The Trail Smoke Eaters have lost a fourth player this season to major junior hockey.
Owen McCarthy has been signed by the Victoria Royals and will play in the WHL for the rest of the season.
The 17-year-old defenseman from Trail went to the Royals training camp last fall and was reassigned to the Smoke Eaters before the regular season.
He has eight assists and 55 penalty minutes in 66 regular season games with the Smokies over the last season and a half.
Owen had just returned to the lineup on New Year’s Eve after missing six games with a lower body injury.
McCarthy was selected by the Royals in the fourth round, 69th overall during the 2023 Bantam Draft.
He has already has an NCAA Division I scholarship with the University of UMass Lowell.
Fellow defensemen Gairin Michalski and Drew Anastasio along with centreman Cade De St. Hubert left earlier this season for the USHL.
However, the Smokies are still in the hunt for first place in the BCHL’s Interior West Division.
The second place Smokies stung Salmon Arm 5-3 on Saturday and host division leading West Kelowna Friday, trailing the Warriors by four points with a game in hand.
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