Komets announce player moves

Fort Wayne, IN --  The Komets announced Thursday a few player moves prior to the ECHL's trade deadline at 3pm ET.Defenseman Josh Elmes has been acquired by the Komets in a trade with Rapid City. The trade began with forward Alex Rauter being acquired by Allen and subsequently traded to Fort Wayne to complete a trade made earlier for goaltender Lukas Hafner.  Rauter's rights have been passed on to Rapid City for Elmes.Elmes (Elms), 25, skated his rookie season in 2016-17 in the SPHL before making his ECHL debut in Rapid City during 2017-18 scoring 13 assists in 59 games.  Elmes has appeared in 59 games this season with Rapid City scoring five goals and 19 points.Forward Gregg Burmaster has been added to the roster. Burmaster, 24, is expected to make his pro debut after completing a four-year collegiate stint this season with Utica College.  The Clinton, New York native helped Utica win the NCAA III Championship in 2017-18.  This year Burmaster served as team captain and led the Pioneers with 20 goals, 26 assists and 46 points in 29 games before earning All-American Team honors during the post-season.

The Komets also announced today that forward Taylor Crunk has been dealt to Orlando to complete the deal that sent Ryan Siiro from Orlando to the Komets.  Crunk made his pro debut with Fort Wayne skating six games at the end of the 2015-16 season following five years of juniors.  The forward was added to the Komets roster for his third consecutive full season at the start of the year and leads Fort Wayne with 126 penalty minutes.  During his Fort Wayne career, Crunk totaled four goals, 18 points and 318 penalty minutes in 118 games.In additional news, Brady Shaw has been loaned to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Shaw currently leads the Komets with 59 points (21 goals, 29 assists) and will be making his first AHL appearance this season with Chicago.  The forward made his AHL debut in 2016-17 skating six games with San Antonio and added five games last season.  Shaw began the season logging 23 games with Orlando before being traded to Fort Wayne in December.

Phelix Martineau has been reassigned from the AHL's Laval Rocket to Fort Wayne.  Martineau was on his second call-up to Laval and has scored four assists and 14 penalty minutes in 28 AHL games this season. The rookie forward has scored eight goals, 14 points and 14 penalty minutes in 13 games with Fort Wayne this year. 

See the Fort Wayne roster here

The week ahead-- The Komets started this week with a 6-5 home win over the Wheeling Nailers Wednesday and will face division rivals Kalamazoo and Toledo this weekend. The Komets skate at Kalamazoo Friday at 7:30pm and the Walleye visit at 7:30pm Saturday.

Komet Hockey Tickets--  Single game tickets for all Komet regular season home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office.  Enjoy several discount plans designed especially for your next group, or check out Komets Flex Tickets.  For more information visit Komets.com, call 260-483-0011 or see details here.