The Kootenay Ice have traded forward Adam Rossignol for Tanner Muth, an 18-year-old defenceman with the Swift Current Broncos.

The deal, announced on Friday before the weekend, adds a third-year defenceman to the Ice's defensive core, while giving up Rossignol, who was a Kootenay bantam draft pick, spending the last three years with the Ice.

The deal was mutually beneficial for both sides, as the Ice currently struggle with injuries to key defenceman on the back end, while Swift Current has injuries of their own in the forward lines.

"It was one of those trades where it kind of works out for both teams," said Ice general manager Jeff Chynoweth. "They were looking for a '93 forward and we were looking for a '93 defenceman so it's one of those times where it's not too complicated; it's pretty simple."

Muth, a second round draft pick by the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2008, spent his rookie season with the club before shipping out to Swift Current last year.

Rossignol, who lines on the third unit with Brock Montgomery and Erik Benoit, had requested a trade prior earlier in December, according to Chynoweth.

Rossignol's request, coupled with the injuries to John Neibrandt and Luke Paulsen, necessitated that the Ice shop around for a defenseman, he added.

"Adam Rossignol had requested a trade prior to Christmas," said Chynoweth. "He just felt that with all our returning players that he didn't think he was going to get the ice time he thought he deserved and to his credit, he played through that, he told me he would; he played hard right through.

"After Christmas, unfortunately, we lost John Neibrandt and Luke Paulsen to some injuries and really sped things up in the sense that we had to get a defenceman in to fill the gap."

Rossignol, a seventh round pick by the Ice in the 2008 WHL draft, was skating on the third unit along with Brock Montgomery and Erik Benoit for most of the season. He tallied six goals and seven assists in 34 games this season.

It didn't take long for Muth's debut in the Rec Plex, as he played in Saturday's 3-2 loss against the Moose Jaw Warriors the day after the deal was announced.

He doesn't know a lot of players on the Ice roster, but says that he's been welcomed with open arms.

And while the coaches haven't sat down and talked with him in detail about his defensive role, he knows what he has to do to be successful.

"Coming in, I know the player that I am and I know the role I'm going to fit. I'm a hard-nosed, hard working guy that's just going to play hard, steady minutes so I'm going to do that," Muth said.

"I'm looking to play top four minutes; I'm just looking to be a shutdown guy out there, just play a simple game, get pucks out, get them in, if I can."

Muth made his physical presence known in the tilt against the Warriors, putting a solid hit on Brett Lyon, which Cody Beach took exception to.

The two exchanged pleasantries before dropping the gloves, and while Beach was the bigger fighter, Muth didn't back down and connected with a few fists.

"I kind of had to step up to the bell there, try to hold my own there with a bigger guy like [Cody] Beach," Muth said. "He's a pretty tough guy with a pretty good reach so I just tried to hold on and get a few punches in."

Any more WHL trading must be finalized by the January 10th deadline.