Rocket deals Haddad to Cape Breton
May 25, 2007 :-: Charles Reid - The Guardian
P.E.I. Rocket forward Joey Haddad has been traded to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles for 20-year-old defenceman Jason Swit, a source close to the Rocket confirmed Thursday.
Haddad, a 19-year-old Sydney, N.S., native, returns home for his third Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season. P.E.I. drafted the six-foot, two-inch, 190-pound right winger in the fourth round (59th overall) in 2005 and he tallied 36 points in 117 regular season games with the Rocket.
The six-foot, two-inch, 200-pound Swit joins the Rocket after two solid seasons on the Eagles blueline, going plus-eight and racking up just 96 penalty minutes in 126 games.
Swit, a Missassauga, Ont. native, should steady a Rocket defence with the likely departures of 
Pascal Boutin, 19, and Marc-Andre Gragnani, 20.
Speculation has Boutin being traded before the draft while Gragnani, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, is expected to sign an entry-level contract with the NHL club this summer.
The young Rocket D-crew includes 17-year-olds Jordon Southorn, Danick Malouin and Freetown native Allan Clow, a fifth-round pick last year who has decided to play major junior hockey in the fall instead of returning to his Aurora, Ont., prep school.
Experience sits on the shoulders of Swit and 19-year-olds Pierre-Luc Lessard, a fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2006, and Benoit Gervais.
Haddad’s trade opens the Rocket’s options in the QMJHL draft (it holds the 11th pick overall) on June 2 in Drummondville, Que., and the CHL import draft (33rd overall) later in June.
With the Rocket likely picking forwards in both drafts, Haddad if he remained, would have faced a crowded forward lineup when training camp opens in mid-August.
The deal cannot be made official until the first trading period opens on June 1.
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Haddad-Swit facts
‰ Joey Haddad in two seasons with P.E.I. - Regular season: 117 games, 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists), 151 penalty minutes, -21 plus-minus. Playoffs: 6 games, no scoring.
‰ Jason Swit in two seasons with Cape Breton - Regular season: 126 games, 50 points (12 goals, 38 assists), 96 penalty minutes, +8. Playoffs: 21 games, 2 assists, 28 penalty minutes, +5.
