WHL NOTEBOOK: 2018 deadline changed the WHL
BY PERRY BERGSON
BRANDON SUN
In part two of a look back at the last 10 trade deadlines for the Brandon Wheat Kings, the stretch from the regular season champions in 2014-15 to the non-playoff team in 2018-19 comes under the microscope.
The trade deadline hits on Thursday, so head coach and general manager Marty Murray has some interesting decisions to make this week. For clarity’s sake, the deadline period will be defined as any deal between the end of the Christmas break and the actual WHL deadline.
The most recent five seasons ran in last week’s edition of the WHL Notebook.
2018-19
• Deadline: Jan. 10, 2019.
• GM: Grant Armstrong.
• BWK trades: — On Jan. 10, sent defenceman Chase Hartje to the Kootenay Ice for a third-round pick in 2019. (Owen Harris).
— On Jan. 9, sent Schael Higson to the Kelowna Rockets for defenceman Braydyn Chizen and a fifth-round pick in 2019. (Nick Jones).
• BWK recap: A WHL rule change that season dictated that signed 15-, 16- and 17-year-old players couldn’t be traded unless they asked for a deal. Higson had been sent home by the team, but they were able to acquire Chizen and a pick for his rights. Hartje was dealt to get him more playing time.
• Reaction: Grant Armstrong: “There are all kinds of conversations, but the way the rules have come into play, they’ve changed how we look at things within our league. It makes it more difficult to do certain aspects of deals, so you can’t look at prospects in the way that we used to look at it. We have to look at it completely different because those prospects are not available. You have to be a little bit more creative and there were things that we tried to do that we worked hard to try and accomplish. In my mind we got a third-round pick for Chase Hartje and we have a good player coming in here in Braydyn Chizen. The message is ‘Get going.’ It’s time to start winning some hockey games and doing the best that we can at this point.”
• Result: Missed playoffs.
• WHL blockbuster: The Portland Winterhawks acquire 18-year-old goaltender Joel Hofer from the Swift Current Broncos for six picks, including two first-rounders. Hofer, who now plays with the St. Louis Blues, spent a season and a half in Portland before graduating to pro hockey.
• WHL champion: Prince Albert Raiders. That year, the Raiders acquired overage forwards Dante Hannoun and Noah Gregor, 17-year-old goaltender Boston Bilous and 18-year-old defenceman Loeden Schaufler.
2017-18
• Deadline: Jan. 10, 2018.
• GM: Grant Armstrong.
• BWK trades:
— On Jan. 10, sent defenceman Kale Clague to the Moose Jaw Warriors for defenceman Chase Hartje, forward Luka Burzan, first-round picks in 2019 (Rylen Roersma) and 2021 (Roger McQueen), and a second-round pick in 2018 that belonged to the Prince George Cougars. (Brett Hyland)
— On Jan. 10, sent forward and team captain Tanner Kaspick plus prospect Cameron MacDonald to the Victoria Royals for first-round selections in 2019 (with a pick swap, Nate Danielson) and 2021 (Charlie Elick) plus defenceman Jonathan Lambos of Winnipeg and forward prospect Ty Thorpe.
• BWK recap: The Wheat Kings had the third-best record in the conference, but everyone around them spent wildly as the league’s approach to the deadline entered a new era of unrestrained madness that shattered all existing norms. As a result, the Wheat Kings surprised many by becoming sellers rather than buyers.
• Reaction: Grant Armstrong: “It’s a tough day. Be realistic. These guys were the heart and soul of our hockey club. When you see Tanner Kaspick walk into your room with tears in his eyes, I can’t say anything more. Kale Clague, we talked to him on the phone, and he was very upset. These guys grew up in this town, and it’s where they come from. They owe everything in their hockey career to the Brandon Wheat Kings. It’s tough. Every year you go through this. I circle Jan. 10 on my calendar, and I go ‘I hate that day.’”
• Result: Lost in conference semifinals.
• WHL blockbuster: The league champion Swift Current Broncos were the chief culprit of the wild deadline in 2018, with one deal showcasing their approach. They acquired overage forward Giorgio Estephan, 19-year-old goaltender Stuart Skinner and 19-year-old forward Tanner Nagel from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for overage goalie Logan Flodell, 16-year-old Logan Barlage, 17-year-old forward Owen Blocker and 19-year-old defenceman Matthew Stanley, plus a first-round pick, a second and a conditional third. They also paid two first-rounders for defensive defenceman Josh Anderson, and acquired overage forward Matteo Gennaro and 19-year-old forward Beck Malenstyn for 17-year-old forward Riley Stotts, 18-year-old defenceman Dom Schmiemann, and overage forward Conner Chaulk.
• WHL champion: Swift Current Broncos. It’s easier to list who stayed than who was acquired. Just 11 players drafted by the team were part of the playoff run, and that includes a young goalie (Joel Hofer) who was called up and didn’t see any action.
2016-17
• Deadline: Jan. 10, 2017.
• GM: Grant Armstrong.
• BWK trades:
— On Jan. 10, sent overage netminder Jordan Papirny and a fourth-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft to the Swift Current Broncos for goalie Travis Child, defenceman Kade Jensen, a second-rounder in 2019, and a fifth-rounder in 2018.
— On Jan. 10, sent defenceman Jordan Wharrie, 19, and a second-round pick in 2019 to the Vancouver Giants for overage defenceman Dmitry Osipov.
• BWK recap: With Logan Thompson set to take over in the crease, the veteran Papirny brought back a nice return. The big Russian defender Osipov added toughness and stout defensive play.
• Reaction: Grant Armstrong: “This is a hockey deal, and I really want to stress this. This is about making our hockey club better, and at some point you have to do things that hurt, and you have to separate yourself from some of the loyalties that you have as an organization. But the big part of it, we’re trying to make our hockey team better today to take on the task of being a strong hockey club in the second half and on into the playoffs.”
• Result: Lost in quarterfinals.
• WHL blockbuster: The Prince George Cougars, who signalled their intentions earlier in the season when they acquired defenceman Brendan Guhle, acquired 18-year-old Russian forward Nikita Popugaev from the Moose Jaw Warriors for 18-year-old forward Yan Khomenko, 17-year-old forward Justin Almeida, a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick.
• WHL champion: Seattle Thunderbirds. They picked up overage goalie Rylan Toth, 19-year-old forward Tyler Adams 18-year-old goalie Matt Berlin, and 19-year-old defencemen Auston Strand and Aaron Hyman.
2015-16
• Deadline: Jan. 10, 2016.
• GM: Kelly McCrimmon.
• BWK trades:
— On Jan. 10, sent a conditional sixth-round pick in 2017 to the Everett Silvertips for forward Jaeger White. — On Jan. 4, sent forward Braylon Shymr and Colton Waltz to the Saskatoon Blades for defencemen Mitch Wheaton and Schael Higson plus a second-round pick in 2017 (Vinny Iorio).
• BWK recap: The Wheat Kings had one of the top teams in the league. McCrimmon was in Finland with the Canadian world junior team when Waltz asked for a trade at Christmas, and Brandon’s owner and head coach was able to deliver with a blockbuster deal that benefited the club that season and into the future.
• Reaction: Kelly McCrimmon: “In terms of bigger deals or working to improve our team that way, we worked real hard at a lot of different deals, and it was a case where nothing came together. The net result is we march forward with our existing group.”
• Result: Won league.
• WHL blockbuster: The Memorial Cup host Red Deer Rebels acquired 19-year-old Swift Current Broncos forward Jake DeBrusk for 18-year-old forward Lane Pederson, a first-round draft pick and a third rounder.
• WHL champion: Brandon Wheat Kings. The Wheat Kings had done most of their heavy lifting on the trade front in earlier seasons. That year, they acquired 19-year-old defenceman Jordan Thomson, overage defenceman Mitch Wheaton, 17-year-old defenceman Schael Higson, and 18-year-old forwards Jaeger White and Garrett Armour.
2014-15
• Deadline: Jan. 10, 2015.
• GM: Kelly McCrimmon.
• BWK trades:
— On Jan. 5, sent a conditional fifth-round pick in 2015 to the Spokane Chiefs for overage defenceman Reid Gow. — On Jan. 2, sent forward Jesse Gabrielle to the Regina Pats for Morgan Klimchuk.
• BWK recap: Gow had been playing at the University of Manitoba but returned to play the back half of his 20-year-old year in Brandon. Klimchuk battled a bad back but still had 50 points in 33 regular season games and 13 points in 13 playoff games.
• Reaction: Kelly McCrimmon: “Our moves were already made. We were happy with our personnel really since the beginning of the season. We added to it when we had the opportunity, and most recently with Klimchuk and Gow we felt comfortable moving ahead past January 10 with that group.”
• Result: Lost in league final
• WHL blockbuster: The eventual champion Kelowna Rockets made the biggest splash, acquiring forward Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Josh Morrissey in separate deals for a 2015 first-rounder, 2016 second-rounder, 2017 third-rounder, a pair of fourth-rounders and four players, defenceman Jesse Lees, forward Austin Glover, European forward Kris Schmidli and defenceman Dalton Yorke. (In today’s WHL, Draisaitl and Morrissey would land multiple first-round picks, several top prospects and a beach property.)
• WHL champion: Kelowna. They also brought in two more former Raiders, 19-year-old forward Gage Quinney and 20-year-old forward Chance Braid, plus 18-year-old forward Rodney Southam.
