Alaska pulls trigger on trade

WASILLA — For the last several weeks, Alaska head coach Dave Boitz has known the Avalanche would need to acquire a blueliner to strengthen the defense in preparation for the final two months of the North American Hockey League regular season.

Boitz also knew he’d probably have to give up a high-end forward to snag that defenseman.

And as it turns out, that forward was one of his team’s leading scorers, Nardo Nagtzaam.

Late last week, the Avs traded Nagtzaam to the Alexandria Blizzard for defenseman Trent Johnson.

“I felt like we needed help back there,” Boitz said of adding Johnson, Alexandria’s top blueliner, to the Alaska defense.

In 33 games, Johnson posted a team-high +9 plus-minus rating for Alexandria. He handed out six assists and had only 32 penalty minutes.

“He’s not going to come out and score a bunch of goals, but he had the best plus-minus on their team,” Boitz said. “He’s steady.”

And steady was exactly what Boitz and the Avs were looking for.

Boitz said Johnson, a Duluth, Minn., native immediately jumps into Alaska’s group of to-four defenseman, and solidifies a group that includes the likes of Jake Williams, Jake Parenteau, Daniel Hildebrandt, Chase Van Allen and captain Logan Maly.

“He understands how to play defense,” Boitz said of Johnson. “He makes good decisions with the puck.”

Even though it’s hard to give up a player like Nagtzaam — who posted 13 goals and 16 assists in 30 games — Boitz said his team is much more deep at forward than on defense.

“We may not have anyone who’s going to lead the league in scoring, but we’ve got a bunch of guys who can score on any given night,” Boitz said.

Boitz also didn’t’ want to trade any of his players who hail from the 49th state.

Anchorage native Zach Smith currently leads the team with 29 points (17-12-29).

Fellow Anchorage products Kyle Pichler (7-20-27), Logan Rounds (11-12-23) and Robb Haider (6-15-21) are also among team leaders. Former Wasilla High standout Matthew Friese (10-11-21) is sixth on the team in scoring.

Nagtzaam is also a player the Blizzard targeted throughout the negotiations.

“He was the guy they wanted,” Boitz said.

Nagtzaam played in 78 games during his two-year stay in Wasilla. He posted 25 goals and 31 assists, and had an even rating.

Nagtzaam is an import player — he’s a native of Nijmegen, Netherlands — and considering his options in hockey, Boitz said he would have been surprised if Nagtzaam returned to Alaska for a third season.

Nagtzaam made an immediate impact for the Blizzard. He tallied two points in each of his first two games with Alexandria over the weekend. But Johnson was also exactly as advertised, recording a +4 rating in two wins over Kenai.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.