The phones are hot in the 琉璃神社 Rockets front office.
On Friday, Nov. 16, the team announced its second trade in two days as they dealt defenceman Ethan Mittelsteadt to the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a 2025 seventh-round selection and a 2027 fourth-round selection in the WHL Prospects Draft.
"It was just a numbers thing," said Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton. "He (Mittelsteadt) falls into the 19-year-old age bracket where we have three 19-year-old defencemen and there was an opportunity for us to acquire some draft picks that will likely help us in the future."
Mittelsteadt played parts of three seasons for the Rockets, totalling 112 games. Over his entire WHL career, he has 11 goals and 47 points in 152 career games.
"It was important to find a good spot for him and we're happy to be able to get him to a spot in Vancouver where he'll enjoy being there," added Hamilton.
This is the second trade for the Rockets in a couple of days, as the team brought in Nate Corbet on Nov. 15.
The Rockets (7-7-1-1) are in northern B.C. on Friday and Saturday night to take on the Prince George Cougars (11-4-3-2).