Surrey, B.C. – The Surrey Eagles have traded forward Brandon Santa Juana (02) and defenseman Hayden Tuba (02) to the Powell River Kings to complete previous trades for forwards Michael Abgrall and Jacob Slipec.
Brandon Santa Juana was the Eagles’ longest-tenured player, having started his junior career as a 16-year old with the Eagles during the 2018-19 season. Santa Juana would play 3 seasons with the team, amassing 35 goals and 49 assists for 84 points in 127 regular-season games over his Eagles career. In Santa Juana’s lone playoff series in 2020, he had 2 assists to help the Eagles beat the Chilliwack Chiefs in round 1 before the playoffs ended prematurely. Santa Juana earned his commitment to the University of Connecticut in October of 2019, where he will inevitably be reunited with Eagles captain Hudson Schandor. Since being acquired by Powell River, Santa Juana has had his rights transferred to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
Hayden Tuba was signed before the 2021 Pod Season, and played in 13 games with the Eagles last season, registering 2 assists. Tuba came from the Greater Vancouver Canadians in the BC U18 League, and will look to build on his rookie season next year in Powell River.
In addition to these deals, 2002-born defenceman Ian Kern was acquired by the Eagles from Powell River prior to the Pod Season; his rights were traded back to Powell River at the beginning of June. He has since been traded again to the Prince George Spruce Kings.
We’d like to thank Brandon, Hayden, and Ian for their contributions to the organization, and we wish them nothing but the best moving forward in their junior hockey careers.
