere "where he would feel comfortable," as Cassidy put it, and a deal with a BCHL club was in the works when Smith decided to go to Connecticut.
""In terms of level of play, I don't think the EJHL is anywhere near what the SJHL is, but I think from his point of view he's looking at it as he's playing on the eastern seaboard and there's lots of schools there," Cassidy said. "He certainly got his fair share of looks here and we certainly talked to a lot of scouts about him."
The Bruins will receive $4,000 in compensation, which is the standard fee when a Canadian junior club loses a player to an American team.
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Personally, I find the choice of league a bit baffling, especially as the Oilers are an expansion team. But this isn't a big surprise to me. I didn't know this went as far back as it did, but there was a decent chance Smith wasn't going to be here by training camp either through a trade or a move like this.
For more, see full story as well as my column in Wednesday's Mercury.
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Moving on: it sounds like defenceman Austin Yano will be in camp. Yano was drafted by the USHL's Lincoln Stars earlier this summer.
The last word I got was that Yano's status with the Stars was in limbo.
Keith spoke with him recently and it sounds like it's pretty much a done deal that he'll be back. That's definitely a boost for the club.
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There are two trades in the works still awaiting paperwork to be finished. One involves a defenceman and the other is a minor deal by the sound of it. You'll know when I do.
