When the wheeling and dealing was done at the National Hockey League draft last weekend, Drayton native Nick Spaling found himself with a new set of teammates, including NHL superstar Sidney Crosby.
Spaling, who was drafted in the second round of the 2007 NHL draft by the Nashville Predators and has played a full-time role with the team for the past four years, was part of a three-player trade that saw high scoring winger James Neal move to the Predators from the Penguins.
Spaling, who scored a career high 13 goals and 32 points last season, and forward Patrick Hornqvist (22 goals, 31 assists) went the other way in the deal.
In his last three seasons in Pittsburgh, Neal has scored 88 goals in 169 games. He recorded 61 points on 27 goals and 34 assists in 2013-14.
Spaling’s mother Lori said on Monday her son was still getting used to the idea of the trade.
“You know he’s got a lot of good friends in Nashville and it’s always a hard thing. But that’s life and you know it,” she commented.
Since he first cracked the Predators line-up in the 2009-10 season, Spaling has recorded 84 points (40 goals, 44 assists) in 297 NHL games. He has also played 22 playoff games, scoring two goals and seven assists.
Spaling could not be reached for comment by press time. However, shortly after the trade on June 28 he tweeted, “Thanks @PredsNHL for all the support over the years, going to miss it there. Looking forward to new opportunity in Pittsburgh.”
