(From One OHL Junior Team To Another One)
The Seattle Kraken's most recent 1st round draft choice, Eduard Sale, is on the move.
Sale, chosen 20th overall in last summer's NHL draft, has been traded by the Barrie Colts of the OHL to the Kitchener Rangers. A teammate, Olivier Savard, is joining him.
This makes two '23 Seattle draftees on the Rangers. 2nd round choice Carson Rehkopf has been on a season-long rampage, 34 goals and 59 points in 32 games.
Without having to know anything about trades in the major junior Ontario Hockey League, the sheer tonnage Barrie is getting in return is impressive: two players and NINE draft picks!
The reason for the trade primarily relates to the OHL standings. Kitchener, with the best record in the league, is bulking up for the playoffs. Barrie, next-to-last in the 15-team OHL, has been in sell-off mode.
With the Colts, Sale scored seven goals and 20 points. He took home a bronze medal for his native Czechia at the just-completed World Junior Championships in Sweden. At the tournament, he scored three goals and seven points in seven games for the Czech Republic's Under-20 team.
Sale, a 6-foot-2, 178 pound right wing, turns 19 on March 10. This is his first season playing in North America.
Seattle Kraken 2023 draft pick Eduard Sale at last summer's development camp.The Hockey News draft expert Tony Ferrari wrote this about Sale prior to the draft:
“Sale is a good skater and skilled passer who can find teammates in the offensive zone with precision. He is very good in transition, transporting the puck through the neutral zone and weaving through traffic to get his team in the attacking zone. He is quite an intelligent player, focusing on playing in the middle of the ice. Sale is a good shooter, but it lacks pop.
"He is slender and should add muscle to his frame over the next couple of years. The biggest thing that Sale is going to need to do over the next couple of years is to get stronger, be more consistent and continue to play a smart and projectable game."
