Oshie leaves Denver

Back on November 11th the Denver Spurs traded #1 right wing T.J. Oshie to division rival Chicago. Oshie is in the last year of his $5M free agent contract that he signed with the Spurs 2 seasons ago. This was strictly a salary dump for the Spurs who have been unable to win this season despite a roster, that on paper, indicates they should be doing much better than they are. Due to the lack of wins the Spurs find themselves in financial straights. For whatever reason the chemistry isn't there and line juggling hasn't produced better results. The Spurs are currently the worst team in the American Conference and the second worst team in the league. This should make division rival San Jose happy as they own the rights to the Spurs 1st pick in 2018 that they obtained in the Panarin trade last season.

In the trade, blueliner Adam McQuaid (left pic) was also sent with Oshie to the Chicago Storm Cats in exchange for several prospects. Those being winger Pontus Aberg, blueliner Jake Dotchin, winger Curtis McKenzie and hard nosed winger Tom Wilson (below). Whether these prospects amount to anything at the HBMHL level remains to be seen. Wilson is seeing 3rd line time with the Spurs while the prospects have been sent to the Colorado Eagles which is the Denver Spurs minor league affiliate in the ECHL that is about an hour's drive north up I-25 in Loveland, Colorado.

In an unrelated transaction on November 20th, the Spurs signed free agent winger Lauri Korpkoski to a 1D contract. Subsequently on November 24th, the Spurs bought out the contract of former alternate Captain Craig Smith who's play this season in a part time role left a lot to be desired when he posted a plus/minus of -9 in 8 games.