North Stars trade for USHL blueliner

The Traverse City North Stars bolstered their blue line on Friday, completing a deal with Des Moines of the USHL to bring defenseman J.D. Cotroneo into the fold.

Cotroneo, who played in 14 contests this season for Des Moines, will help shore up the loss of Dean Burggrabe, who suffered season-ending injuries in a Jan. 22 game at Kalamazoo.

“We feel like we got a good, young defenseman who can come in and contribute right away,” said Stars GM Anthony Palumbo. “He had some injuries early on this season and didn’t get back on the ice until around Christmas, so we’re very fortunate to be able to add him.”

Last season, Cotroneo (6-foot, 200 pounds) led Hill-Murray High School in Minnesota to a 21-3-1 record and showed off his two-way game en route to scoring five goals and assisting on 11 others along the way.

The Woodbury, Minn., native was originally a third-round pick by Waterloo in the 2009 USHL Futures Draft.