The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers made a trade on Friday afternoon, acquiring forward Rob Hellyer from the Oakville Rock.
Heading to Oakville are defensemen Thomas Whitty and Matt Wright.
Hellyer was a star with the Toronto Rock of the NLL for years and is now the captain of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs, where he scored 77 points in 18 games this season.
“He’s going to compete at a very high level,” said Lakers’ head coach and general manager Mike Hasen. “He’ll handle the ball for us a little more. he does a lot of great things with and without the ball but he’ll be a presence for us that will stabilize the ball on the right side. He’ll be in the right spots for our offense to flow and click together.”
Hellyer last played in the MSL in 2019. The pandemic cancelled the 2020 and 2021 seasons, and the Rock sat out the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In between stints with the Rock, he also spent the 2018 season out west with the Victoria Shamrocks.
Hasen wasn’t necessarily looking to trade two young defenders, but “the opportunity presented itself for Rob and it was two guys (Whitty and Wright) that Oakville’s general manager Steve Dietrich really likes. They had to be part of the deal at the end of the day for us to get better.”
Hasen also announced that after spending last season playing Sr. B in Quebec, Joe Resetarits will return to the Lakers and is “100 per cent committed to being here and helping us to compete for a Mann Cup again.”
Season tickets for the six-game home schedule are still available at the box office. Single-game tickets go on sale June 6, and the Lakers’ home opener is on June 13.
Photo by James Bennett/NLL
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