Blue liner, Liam Antoniuk will serve as a cornerstone piece on the backend for a young and hungry Red Wings team. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

North Stars -> Red Wings

North Stars’ Antoniuk headed to Weyburn to complete blockbuster last season

Aug 7, 2020 | 12:36 PM

The Battlefords North Stars announced Friday, they have dealt defenceman, Liam Antoniuk to the Weyburn Red Wings to complete last year’s Dec. 1 trade for all-star centerman, Ben Hiltz.

A Sherwood Park, Alta., product, Antoniuk joins fellow young guns, Jordan Gagnon and Dace Prymak, who had joined the Wings at the time of the deal, to fulfill the ‘futures’ element of the promised package.

The recently-turned 19-year-old, Antoniuk, picked up seven assists in 45 games with the Battlefords last season, while providing a steading presence on the backend for the first place North Stars.

Stars’ head coach and general manager, Brayden Klimosko, said he wishes Antoniuk nothing but the best in Weyburn, as the Red Wings are receiving a quality player on the ice, and young man off of it.

“It’s probably the toughest deal I’ve had to make yet as a young general manager,” Klimosko said. “Especially with letting someone like Antoniuk go, he’s a great kid and I think he could have potentially been our captain [down the line]. It was really tough but it’s just part of junior hockey at times. I wish him all the best and Weyburn’s got a good one there.”

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Antoniuk said he won’t soon forget his first season of junior hockey, calling his rookie campaign last year in the Battlefords, ‘one to remember.’

“I’m definitely very grateful for the experience, not many players get to play on such special teams and hopefully I get to play on another one in the near future,” Antoniuk said. “I’ll definitely take away just the experience I had with my teammates; they were awesome and we were a close group of guys who had a lot of fun.

To my billets and the fans and obviously the coaches, it was overall just an awesome experience and I’m just glad I got to be a part of what we had last year,” the defenceman added.

Weyburn is a team brim with young talent that should pose a threat come the fall. Antoniuk said he is looking forward to the opportunity ahead to join the Wings, and help contribute to their success moving forward.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1