The-James Hockey League

Kondo moved out for Futures and Half-Season Report

by Kamloops Knights on Sat Feb-19 2022 23:56 worth $1,890,000.00 (1260 words)

Today the Kamloops Knights announced that they traded their former 1st line LW, Joakim Kondo for Teuvo Moe and a 2nd round pick.  Let's hear some of the reasoning behind this deal.
Before we get to that, Kamloops is on a 16 game unbeaten streak, 15 of the games are wins.  Why would they need to make a move like this and how does it affect their team?  We asked General Manager, John Pezel, to answer some of our burning questions.
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GM Pezel: "Jaokim has been a top player for us for many seasons and we want to thank him for his performance, especially when we needed it the most last playoff season."
We heard from Pezel at the beginning of the season that players were going to have to earn their spots this season and it looked early on that they were trying to see if Depres and Nosek could beat out the older Kondo and Jiri Bye for jobs.  That happened.  
Another big factor in the deal, according to sources inside the team, is the pending contract of Siklenka and Rasmussen, key players on the team.
Pezel: "Of course contracts and salary cap come into play here.  If we can get a player producing at or near the level of a more expensive veteran, we are going to go with that cheaper deal.  Joni Siklenka's big deal is coming up.  He took a home-town discount on his last deal for 2.6 million but he deserves to get paid on this next one."
Siklenka was the best defender in the league last season and he has been one of the best since he was drafted. Sources say that Siklenka is asking for 6 million dollars a raise, which would be more than double his contract now.  That money has to come from somewhere.  Also, in addition to Siklenka's money, Johnny Rasmussen is also going to want to get paid.
Pezel "Rasmussen is in a similar position as Joni.  He was sort of unproven when he took the 3.8 million dollar deal, but now he has a 50+ point season under his belt with three seaons 40+.  He is going to get a big raise here as he is the undisputed #1 RW at the moment."
McDavid has been pushing Rasmussen for the #1 title with the combination of production with high checking.  Even so, Rasmussen is reportedly asking for over 5 million per year as well.  Those increases alone make a deal like the Kondo one sensible.  Yan Nosek also made it alot easier on Kamloops playing in Kondo's spot and picking up 18 points in 18 games.  Nosek, a skilled 24 year old, had struggled to find a home with so many elite players around him.  
Pezel: "Nosex, I mean Nosek.... has been a big factor for our team this season.  McSween and Weibe take away a lot of the checking from other team's #1 line and Nosek has been able to get space because of those two guys.  I also really like the play of Clay Depres as a rookie".
Depres, a 6'5 left winger, had 31 goals and 51 points on Regina playing with McDavid, so it made a lot of sense when he was brought up to play with the 3rd line this season for the Knights.  So far, Despres has 19 points in 22 games and is looking like he has the job over Bye and the departing Kondo."
Pezel: "Depres has chemistry with McDavid, there is no doubt about that.  He wasn't quite ready last year to be productive every night, but now it seems he is."
So the Knights were able to move on from their former star Left Wing and make some more cap room.  Rumour has it that Jiri Bye, another top Left Wing or even Ricard Pilote, a top 50 Center who picked up 40 points last season on Halifax, may be available for the right price.
Pezel: "Yeah, obviously those players are sitting right now because we want to see if our young guys can play and as I mentioned, they seem to be able to do that.  What would we want for a Pilote or a Bye?  It would have to be a skilled player with good production numbers.  I think Tuevo Moe was a good example of what we are looking for.  We are not desperate to move them as we have the room now to hold onto their contracts and they are excellent players who can fill in for injury or still steal a job when they get another chance.  It's up to other teams who want to spend some quality assets to get stronger.  If not, we will keep them."
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Thoughts on the Teuvo Moe aspect of the deal.  
Pezel: "Moe projects to be a top Right Wing in the league.  His skill level is already super high and he had solid pro numbers this year on Kelowna.  He is 6 years younger than Kondo and because he is 22, we are going to use him on the farm this season."
Teuvo Moe has a big task of knocking off someone like Weibe, Rasmussen or McDavid to try and land a job next season in Kamloops.  We managed to interview Moe today about the trade and his new role in the Franchise.
Moe: "Well, management was pretty upfront with me today when we met for the first time.  They told me that the Knights are fighting for a cup these days and that I would have to be patient.  I was told that I would be heading straight to Regina to play there for a year, unless there was an injury.
We asked him if he was ok with that and also if he knew anyone in the organization.  Here is what he had to say.
Moe: "To be truthful, I think I probably needed more time at a lower level than I got.  In Kelowna, we are always loaded with prospects, but not enough veterans.  I'm actually looking forward to playing with Kucera in Regina for a season.  We are the same age and have played against each other in Junior and last year when I was in the farm.  I also know McDavid a little bit as he is only a year older than me and then Cormier, Lawrence and McDonagh as well.  So, it is an adjustment, leaving the team that drafted you, but at least I have a season to sort of get to know the franchise before I have more pressure to really make the team and take a job away from someone next year."
We asked Pezel to talk a bit more about Moe and the 2nd round pick as well.
Pezel: "Well Moe is going to season down on the farm unless something big happens.  We feel he needs a bit of time to play good minutes against players who maybe give him some more room, but then he should be primed and ready to make the team next season.  About the pick, well we are going into the draft with 8 now, so we will probably end up some some really stiff competition in Regina next season because of that.  It's our goal to make our franchise really successful from top to bottom and a lot of that has happened this year already with the overhaul of Regina towards all young, quality prospects.  We don't need veterans on the top lines down there anymore with the number of top picks we have had lately."

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