Hawks Acquire McColgan; Draft Cederholm

The Portland Winterhawks made a pair of transactions: selecting 18-year-old Swedish defenseman Anton Cederholm with the 60th pick in the CHL Import Draft; then acquiring forward Shane McColgan from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for two draft picks.

The Hawks selected Cederholm on the heels of him being taken in the fifth round, 145th overall, by the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL Draft.

Cederholm, 6’2”, 207 pounds, played 36 games with Rogle of the Swedish SuperElit League last season, registering five goals and eight assists for 13 points, along with a +27 rating.

“Anton is a big, physical defenseman who can play an excellent two-way game,” said Winterhawks GM & Head Coach Mike Johnston. “I’ve heard great reports about him and several NHL teams were high on him going into the Draft.”

Teams can only carry two European players, and with the possible addition of Cederholm the Winterhawks waived defenseman Kirill Vorobev. Oliver Bjorkstrand, who led all WHL rookies in scoring last season and was selected in the third round of the NHL Draft by Columbus, will remain with the Hawks.

The Hawks acquired 20-year-old forward Shane McColgan from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a seventh round pick in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft and a third round pick in the 2015 Bantam Draft. McColgan had 19 goals and 47 assists for 66 points in 69 games last season.

“I’ve known Shane for a long time as a player and I believe he’ll bring energy, speed and experience to our lineup,” said Johnston.

In addition, forward Joey Baker has chosen to pursue educational opportunities and will not return for his overage season. With Ty Rattie and Tyler Wotherspoon expected to play professionally next season, the acquisition of McColgan gives the Hawks one overage player to start the season.

http://www.winterhawks.com/article/w...raft-cederholm