The Prince Albert Raiders have brought in a netminder ahead of the start of the Western Hockey League pre-season, as they acquired 19-year-old Jackson Berry from the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday for a conditional eighth round pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.
“Jackson went into Seattle last year and we thought performed very well in a tough circumstance,” Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt said in a prepared statement.
“We’re excited to add him to our roster and give him the opportunity to compete for a roster position.”
The Chestermere, Alta. product had a 4-8-1 record with a 3.59 goals against average and a .878 save percentage for the Thunderbirds this past spring and ended up serving as the starter for the club with Thomas Milic joined Canada’s Under-18 national team.
Berry was a sixth round pick by the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2017 and played in five games for the club in 2019-20 before joining the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder.
While the Raiders have three other signed netminders on the roster, rookie Max Hildebrand is the only goalie that’s currently with the club.
Carter Serhyenko is at the Calgary Flames prospect camp, while Belarusian Tikhon Chayka is still waiting to enter the country.
The Raiders will open up their exhibition slate on Friday as the Regina Pats will come to the Art Hauser Centre for a 7 p.m. matchup.
