After a very competitive training camp and 4-2 pre-season the Okotoks Oilers had to make some tough decisions as they shorten their roster for the start of the 2015-16 Alberta Junior Hockey League season.

The team did make two different trades on Monday. First sending Jake Dube to the Camrose Kodiaks in exchange for Danton Davis.

Davis played 52 games with the Kodiaks last season putting up seven goals and 19 assists with a Camrose team that went to the South Final.

Oilers Head Coach and General Manager James Poole says with plenty of depth on the Oiler blue-line and needing some offensive help it was tough to move the 3rd year defenceman.

"Jake's a great kid and he's been great for the Oilers, kind of had in the back of our mind that maybe a fresh start would maybe be the best thing for him," he said. "In the meantime we felt we needed some help up front, a little bit of size and fits with our speed identity and a player age wise fits with going young."

Davis is an 18 year old from Camrose and will be in good company with 13 other players his same age currently on the Oiler roster.

Poole says the team is excited to land a player with Davis' cailbre.

"One he came from a good program last year that was coached well so we knew he had some structure to his game that he would make the adjustment quicker," he said. "But ideally it was a player that we felt has a ton of potential, already a quality player that put decent as a 17 year old last year."

As part of the new identity the Oilers are trying to establish Poole says Davis is a key piece to the line-up.

"We're getting a player that I think has a ton of upside, plays a style that fits the identity that we want to have in terms of being fast and playing with some edge," he says. "It's puts Jake (Dube) into a situation where hopefully a fresh start will do him some good and he's going to a good place so we looked at it as a win-win deal for players and both teams."

Poole made one other trade yesterday send Zach Whitby to the Calgary Canucks for future considerations.

The Oilers open-up the regular season September 16th in Drumheller and the season opener goes Friday the 18th against the Calgary Mustangs.

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