BREAKING: Blades, Tigers, Pats team up for three way deal
The Saskatoon Blades announced Wednesday morning two separate transactions with the Regina Pats and the Medicine Hat Tigers.
First, the Blades sent overage forward ’97 born Cameron Hebig and ’98 born goaltender Ryan Kubic to the Regina Pats in exchange for ’97 born goalie Tyler Brown, ’00 born forward Bryan Lockner, Regina’s 2020 1st round draft pick, Regina’s 2020 2nd round pick, and Regina’s 2019 and 2021 3rd round draft picks.
In a separate deal, the Blades then acquired ’98 born forward Max Gerlach from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for ’00 born forward Bryan Lockner, Saskatoon’s 2020 1st round pick, and Saskatoon’s 2021 2nd round pick.
In Gerlach, the Blades add a bona-fide top line winger with 179 career regular season games under his belt and 11 playoff contests. A perennial 30 goal scorer, Gerlach who is originally from Flower Mound, Texas, debuted in the WHL with Tigers at age 17 and scored 30 goals and 15 assists appearing in all 72 games as a rookie. Last season as an 18-year-old, Gerlach once again played in all 72 games, this time scoring 34 goals and 62 points. Through 35 games this year, the veteran winger has 16 goals and 19 helpers.
Gerlach was originally drafted in the 6th round by the Tigers, 120th overall, and has 142 career points in 179 contests.
In Brown, the Blades add a veteran goaltender with over 150 games experience and a career .904SV%. In 152 career games, Brown has won 76 games and posted 7 shutouts. He also has a wealth of post-season experience to bring to the table with 35 post-season games to his credit.
Saskatoon Blades General Manager Colin Priestner explained the process of the three way deal.
“Cameron was a fantastic player for us since he was 16 and it is tough to move a player of his quality but we feel this deal gives us pivotal assets for the future with another projected lottery pick from a rival team, and we knew with some of the assets recovered in this deal we could go out and get a player of Max Gerlach’s ability.” said Priestner, who added Gerlach will give the Blades another year of offensive support. “Max is a pure sniper who sees the game at a high level and is one of the top goal scoring wingers in the WHL over the last three years. He will be a major two-year player for us and gives us the scoring threat we were looking for for our young franchise centremen. Players like him do not come available very often and the fact he can play for this year and next year as an overage made this decision easy for us.”
In the deal with Regina, Priestner touched on the benefits of adding an experienced net minder like Brown. “Tyler has 35 games of playoff experience as a starter, as he will make an excellent tandem with our young tender (Nolan Maier).” said Priestner. “This move also gives Ryan an opportunity to get a chance to play in the Memorial Cup and we wish him the best in Regina.”
The Blades would like to thank Cameron Hebig who was drafted by the Blades and grew up in Saskatoon for his contributions to our organization and community. We wish him the best of luck with Regina at the Memorial Cup in May. Cam played 238 games with Saskatoon and will be missed.
The Blades would also like to thank Ryan Kubic for his contributions to our team and city during his tenure with Saskatoon, and wish him the best with the Pats.
Both Tyler Brown and Max Gerlach will be arriving in Saskatoon today and are expected to be in the lineup tonight at SaskTel Centre when the Blades play host to the Medicine Hat Tigers. Brown will wear jersey #31 and Max Gerlach will wear #9.
Summary:
To Saskatoon:
’98 F Max Gerlach
’97 G Tyler Brown
2020 1st round pick (REG)
2020 2nd round pick (REG)
2019 3rd round pick (REG)
2021 3rd round pick (REG)
To Regina:
’97 F Cam Hebig
’98 G Ryan Kubic
To Medicine Hat:
’00 Bryan Lockner
2020 1st round pick (SAS)
2021 2nd round pick (SAS)