Remparts add Tkachev and Verrier in flurry of pre-trading period deals

It’s official. Vladimir Tkachev is a Quebec Rempart, capping off a flurry of deals in a special pre-sale portion of the QMJHL winter trading period.

The shifty pint-sized Russian was shipped to la vieille capitale over the weekend and the trade was set in motion Monday. Some paperwork needed to be shuffled around to make the deal official.

The deal was first reported Friday by most outlets. Tkachev was already in Quebec Saturday to meet the media.

The QMJHL winter trading period doesn’t officially open until December 19, but teams can trade players not on their active roster, Europeans and 20-year-olds until then. The mid-season trade period closes January 6.

In exchange, the Remparts sent back overager Taylor Burke, a physical forward who didn’t seem to fit in coach Boucher’s lineup, and a seventh and eighth round pick in 2015. Burke watched the Wildcats beat the Titan 3-1 on Sunday at the Moncton Coliseum, but couldn't report officially to the team until the trade call was official from the league.

Tkachev is healthy, though he hasn’t played a QMJHL game since November 4, sitting out the last month with an injury. He has 16 points in 13 games this year for the Wildcats.

Boucher also acquired Jérome Verrier from the Drummondville Voltigeurs for Adam Chapman and a first rounder. Both players will play in the Remparts top two lines, and Verrier made his debut over the weekend.

Remparts head coach and director of hockey operations Philippe Boucher said he had to strike while the iron is hot.

“I wanted to improve my club before the start of the [trading period],” he said. “[Rimouski head coach and GM] Serge Beausoleil has already improved his club, and I wanted to as well. We paid a fair price.”

Tkachev gives the Remparts a crafty second Euro who can two-prong the European attack with leading scorer Dmytro Timashov. He will make his debut on Wednesday, fittingly in Moncton, and will play alongside Kurt Etchegary and Adam Erne.

The Remparts had an import slot open for Vladimir Kamenev, but it’s clear he will remain in the KHL. They will have 14 days to make a choice on their three Europeans, and Boucher has made it clear Kamenev’s rights will be forfeited.

One hole still remains; that of Anthony Duclair, who is up with the New York Rangers of the NHL and is a healthy scratch again for Monday night's tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Remparts slick number 10 would add a ton of offense to the 2015 Memorial Cup host team.

The Wildcats weren’t done either, sending their captain Chris Lalonde to Shawinigan Saturday for a second and a third rounder in 2016 on Friday.

According to Stéphane Paquette of l’Acadie Nouvelle, both Wildcats deals are still open and as many as six players could make their way to Moncton from either the Remparts or the Cataractes.

As to who those players might be and when they will be announced, that’s up in the air. They could be announced on December 19, or January 6, or the day of the QMJHL draft, or next year's training camp, or anywhere in between.

A flurry of deals in the past several days have allowed for some weapons to shift hands before the winter trading period officially opens.

Drummondville sent overage blueliner Charles-David Beaudoin and a pick to Rimouski for Jarrod Shipley and two picks.

Blainville-Boisbriand sent 20-year-old forward Marcus Hinds to Cape Breton for a pick, and shipped Antoine Dufort-Plante to Drummondville for a pick.