On Jan. 9, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs completed a trade with the Merritt Centennials to send forward Jack Ziliotto to the Interior Conference team. In return, the Bulldogs received forward Cullen Emery and goaltender Beau Lane.
Because of the deal, the Bulldogs hold Lane’s B.C. Hockey League playing rights as he is currently playing for the U.S. Hockey League’s Muskegon Lumberjacks.
As for Emery, he isn’t playing in the BCHL right now either. He has returned to Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Massachusetts, but the Bulldogs do have his BCHL playing rights.
Ziliotto zips to Merritt
Ziliotto played for the Bulldogs since the start of this season after signing in Alberni Valley last June. Before joining the Bulldogs, he spent the previous two seasons in the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
From 2021 to 2023, Ziliotto skated in 107 games for the Mississauga Chargers and posted 38 goals and 94 points. In 23 games with the Bulldogs this season, the Waterdown, Ontario product put up a goal and four assists.
Since being traded to the Centennials, Ziliotto has posted four goals and 12 points in 19 games as of this writing, eclipsing his point total in Alberni Valley by a wide margin. The 2005-born forward is committed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to play NCAA Division I hockey starting with the 2024-25 season.
Lane leaps to Michigan
As mentioned above, the Bulldogs hold Lane’s BCHL playing rights after this trade. The native of Pembroke, Massachusetts is skating in the USHL, though.
After playing three games in Merritt, Lane left the Cents in the third week of November and was signed by the Lumberjacks, making his debut with them in a backup role on Nov. 30. As of Mar. 20, Lane has played seven games for Muskegon, going 4-1 with a 3.81 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.
Since Lane was born in 2004 and doesn’t have a college commitment for 2024-25, he has one more season of junior hockey left. There is a chance he could return to the BCHL and play for Alberni Valley next season.
Emery heads back to school
As mentioned above, Emery returned to Dexter Southfield School to play U.S. prep school hockey. The Los Angeles, California product’s time in the BCHL was brief.
After being recruited by the Victoria Grizzlies, Emery only played one game for them. On Oct. 6, the Grizzlies traded the 2005-born right winger to the Centennials for future considerations.
Emery got into five games with Merritt, scoring a pair of goals. His final game for the Cents was a 6-4 victory over West Kelowna on Nov. 3. In 30 games since returning for Dexter Southfield, Emery has 18 goals and 44 points as of Mar. 20.
What each team got
Analyzing what each team got from the trade is somewhat complicated. For Merritt, the answer is simple — it received a veteran junior A forward. For Alberni Valley, there are a couple of perspectives.
The first perspective is that the Bulldogs are preparing for the future. At his age, Emery has two seasons of junior hockey left and will be on college teams’ radar after putting up a solid prep school season as a senior. As for Lane, he has one more season of junior hockey eligibility left.
To just spitball about next season between the pipes for the Bulldogs, Lane could potentially form a new tandem with Hlib Arstabanov. Starting goaltender Callum Tung is off to college after this season, along with up to 17 other players on Alberni Valley’s roster.
That said, Arsatbanov may depart the team after this season to return to Europe or go elsewhere. The Bulldogs also signed goaltender Vladislav Bryzgalov to their roster early last month following the departure of Evan Leggett to pursue other opportunities. Bryzgalov spent time this season with the Ogden Mustangs of the National Collegiate Development Conference. Maybe Lane and Bryzgalov form the new tandem.
As for the second perspective, maybe the Bulldogs simply traded Ziliotto to clear up roster space and there are no plans for Lane or Emery to play for the team. They also shipped forward Jimmy Lyver to Merritt on Feb. 7 for future considerations.
For the immediate future, Alberni Valley used the roster space from sending out Ziliottto and Lyver to sign 2003-born forward Braxton Buckberger and 2006-born defender Ronan Buckberger from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Nipawin Hawks.
