Jackals trade St. Croix for two players
By Joe Mink • jmink@gannett.com • November 20, 2008
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Buzz up! The Elmira Jackals have traded defenseman Chris St. Croix to the Las Vegas Wranglers for centers Paul McIlveen and Chris Korchinski.
Jackals coach Steve Martinson said Wednesday he needed to add depth at center, but he was also particularly concerned about the number of ECHL defensemen who have recently been called up to the American Hockey League.
"I thought his time with us was limited," Martinson said of the 29-year-old St. Croix, who had a goal and two assists in eight games with Elmira.
St. Croix has played in 241 AHL games in his career, including two with the Iowa Chops this season. Martinson said he believed an AHL team would be looking to bring him in as NHL teams call up AHL players to fill their rosters because of injuries.
"The coaches at Iowa liked him. ... I wasn't in a position to lose players without getting anything in return," Martinson said. "The idea is to loan players, but you take a risk when you loan a player.
"Chris is in a different category. He has a lot of AHL experience but isn't an AHL veteran. It's not my job to supply the AHL with players ready to step into the lineup. I thought the odds were against me. ... If a guy goes up, it's great for him, but it's not so great for us."
Martinson explained the situation was similar to the one a year ago with defenseman Bryan Rodney. He loaned Rodney to the Albany River Rats but never received anything in return, and the Jackals played a good portion of the season short of defensemen.
Meanwhile, Martinson said McIlveen and Korchinski will benefit the Jackals right away, as both can kill penalties.
"We didn't have enough penalty killers at forward," Martinson said.
McIlveen competed against Elmira forward Pierre-Luc Faubert when they were in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Martinson said, and those two could work on a line together. McIlveen had a goal and three assists in eight games this season with the South Carolina Stingrays before he was sent to Las Vegas. In 2007-08 the 5-foot-11, 180-pound McIlveen had 11 goals and 23 assists in 57 games with the Stingrays.
Korchinski, a 6-foot, 215-pounder, will center a more physical line, Martinson said. In nine games with the Wranglers, Korchinski had two goals and an assist.
St. Croix's opening on the blue line will be filled by Joe Grimaldi, who will have completed his suspension and be eligible to play Friday night in Trenton against the Devils. That will give the Jackals seven defensemen on the roster, Martinson said.
"I don't anticipate trading for any more players. I'm not actively looking for a trade," he said, adding some AHL teams have contacted him about putting some of their players with the Jackals.
Also on Wednesday, the Jackals announced goalie Mitch O'Keefe was loaned to the Binghamton Senators, only to report a few hours later he was returned to Elmira.
