The Nipawin Hawks have acquired Brady Grasdal from the Portage Terriers. (Submitted Photo/Portage Terriers, Trevor Hustins)

By Clark Stork

Veteran Presence

Hawks swap defensemen in deal with Portage

Jun 14, 2022 | 1:43 PM

The Nipawin Hawks have brought a Saskatchewan-born player back to his home province for the last year of his junior career.

The team announced on Saturday that 2003-born defenseman Ranon Joseph had been traded to the Portage Terriers for 2002-born rearguard Brady Grasdal and a player development fee.

General manager, Tad Kozun, said adding a veteran presence and bringing the Moose Jaw product back into Saskatchewan are two exciting pieces of the transaction.

“We made a move for a 20-year-old, just trying to shore up our backend with a little bit of experience and help our younger guys along,” Kozun told northeastNOW. “He was in a good program out in Portage for the last couple of years and is from Saskatchewan and we were able to bring him back.

“He’s a good skater and moves the puck well and he’s pretty smart back there. We’re really excited to add him and see what he can bring to the Nipawin Hawks.”

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Grasdal played 45 games for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s (MJHL) Terriers last season, scoring once and adding nine assists. In the COVID-19 shortened season he played eight games in Portage and had two assists.

Kozun said acquiring another three-year player to help along the entire group was something the organization was seeking this offseason.

“I think Brady is going to bring a lot to our team. Just the Junior A experience under his belt, it’s one of those things for a lot of the 19-year-olds, they were rookies again this year. When you think of the guys coming back here there hasn’t been a lot of hockey being played. If we can add a guy of his calibre and the number of games he’s played, it’s huge.”

Joseph was acquired by the Hawks last season, he played 23 games scoring once and adding four assists.

Off the ice, the Hawks are in the final stages of naming an assistant coach to join Kozun behind the bench for his first full season.

On Tuesday, June 21 the team will hold its annual general meeting at the Centennial Arena.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork