Personal Take on the Trades.

Heading into this weekend there will be at least two new faces in the lineup for the Cougars when they welcome the Tri City Americans on Friday and Saturday.

If you missed it, the Cougars have dealt Nick Buonassisi to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for 18-year-old defenceman Reid Jackson and a fifth-round pick in 2012. Also the Cougars have added 19-year-old forward Campbell Elynuik from the Pats for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2012.

Obviously time will tell what these trades will accomplish for the Cougars, but on the surface I really like what Dallas Thompson has done.

Let me preface that thought by first saying that I thought the world of Nick Buonassisi and so did his teammates. He's a great kid, and a fine hockey player and should be able to help Lethbridge offensively.

That being said you have to give something to get something, and the Cougars get a defenceman that statistically has shown that he can play at a high level in the WHL. Last season he recorded 20 points for Lethbridge which gives Dean Clark another offensively capable blue-liner that can maybe take away some of the pressure from Martin Marincin and Cody Carlson.

It's no secret that Jesse Forsberg's absense has hurt the Cougars in a number of ways, but hopefully this weekend Forsberg will be cleared to play, then you add Jackson the mix, and all of a sudden you've got a defence-core that looks like this:

Gibb - Carlson

Marincin - Forsberg

Pilling - Jackson

Mylchreest - Springer

Smith (Suspended)

The addition of Elynuik up front gives Prince George more size, and also some more grit. Elynuik has a goal, two assists and 24 penalty minutes this season. He's not afraid to fight, but more importantly he can provide the Cats some physicality that at times may have been lacking during their recent road-trip.

Who knows where Dean Clark plans to use Elynuik up front, but certainly the additional of a guy like Eylynuik for a mid-conditional pick has to be seen as a WIN for this club.

At the end of the day the addition of both Jackson and Elynuik makes the Cougars a deeper team, and probably a better team in the long-run.