Today Cody Black, general manager of the Anaheim Outlaws and his counterpart in Halifax, Dean Atkins announced the following trade:

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The Anaheim Outlaws are one of the two expansion teams. As of yet it is not clear for how long the league will keep having 10 teams. The league might go back to 8 teams in two or three seasons, once the S46 draft class will mostly have left for the SHL. The management team in Anaheim is looking for short term success. "We hope this trade sets us up for future success and help us to continue growing the team in the direction we want. The young players will get valuable experience from having these guys on the ice with them and hopefully a playoff run under their belts.", so Cody Black. With Kristers Dzelme and Vegeta Muerto the Outlaws receive a top 6 forward and a top 4 defenseman.

Dzelme is the more important piece of this trade. The active Latvian centerman helps strengthen Anaheim's weakest position. "We felt a little thin down the middle as we targeted a lot of wingers at the draft. We were approached by Halifax and told us they may have a few players that would fit into what we were looking for. Kristers is a big strong center who can set up his teammates while also looking after his own end and we feel he has potential to grow into a 1C in the future.", Black tells us. Indeed the only active center of the Outlaws so far is Derek Bohne who was aquired earlier this season from Vancouver. Dzelme is a Season 44 prospect and was drafted in the third round by the Calgary Dragons. He sits at 269 TPE, so he isn't the fastest growing player, but he's above average on the Outlaws roster and still active.

Muerto rounds out the Outlaws' top 4 defense. Cody Black made the following statement about him: "Muerto is a hulking defender who is capable in all three zones and is someone we felt could mentor a relatively young team." Anaheim's defense has not been bad so far The two more experienced but less active defenders Aaron Freakin Rome and Milo Momoka were joined by the two active rookies Osbert Whacker and Mathias Seger. Vegeta Muerto is a season 45 prospect and has been drafted in the second round by the Hamilton Steelhawks. He has not been active recently, but with his 291 TPE, he will certainly improve his new team for at least the next two seasons.

The Anaheim Outlaws have exceeded expectations in the first half of this season and have been able to keep up with the St. Louis Scarecrows and the Colorado Raptors. This trade improves the team further and we might be able to see a surprise from the Outlaws in this season's playoffs.

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The Halifax Raiders have not had a good first half of the season. Of their first 25 games, they only managed to win 3 and with their 12 points, the Raiders sit at the bottom of the table. It's safe to say that Halifax has no hope to achieve anything this season and they continue their rebuild. The team has a bunch of active rookies and if they can manage to get some more next season, they will likely manage to be a competitive SMJHL team in two or three seasons. They received two 3rd round picks from the next two entry drafts in return for their two veteran players. The picks can be upgraded however, if the Anaheim Outlaws manage to win a play off series within the next two years. It has to be said, that they actually have to win a series. If the Outlaws manage to be in 6th place at the end of this season and directly qualify for the quarter finals, but then end up losing that round, the S47 pick will not be upgraded. However the chances that the conditions will be met within the next two seasons are intact and Halifax can hope to add some quality players over the next seasons.

It is obviously hard to say yet how good these picks will be. We don't know how deep the next two drafts are going to be, but a third round and a conditional second round pick can definitely turn into high quality players.