Herold to Merritt

This photo by Randy Emery shows Dylan Herold celebrating what will end up being his final goal as a Smoke Eater.

Today we've discovered the future considerations in the deal for Kevin Koopman are the rights to forward Dylan Herold. Trail picked up Koopman from Merritt in what amounted to an emergency trade deadline deal after Cam Brodie got hurt and Paul Levarsky took off to Slovakia. We knew that a deal for a player like Koopman was going to cost the Smokies something of value. You don't get something for nothing. Unfortunately Koopman and the Smokies didn't go on an extended playoff run, but I think it'd be fair to say that without him or someone similar it would have been a lot tougher to stay ahead of Prince George and Quesnel in that race to the final playoff spot. Koopman came in here and played on the top pairing with Scott Warner. He plays a different game than Brodie, but he filled those minutes effectively and played a very significant role in the big turn around for Trail in the last month.

However, it's still difficult to lose a guy like Herold in what is a pretty typical "rental player" situation. He's well loved in the dressing room and a guy who can play any role for a hockey team. It sucks to see him go, but it's also a great opportunity for him. The operation in Merritt has certainly helped earn several big name players great scholarship opportunities. Herold will take his size and skill into a smaller rink with a veteran coach. Perhaps the new scenery will help him blossom into the kind of offensive player we all believe he can be in this league.

There were high expectations for Herold this year. He started on the right note with a goal in the first game of the season, but didn't score again until the last game. I think the early injury set him back significantly. When you're just getting into gear at the start of the season a leg injury forces you to basically start all over again. I'm not sure he was necessarily at full physical condition when he came back, but it certainly took him a bit to find his game again. While he never really found the scoring touch of last season, he did keep playing a very good two way game. There are some players in this league who are almost useless to you if they aren't scoring. Herold is a guy who makes important contributions even if they're not goals and assists. He told me that when he couldn't find that scoring touch again, he just made sure he was doing the little things that could help his team as much as possible.

Dylan has a great attitude and is going to be a great member of the Merritt organization. I know he'll be missed in this dressing room.

He told me yesterday that one of his biggest disappointments in leaving Trail is that he had such great billets here. Doesn't that tell you all you need to know about how important those families are to a hockey team's success? The Smoke Eaters have a group of fantastic families who make it really easy for the guys to settle in. They are in my opinion a great recruiting tool. I only ever hear good things from the players about the "unreal" billets they have in this area.

Herold's loss opens up another spot for a new forward. Right now we're looking at a list of possible returning guys that only includes Corcoran, Bulach, Mailey, Ourosov, Davis and Martin. That's room for at least six new starters and a couple of more guys. Lots of opportunity for new recruits and guys who will be taking part in the evaluation camp next month in Princeton. Lots of room for local guys like those Beaver Valley Nitehawk players who are doing so well in the KIJHL playoff so far. Lots of room for Jim Ingram to put his fingerprints on this roster.

On D the returning group right now could be Brodie, Geerin, Kinnebrew, Raley and Hill. In goal the only possible returning player is Barclay.

That means out of eleven possible returning players, four of them are guys Ingram brought into the fold. There will only be five guys left from Tim Kehler's time in Trail. This will absolutely be Jim Ingram's team next year. We'll get a better idea of what kind of players he wants to bring into Trail and how good of a talent evaluator he is.

Lets see what he can do.

Good luck, Dylan!

(Dylan Herold scored 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points in two seasons with the Smoke Eaters)