Broncos send King to Red Deer

Ben King SOUTHWEST BOOSTER FILE PHOTO BY STEVEN MAH

The Swift Current Broncos parted ways with one of their top young players on Thursday when they dealt forward Ben King to the Red Deer Rebels.

The former 13th pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft had four goals and four assists in 16 games with the Broncos this season after posting 26 points in 48 games last season.

In return the Broncos received three young players and a third-round pick in the 2020 draft.

The Broncos acquired 2004-born forward Parker Lalonde, 2002-born Cohner Saleski, and 2002-born forward Jordan Borysiuk.

Saleski was drafted 17th overall in 2017 WHL Bantam Draft and has two assists in 10 WHL games with the Prince Albert Raiders and Red Deer. He finished with 38 points in 24 games last season with the Prince Albert Mintos in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League and then added four goals and two assists in five playoff contests.

Borysiuk has one goal and one assist in nine games during his first WHL season. The former 63rd overall pick in 2017 had 16 points in 33 games with the Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League last season. He also registered 13 goals in 16 games with the Lloydminster Midget AAA Bobcats.

Lalonde currently has five points in 10 games with the Saskatoon Midget AAA Blazers. He was drafted 114th overall in 2019 and was a member of Team Saskatchewan that won the WHL Cup in Calgary recently.

The Broncos now hold 14 picks in the 2020 draft, including two second rounders, a third, and four fourth round picks.

The trade comes two days after the Broncos sent leading scorer Joona Kiviniemi to the Vancouver Giants. The Broncos will visit the Regina Pats on Friday.