Veteran Tiger Kyle Baston traded to the King Rebellion

October 24, 2024 · 0 Comments

The Aurora Tigers’ youth movement took another leap forward on Wednesday when veteran forward Kyle Baston was traded to the King Rebellion for cash considerations.

In related roster moves on Thursday, the Junior A club continued its culling by releasing two more 19-year-olds: defenseman Lars Derstroff and forward Parker Bonsignore.

Tigers owner Jim Thomson explained the transaction that landed Baston with the contending team in King.

“We’re young. Kyle’s nineteen. King is going for it. They’re looking at Kyle Baston as a key piece of a championship team. This gives us more minutes for the kids to play and develop. When we do the analytics, they tell us that the young players can’t be stuck behind older players and lose ice time. That’s why we released Lars and Parker today, as well.”

The Tigers’ loss is certainly the Rebellion’s gain and King Head Coach Mark Joslin was pleased by the acquisition of Baston.

“He’s a big, strong guy and such a great skater. We need to get a little tougher as a hockey club. Kyle can play on the wing or at centre. He adds depth and versatility. We like what we see. Kyle has such good character. My assistant coaches are raving about how well Kyle fits in with the team.”

Baston, a prototypical, hard-checking power forward, scored 5 goals and 3 assists in 11 games this season for the Tigers. He was the club’s fifth-ranked scorer and one of the team’s Assistant Captains.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Aurora Tigers organization praised Baston’s contributions over the last two seasons.

“After 66 games as a Tiger and assistant captain this year, we would like to thank Kyle for everything on and off the ice as a Tiger. The Tigers organization would like to wish him the best of luck in King. Thank you, Kyle.”

By Jim Stewart