Surrey, B.C. – The Surrey Eagles have connected on a multi-team trade that sees them acquire forward Jacob Bonkowski (03) from the Powell River Kings, as well as the BCHL playing rights of forward Primo Self (01) from the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Going to Cowichan in the deals are forward Gabe Schovanek (01) and the BCHL playing rights of OHL defenseman Colin Campbell (01).
Beginning with Bonkowski, the Richmond, BC native played his rookie season with the Powell River Kings in the Coquitlam Pod during the 2021 Pod Season against the Eagles and the Coquitlam Express. The left-shot forward showed off his playmaking prowess during the campaign, scoring 3 goals and adding 13 assists for 16 points in 20 games. The 6’0 forward was also a physical presence helping the Kings finish 2nd in the Pod Season.
For Eagles head coach Cam Keith, he’s excited about what forward Jacob Bonkowski will bring to the team next season. “Bonk is a new era power forward with NHL potential. He can cause problems for opposing teams below the dots, in transition and on the powerplay.”
Self, the other forward acquired by Surrey, played last season in the USHL with the Dubuque Flying Saints. In 37 games in the USHL, Self scored 8 goals and added 4 assists for 12 points. Primo’s last season in the BCHL came in 2019-20 with the Capitals, where he scored 12 goals and 25 assists in 51 games. Primo had 3 goals and had 5 points in 5 playoff games for the Capitals in their series win over the Kings before the BCHL playoffs were shut down due to the global pandemic.
Gabe Schovanek heads to the Capitals after playing the last 2 seasons with the Eagles. Last season in the Coquitlam Pod, Schovanek had 7 goals and 12 points total in 18 games. Over his Eagles career, Schovanek played in 67 games for Surrey, scoring 20 goals, 31 assists for 51 points.
Colin Campbell last played with the OHL’s Guelph Storm during the 2019-20 season. In 23 OHL games, Campbell had 1 assist. He had no team of record in the 2020-21 campaign.
We’d like to thank Gabe for everything he has done with the Eagles the past two seasons, and wish him nothing but the best moving forward with his hockey career.
Finally, we’d like to give a big welcome to Jacob and Primo for joining the flock!
There are plenty of moving pieces to these deals, spanning 3 BCHL teams, and 2 CJHL clubs. Here’s the full breakdown of the trades that made this all happen:
- In the initial deal with Cowichan, Surrey acquired the rights to Primo Self in addition to forward Tanner Komzak (02).
- Surrey then dealt Komzak to the Whitecourt Wolverines of the AJHL, with the return being the rights to forward Jacob Boucher (02).
- Boucher ended up on the move once again, with his rights landing with the Humboldt Broncos of the SJHL. This trade brought Vermont-committed forward Karter McNarland (03) from Humboldt to Surrey,
- Lastly, McNarland’s stint as an Eagle was a short one, as his rights land with Powell River to secure Bonkowski.
Stay tuned right here to surreyeagles.ca or our social media channels for more news as we get closer to the Return of Hockey on October 8th at The Nest!
