KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/SUBMITTED) -- The Knoxville Ice Bears have traded defenseman Ricky Helmbrecht to Augusta for rights for forward Chad Ziegler.

Ziegler, a Spruce Grove, Alberta, CA native was Augusta’s leading scorer prior to being called up by the Greenville (SC) Roadwarriors of the ECHL on Jan. 16, 2013. The 6’ 2”, 205 lbs forward will join the Knoxville Ice Bears if he is released by Greenville and is not picked up by another ECHL team.

"There is no doubt that Ricky is a great defenseman and has played some good hockey for us over the past year and a half. I felt like we needed to address our lack of consistent physicality and size up front and unfortunately in order to do that it cost us one of our assets," said Head Coach Mike Craigen.