BCHL, Coastal Conference

Capitals make a pair of roster moves

Written by Chris Keck on

 

With the calendar turning from May to June, the annual BCHL calendar also turns the page on last season. The 2020-21 season is officially underway, albeit in offseason form. As a result, there was a flurry of BCHL transactions, including many trades. The Cowichan Valley Capitals were among the teams making news on Monday, announcing a pair of roster moves.

The Capitals have been busy while navigating through this unusual offseason. Their changes thus far include a new coach, advancing players, and player commitments. On Monday, the Capitals announced another player commitment for this upcoming season, and completed a trade.

Their newest player commitment was from Jayden Shull, an 18-year-old goaltender. Monday’s other transaction saw the Capitals complete a trade from earlier this season. Forward Zach Brooks has been moved to the West Kelowna Warriors as the future considerations portion of a trade deadline deal.

Lets take a closer look at each of these transactions, and what they might mean for the 2020-21 Cowichan Valley Capitals.

Capitals add goaltender Jayden Shull

18-year-old goaltender Jayden Shull will be joining the Capitals for the 2020-21 season. Shull makes the jump to the BCHL from the Vancouver North West Hawks of the BC Major Midget League, where he played the last three seasons. In 20 games played last season, he picked up 13 wins and ranked fourth in the league with two shutouts. Over the course of his three seasons with the Hawks, Shull appeared in 57 games.

”I’m super excited to be joining the Capitals, they were the first team to AP me and show me, and give me attention. It’s going to be an awesome place to play,” Shull said in the official news release.

Shull was an affiliate player for the Capitals in 2018-19, so he is no stranger to the Cowichan Valley. “I know outside the rink it has the big hockey stick, which is cool. I also hear it has a lot of good fishing spots and I love to fish and be outdoors.”

“I’m very competitive, I hate to lose, so I’ll always battle until the very end,” he added.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cNshkYxSlVk

“We are really excited to add a goalie of Jayden’s caliber to our roster,” said Capitals head coach Geoff Grimwood. “His character and commitment to the game are exactly what we are looking for in players who wear the Capitals sweater.”

“Jayden is a plug and play goaltender, he’s a zero worry young man, who was one of the Hawks best players from Christmas on,” added Capitals assistant coach Dan Whiteford. “He’s big, moves well, and comes from a great family. We had him as an affiliate in 2018-19 so he knows the area well.”

Capitals send Zach Brooks to the Warriors

As part of the trade deadline deal between Cowichan and West Kelowna, the Warriors were still owed future considerations. On Monday, the Capitals completed that trade by sending forward Zach Brooks to West Kelowna. The now completed trade saw Cowichan acquire defenceman Austin Chorney. West Kelowna now adds Brooks to the previously acquired defenceman Max Dumas in the deal.

Brooks had a nice season for the Capitals, scoring 12 goals and adding 15 assists for 27 points in 57 games. The Warriors will look for the 18-year-old from Bromont, Quebec to have a big presence for them this season.

”We look forward to adding Zach to our roster,” said Warriors head coach Simon Ferguson, in the Warriors news release. “Zach brings much-needed size and speed to our lineup alongside having a great skill set.”

”The Capitals would like to thank Zach for his time and effort with the Capitals and wish him the best of luck in West Kelowna,” Cowichan said in its own release.

Chorney played 54 regular season games this past year, scoring four goals and adding five assists. He had one goal and one assist in 15 regular season games with Cowichan after the trade. In the five game playoff series against Powell River, Chorney scored twice for the Caps.