Rockets add veteran experience in former Giants captain Halaburda
Kelowna, B.C.- Now there’s a giant pickup.
The Kelowna Rockets have acquired Vancouver Giants captain Ty Halaburda as part of their 2026 Memorial Cup-host squad.
Kelowna will also receive a second and fourth-round pick in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft.
In exchange, the Giants will receive Los Angeles Kings prospect Will Sharpe.
Halaburda, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound forward, has been a consistent scoring threat for five seasons.
The 20-year-old has 20 goals (including two game-winners) and 19 assists for 39 points in 40 games in 2025-26, sitting third on the team in points and second in goals (since Dallas Stars prospect Cameron Schmidt was dealt to Seattle on Monday, Halaburda ranks second and first in each category).
Halaburda has also shifted from wing to centre for much of the season, winning 452 faceoffs for a 52.6% percentage at the dot.
THE CAPTAIN!! TY HALABURDA!! 3-1 @WHLGiants pic.twitter.com/wZJU8F1B4F
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) December 28, 2025
He’s surpassed 20 goals for four consecutive seasons, highlighted by a 29-goal, 33-assist run in 2024-25.
Halaburda is on milestone watch with 96 career goals and 124 assists for 220 points in 283 regular-season WHL games.
A second-round pick of the Giants in the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft, Halaburda has earned the alternate captaincy twice before being named the 23rd captain in franchise history on November 6, 2025.
He ranks fifth in all-time games played for the Giants, sixth in goals, eighth in assists and fourth in points, sealing his reputation among the franchise greats.
Ty Halaburda scores with only 12.4 seconds left in regulation to win it for the Vancouver Giants! @WHLGiants pic.twitter.com/cYaugFggZH
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) December 6, 2025
The Victoria, B.C. product will reunite with former Vancouver captain and teammate Mazden Leslie in the Okanagan as the Rockets continue to push for a rise through the B.C. Division standings.
Kelowna is also guaranteed a berth in the 2026 Memorial Cup, which runs from May 21-31, 2026, at Prospera Place.
Heading the other way is 6-foot-1, 198-pound defenceman Will Sharpe, who comes from nearby Ladner, B.C., in the lower mainland.
The 18-year-old has put up three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 31 contests while bringing a high level of physicality to the Rockets’ blueline.
Originally selected by the Lethbridge Hurricanes with the 11th overall pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, Sharpe has played 157 games (16G-55A) over parts of five seasons with the Hurricanes and Rockets.
The Rockets brought in Sharpe as part of a massive deal for Seattle Kraken prospect Caden Price in 2024-25.
Let's hope this works,
🕯
🕯 🕯
🕯 Draft 🕯
🕯 Will 🕯
🕯 Sharpe 🕯
🕯 🕯
🕯@Kelowna_Rockets | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/wrV05MCGSF— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 19, 2025
He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings with the 216th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2025 NHL Draft- memorably, with a Kings superfan being pulled up from the crowd to announce Sharpe’s name.
Loading ...