POKERTHUMB

 

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club have acquired 1995-born defenseman Arvin Atwal from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a conditional sixth round draft pick in the 2017 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

Atwal, who fills the final 20-year-old vacancy on the Hurricanes roster, is coming off a career-high 25 points (6g-19a) along with 80 penalty minutes in 61 games last year with Vancouver. He is a right-hand shot defenseman who is 6’1” and 195-pounds.

The product of Delta, British Columbia, is a veteran WHL rearguard who has played 154 career regular season games, all with Vancouver, having scored 58 points (14g-44a) with 218 penalty minutes. He also appeared in four playoff games in 2014 collecting two assists with a plus-1 rating.

“We felt that we wanted to add to our depth on the backend and when you add an older guy like that, it gives you an opportunity to play your younger guys even more,” said Hurricanes General Manager, Peter Anholt. “I wanted to add a right-handed older defenseman that we could play Andrew Nielsen with and hopefully have a top-two pairing that can go head-to-head against top forwards on any other team. We are excited about adding [Arvin].”

Atwal was originally drafted by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2010 Bantam Draft 170th overall.

Catch up on all the latest on the Lethbridge Hurricanes by visiting the team’s website at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com, and/or follow on Twitter @WHLHurricanes.