AUSTIN, MN – The Bruins announced the acquisition of forward Garrett Elmore from the Brookings Blizzard on Wednesday in exchange for a tender. The Bruins also acquired a tender as part of a separate deal that saw forward Zach Kennedy dealt to the Bismarck Bobcats. 

Elmore, a three year NAHL veteran, played 89 games over the prior two seasons with the Blizzard, scoring 17 goals and adding 14 assists. He began his career with the Springfield Jr. Blues in 2013-14, where he suited up in 41 games. In 2015-16, he racked up 10 goals and 9 assists in 50 regular season games, plus one assist in four postseason contests.

“It’s been pretty cool just going there as a visiting player,” Elmore said about Riverside Arena. “They usually get a lot of fans and it’s a really good environment in there so I’m excited to see what’s going to happen this year.”

Elmore is from Brentwood, Tennessee and played under Bruins head coach Kyle Grabowski when Grabowski was a part of the Brookings coaching staff. Both men say they have a great relationship.

“The first thing I know about him is that he’s a great person,” Grabowski said. “He’s a good kid, he treats people right, he works hard. He does the things that we look for in kids that want to play for the Austin Bruins.”

Elmore is 6’5 and should help compensate the loss of size in Gilbert Gabor, who ages out of Junior eligibility. With the advantage of having a large number of returning players, Kyle and his staff can better keyhole the needs of the 2016-17 roster, as opposed to building from scratch last season.

“We can be a little more selective this year rather than just ‘hey we need hockey players,’” Grabowski said. “Garrett helps us. He gives us some size and strength on the wing.”

Kennedy played 94 games with the Bruins over two seasons, scoring 24 goals and adding 10 assists.

“Zach’s a 20-year-old player and he wanted to go somewhere where he’s going to get a better opportunity to showcase his particular skillset,” Grabowski said. “In the end we did the best thing for him. We sent him to a good program with a good coach where they lost a lot of veteran players. We wanted to give Zach an opportunity to be successful on a team that’s building its roster again.”

The NAHL Draft is less than two weeks away, as the Bruins move toward their main tryout camp beginning on July 6th at Riverside Arena. The Bruins have 19 players eligible to return next season.