[{"id":268976,"date":"2026-07-29T11:35:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268976"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:35:06","slug":"giants-acquire-defenceman-thurston-from-blades-for-conditional-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/giants-acquire-defenceman-thurston-from-blades-for-conditional-pick","title":{"rendered":"Giants acquire defenceman Thurston from Blades for conditional pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Langley, B.C. \u2013 <\/b>The Vancouver Giants are excited to announce the acquisition of 2006-born defenceman <\/span>Derek Thurston<\/b><\/a> (Delta, B.C.) from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a conditional draft pick in the 2027 WHL Draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 131 career regular season WHL games, Thurston has produced 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points, along with 162 penalty minutes and a +11 plus-minus rating. During the 2024-25 season, the 6-foot-1 left-shot blueliner produced a career-best 22 points (9G-13A) in 67 games, along with a +9 rating and 96 penalty minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to add Derek to help bolster our defence,\u201d Giants Head Coach and General Manager Michael Dyck said. \u201cHis presence and experience solidify not only our blueline, but our whole organization, and we\u2019re looking forward to welcoming him back home to Delta.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thurston is a product of Delta Hockey Academy, where he won a U17 Prep championship in 2022. He was named the CSSHL U16 Top Defenceman during the 2021-22 season, after recording 36 points (12G-24A) in 33 games. In his U18 season with DHA in 2022-23, he was teammates with current Giants forward Jakob Oreskovic.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Delta native was originally selected by the Rebels in the sixth round (112th overall) of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vancouver Giants extend a warm welcome home to Derek.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 20-year-old blueliner brings a strong two-way game to the Giants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1895,"name":"Derek Thurston","slug":"derek-thurston","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1895,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","term_order":"655"},{"term_id":38,"name":"saskatoon blades","slug":"saskatoon-blades","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":300,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1134,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1802"},{"term_id":29,"name":"vancouver giants","slug":"vancouver-giants","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":295,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1079,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2050"},{"term_id":100,"name":"whl transactions","slug":"whl-transactions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":103,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":594,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2239"}],"class_list":["post-268976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-derek-thurston","tag-saskatoon-blades","tag-vancouver-giants","tag-whl-transactions","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/29111459\/260729_Trade_Thurston.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268978,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268976\/revisions\/268978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268969,"date":"2026-07-29T11:11:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268969"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:12:22","slug":"silvertips-acquire-goaltender-kraus-in-trade-with-brandon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/silvertips-acquire-goaltender-kraus-in-trade-with-brandon","title":{"rendered":"Silvertips acquire goaltender Kraus in trade with Brandon"},"content":{"rendered":"

EVERETT, Wash. —<\/strong> The Everett Silvertips have acquired goaltender Jayden Kraus from the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for a third- and sixth-round pick in the 2029 WHL Draft.<\/p>\n

“We wanted to add a veteran netminder to our group with both of our goaltenders deciding to move on following last season,” noted Silvertips general manager Mike Fraser. “Jayden has good experience in our league, brings some stability to the position and leadership to our organization. We’re excited to have him join the Silvertips.”<\/p>\n

Kraus, a 2006-born Prince Albert, SK native, posted a 14-11-1 record with the Wheat Kings in 2025-26 with a .895 save percentage and a 3.65 goals-against average. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound goaltender recorded a career-high 50 saves on 54 shots at Angel of the Winds Arena against the Silvertips on Jan. 23. He previously was with the Victoria Royals, finishing 25-8-9 in 2024-25 with a .908 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average.<\/p>\n

Kraus also attended Colorado Avalanche NHL Camp prior to the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

Both members of Everett’s goaltending tandem last season have committed to NCAA programs, with Anders Miller headed to Lake Superior State and Raiden LeGall heading to Minnesota State University, Mankato. Kraus fills a third overager spot on the Silvertips’ active roster, joining forward Jaxsin Vaughan and defenseman Mattias Uyeda.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The Silvertips\u2019 2026-27 season schedule can be viewed\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EVERETT, Wash. — The Everett Silvertips have acquired goaltender Jayden Kraus from the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for a third- and sixth-round pick in the 2029 WHL Draft. “We wanted to add a veteran netminder to our group with both of our goaltenders deciding to move on following last season,” noted Silvertips general manager…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":25,"name":"brandon wheat kings","slug":"brandon-wheat-kings","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":165,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1056,"filter":"raw","term_order":"293"},{"term_id":36,"name":"everett 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Lin \u2013 2026 World Juniors Summer Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1113],"tags":[{"term_id":125,"name":"hockey canada","slug":"hockey-canada","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":129,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":160,"filter":"raw","term_order":"890"},{"term_id":1518,"name":"Ryan Lin","slug":"ryan-lin","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1518,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":33,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1758"},{"term_id":29,"name":"vancouver 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Rudolph \u2013 2026 World Juniors Summer Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1113],"tags":[{"term_id":1494,"name":"Daxon Rudolph","slug":"daxon-rudolph","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1494,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":46,"filter":"raw","term_order":"631"},{"term_id":125,"name":"hockey canada","slug":"hockey-canada","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":129,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":160,"filter":"raw","term_order":"890"},{"term_id":39,"name":"prince albert 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Prospect Watch: Columbus Blue Jackets"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the lead-up to the 2026-27 hockey season, we\u2019re diving into the WHL prospect pool for every NHL team. To be included in this list, a player must be recently drafted, signed to an NHL contract, or meet the NHL\u2019s criteria for rookie status.<\/em><\/p>\n

From centre ice to the blue paint, Columbus boasts a strong table of talent developed in the west.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Charlie Elick<\/strong><\/p>\n

Six-foot-4, 205-pound defender Charlie Elick’s bread and butter is his shutdown defensive play. The 20-year-old had one of his best offensive campaigns in the WHL with a six-goal, 14-assist run in 63 games with the Tri-City Americans. Elick was also named an alternate captain in his first full season with the Ams after being dealt from the Brandon Wheat Kings in a blockbuster trade in 2024-25. Drafted with the 36th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft, Elick signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Columbus in March of 2025. He made his professional debut with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters this spring, earning his first pro assist in two appearances.<\/p>\n

Evan Gardner<\/strong><\/p>\n

En Gard! Saskatoon Blades star Evan Gardner logged his third consecutive 20-plus win season, going 25-16-4-2 with a 2.96 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage and three shutouts. The 20-year-old made the fifth-most saves of any WHL goaltender (1,279) while finishing ninth in wins. The postseason saw the Fort St. John, B.C. product battle past the third-seed Edmonton Oil Kings before falling to the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Prince Albert Raiders, posting a 4-5-2 record, a 3.04 GAA and .907 save percentage. But there was more hockey to be played for the 2024 60th overall pick. Gardner, who signed his three-year, entry-level deal back in March of 2025, got his first professional playoff experience in a relief appearance with the Monsters. He stopped all 10 shots he faced. The 6-foot-1, 181-pound netminder was named a finalist for WHL Humanitarian of the Year thanks to his continued diabetes advocacy, and is eligible to make the jump to the pro ranks full-time in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Cayden Lindstrom<\/strong><\/p>\n

After missing the entire 2024-25 regular season and getting into limited, but exciting, playoff action, Cayden Lindstrom was finding his footing with a 10-point (3G-7A) campaign in 31 games with Michigan State University. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound forward also logged 94 penalty minutes. Back in the 2025 WHL Playoffs, Lindstrom hit the ice for the WHL Championship Series and put up four points (2G-2A) in four games to help the Medicine Hat Tigers hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the sixth time in franchise history. The 20-year-old from Chetwynd, B.C., graduated from the WHL with 88 points (46G-42A) in 99 games and was the WHL’s highest overall draft pick in 2024 when Columbus selected him fourth overall.<\/p>\n

Filip Novak<\/strong><\/p>\n

Six-foot-1, 198-pound forward Filip Novak is preparing for his WHL rookie season after signing a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with the Victoria Royals. The Blue Jackets added the 18-year-old to their prospect pool with the 206th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2026 NHL Draft. Novak, from Chomutov, Cze., spent the bulk of 2025-26 with HC Sparta’s U20 squad, where he posted 35 points (11G-24A) in 28 outings.<\/p>\n

Jackson Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Noted for his offensive upside, Calgary, Alta.’s Jackson Smith has represented Canada at the World U17 Challenge, Hlinka Gretzky Cup and IIHF U18 World Championship, and is now making his case for the prestigious U20 squad at the World Junior Summer Showcase. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound rearguard registered 26 points (11G-15A) at Penn State and had 40 penalty minutes to go with it. The 2025 14th overall pick spent parts of three seasons with the Tri-City Americans, racking up 85 points (19G-66A) in 136 regular-season matches.<\/p>\n

Parker Snell<\/strong><\/p>\n

St. Albert, Alta.’s Parker Snell snuck up on many people in his rookie WHL run. The 6-foot-2, 173-pound netminder went 21-9-1-0 with a 2.74 GAA, an .895 save percentage and three shutouts for his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings. Snell finished sixth in GAA among all qualified WHL netminders while tying for seventh in shutouts. He battled none other than Gardner in his first trip to the postseason and went 2-1-1 with a 2.22 GAA and .924 save percentage. He joined the prospect pool when Columbus called his name 142nd overall in the fifth round of the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

Jonas Woo<\/strong><\/p>\n

How much time do you have? Nineteen-year-old Jonas Woo shattered defensive scoring records in Medicine Hat with 29 goals (including four game-winners and a hat trick) and 57 assists for 68 points in 56 games. The 2025 WHL Champion led all WHL defencemen in points, while finishing second in goals among blueliners. His dominance spilled over to the playoffs, where Woo netted a hat trick in Game 1 of Medicine Hat’s first-round series against Regina, and he went on to notch 17 points (8G-9A) while reaching the Eastern Conference Championship. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound defender owns 187 points (51G-136A) in 259 regular-season games with Medicine Hat and the Wenatchee Wild\/Winnipeg ICE franchise, and is one of the WHL’s active playoff games-played leaders with 71 postseason matches under his belt. He was named a finalist for WHL Defenceman of the Year and was chosen with the 185th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the lead-up to the 2026-27 hockey season, we\u2019re diving into the WHL prospect pool for every NHL team. To be included in this list, a player must be recently drafted, signed to an NHL contract, or meet the NHL\u2019s criteria for rookie status. From centre ice to the blue paint, Columbus boasts a strong…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":268953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1346,"name":"Cayden Lindstrom","slug":"cayden-lindstrom","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1346,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":34,"filter":"raw","term_order":"435"},{"term_id":1303,"name":"Charlie Elick","slug":"charlie-elick","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1303,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw","term_order":"443"},{"term_id":1194,"name":"Evan Gardner","slug":"evan-gardner","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1194,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":27,"filter":"raw","term_order":"774"},{"term_id":2443,"name":"Filip Novak","slug":"filip-novak","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2443,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw","term_order":"795"},{"term_id":1652,"name":"Jackson Smith","slug":"jackson-smith","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1652,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":25,"filter":"raw","term_order":"944"},{"term_id":1596,"name":"Jonas Woo","slug":"jonas-woo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1596,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1075"},{"term_id":2178,"name":"Parker Snell","slug":"parker-snell","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2178,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1587"}],"class_list":["post-268895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-cayden-lindstrom","tag-charlie-elick","tag-evan-gardner","tag-filip-novak","tag-jackson-smith","tag-jonas-woo","tag-parker-snell","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/28125831\/260716_Prospect-Watch-1920_CBJ.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268895"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268921,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268895\/revisions\/268921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268943,"date":"2026-07-28T12:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268943"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:05:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:05:45","slug":"oil-kings-equipment-manager-dean-accepts-role-with-nhls-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/oil-kings-equipment-manager-dean-accepts-role-with-nhls-edmonton-oilers","title":{"rendered":"Oil Kings equipment manager Dean accepts role with NHL’s Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edmonton, Alta. \u2013 <\/strong>The Edmonton Oil Kings announced today that long-time Head Equipment Manager Rogan Dean has taken a new position with the Edmonton Oilers as an Assistant Equipment Manager.<\/p>\n

Dean, from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., is the longest serving staff member of the Oil Kings, having been with the club for the entirety of the team\u2019s 19-year modern history, joining the club in 2007 when the team rejoined the Western Hockey League as a volunteer trainer\u2019s assistant, before taking the full time Head Equipment Manager position the next season.<\/p>\n

In those 19 years, Dean was a key cog behind the scenes for the Oil Kings as the team won three Ed Chynoweth Cups as WHL Champions, and the 2014 Memorial Cup as CHL Champions during his tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words how much Rogan has meant to the organization over the last 19 years,\u201d said Oil Kings President and General Manager Michael Chan. \u201cThe title of Equipment Manager does not quite capture the impact he has had on every player and staff member that has walked through our dressing room doors. He has been a big brother, a mentor and a much-needed voice of reason to many over the years. Nobody has been more proud to represent the organization and uphold what it means to be an Edmonton Oil King – loyal, committed, passionate, driven. Rogan leaves a lasting impact on so many people as he moves on to the next level, and we could not be happier for him as he enters this new chapter of his career.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his 19-years with the club, Dean worked over 1,400 games between the regular season, playoffs, and Memorial Cup.<\/p>\n

Dean has also spent time with Team Canada, including the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

An Oil King since the very beginning. \ud83d\udc51<\/p>\n

Oil Kings Head Equipment Manager Rogan Dean has accepted a position with the @EdmontonOilers<\/a> as an Assistant Equipment Manager!<\/p>\n

Rogan has been with the club since the team's return to the WHL in 2007 and is the longest serving Oil Kings\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/2IOh73Ljnt<\/a><\/p>\n

— Edmonton Oil Kings (@EdmOilKings) July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n