Aidan Kelly Traded To Bathurst

Just a few hours after announcing 19-year old Saint John native Ryan Tesink had been traded, the Saint John Sea Dogs made another move involving a 19-year old Saint Johner.

The Sea Dogs have traded forward Aidan Kelly to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in exchange for 17-year old defenseman Jeremy Doucet.

Kelly was selected by Saint John in the second-round of the 2009 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft. This is his fourth year with the Sea Dogs and has two goals and eight assists 35 games after recording 32 points in 61 games last season.

Kelly has not produced like many thought he would this season and a change of scenery may be good for him. It’ll be interesting to see how he does with the Titan.

“Aidan has been a pleasure to work with over his three-plus years in Saint John,” said Sea Dogs head coach and General Manager Mike Kelly in a release. “He has done everything we have asked of him while he has been with us.  He has been an excellent teammate and a versatile forward who was an important piece of our successful teams over the past three years.”

Doucet, a fifth-round pick of the Titan last June, has two assists in 18 games this year. He’s a Dieppe native and is listed at six-foot, 200-pounds.

“It is tough to say goodbye to players like Aidan but we hope he has an opportunity to play an important role for his new team and we will be getting a young defenseman in Doucet that competes hard and hopefully become an important part of our success in the future,” Kelly said.

The Titan sit fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 14^th overall in the league with a 14-20-4-1 record. They sit one-point back of the Sea Dogs in the standing and have played two fewer games.

Bathurst plays Saint John three more times this season. They meet in Bathurst on February 8 and on March 2 and in Saint John on March 8. The Titan take on the PEI Rocket in Charlottetown tomorrow.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation