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Surrey Eagles continue busy offseason with flurry of trades

BC Hockey League team acquires Christophe Tellier, Juliano Santalucia and Jimmy Darby
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Former Surrey Eagles forward Corey Clifton (left) was traded to the Trail Smoke Eaters for defenceman Jimmy Darby (right inset). Former Wenatchee Wild forward Christophe Tellier (left inset) was also acquired on June 1. (Contributed photos)

A busy offseason for the Surrey Eagles has continued as the calendar has turned to June, with the BC Hockey League club making a flurry of recent deals.

On June 1 – the day that the league’s calendar officially flips to the 2019/2020 season – the Eagles acquired a pair of players from the Coquitlam Express, forward Dallas Farrell and defenceman Juliano Santalucia. The pair were the ‘future considerations’ that completed the Jan. 9 deal between the two teams that saw former Eagles captain Ty Westgard and Aaron White shipped to the Express.

However, while Santalucia will stay in the Eagles next, Farrell, 20, was almost immediately flipped by the Eagles to the Wenatchee Wild for forward Christophe Tellier.

Farrell scored 41 points in 51 games last year, and is committed to the University of Maine in 2020, but he’s more than two years older than Tellier, which no doubt was important for the rebuilding Eagles, who were the lone BCHL team not to make the playoffs last season and this year will hit the ice under the leadership of new head coach Cam Keith.

Tellier, meanwhile, tallied 10 goals and 20 assists in 53 games last season with the Wild, and added four more points in 16 playoff games. A native of Sherbrooke, Que., he is committed to NCAA Div. 1 Quinnipiac University for the 2020/21 season.

Santalucia, 17, is a right-shot blue-liner who had one goal and six assists in 51 games with Coquitlam last season.

Following those moves, the Eagles acquired defenceman Jimmy Darby from the Trail Smoke Eaters in exchange for forward Corey Clifton.

Darby, 18, is a six-foot-three, 200-pound North Vancouver native who Keith expects will make an immediate impact on the blue-line for the Birds.

“Jimmy is a hybrid defenceman,” Keith said. “He has the ability to make smart decisions out of the defensive zone, with high end play making ability in the offensive zone.”

Keith also spoke highly about Darby’s physical ability.

“He’s a force,” the coach said. “He will make things hard for the top end players on opposing teams.”

To make room for the newcomers – as well as a handful of recent signees brought aboard earlier this spring – the Eagles also dealt away two veteran players for future considerations, with Dawson McKay heading to the Powell River Kings and Liam Ryan off to the Nanaimo Clippers.



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