The Victoria Royals have swapped goaltenders with the Everett Silvertips.
Tyler Palmer played 61 games for the Royals but after a string of losses with Palmer between the posts, he hasn’t been in the team’s line up since mid-November.
Around that time, there were rumours swirling that Palmer requested a trade, however, the team remained quiet on the reason for his absence.
The Royals listed Palmer’s absence under ‘personal leave.’
Palmer is a 2003-born 19-year-old player with only one season left in the WHL before he ages out. He came to the Royals from the Spokane Chiefs in 2021 after a couple seasons as their backup goaltender
The Royals have acquired Braden Holt from the Everett Silvertips in the trade. The Montana born player has been the ‘Tips’ backup goalie since 2019 with 75 WHL games under his belt.
TRADE ALERT: The Royals have acquired goaltender Braden Holt from the Everett Silvertips, in exchange for goaltender Tyler Palmer.
READ 📝 | https://t.co/YmFD8r7dyR#ReadyToRoar pic.twitter.com/MMHsYhRUfc
— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) December 27, 2022
According to the ‘Tips, he was an integral part of Everett placing first in the western conference last season.
Holt has played 28 games this season with a record of 13-13-1 with one shutout victory and a save percentage of .892. Comparatively, Palmer has a save percentage of .876 and has only played 16 games in the 2022-23 season with a record of 3-10-3.
“We’d like to thank Braden for his time and efforts in Everett,” said Silvertips general manager/head coach Dennis Williams in a farewell to the goaltender.
“He has been a staple in our community. Braden is a model citizen and we wish him all the best in Victoria.”
It is unclear whether Holt will play his first game in the upcoming three-game series against the Vancouver Giants with away games on December 27th and 28th and a home game on December 30th.
That decision will be up to Victoria Royals General Manager and Head Coach, Dan Price.
Currently, the Royals are on a two-game winning streak after defeating Tri-City Americans in back to back thrillers before the Christmas break which saw the team score 13 goals.
