It appears the Kamloops Blazers have made their decision with their import crunch.

The Blazers have inked a trade with the Regina Pats, picking up 18-year old Matthew Kieper in exchange for the 4th round pick in the WHL draft this year, as well as the Blazers’ 6th round pick in 2025.

The Winnipeg native has appeared in a dozen games for the Pats this season, with a 4.39 goals against average, and a 0.865 save percentage.

Blazers add G Kieper. Paid for it, but think there’s some untapped potential possible with the 18 year-old. That leaves them with three ‘tenders on the roster for the time being. https://t.co/TahhB0gWlz

— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) January 3, 2023

Czech goaltender Michael Schnattinger has now been placed on WHL Waivers, with teams being given 24-hours to claim him.

The Blazers had 3 imports on the roster, including Aapo Serell (D) and Jakub Demek (F), and needed to bring that number down to 2 before the January 10th trade deadline.