Before even playing his first NHL game, Roland McKeown has been traded by the team that drafted him this past summer. The Los Angeles Kings have traded the second round pick, along with a conditional first round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Andrej Sekera.
Hurricanes Executive Vice President and General Manager Ron Francis says McKeown has been on their scouts radar for some time.
“Roland has served in leadership positions for Kingston and Hockey Canada and is a good young defenseman that our scouts like. Obviously we are also happy to add an additional first-round pick.” Francis said.
The 19-year-old McKeown is in his third OHL season with Kingston, currently serving as team captain. He has 24 points in 54 games so far this season. A second round, 50th overall selection by the Kings, he has also represented Canada on the international stage. McKeown played in the 2013 U-18 World Championships and the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Tournament.
The first round draft pick also going to Carolina will be in the 2015 NHL Draft should Los Angeles make the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs, or the 2016 NHL Draft if they do not.
Going the other way is Sekera, who has scored two goals and earned 17 assists in 57 games with the Hurricanes this season. The Slovakia native joined Carolina from Buffalo in a trade at the 2013 NHL Draft and set career highs in goals (11), assists (33) amd points (44) in 74 games during the 2013-14 season. Sekera has 30 goals and 125 assists in 470 NHL games with Buffalo and Carolina.