The Western Hockey League trade deadline came and went Saturday, but there’s one deal that still has the league buzzing — for multiple reasons.
The Kelowna Rockets, who already owned the WHL’s best record, added an NHL-caliber forward when it acquired the rights to Leon Draisaitl from the Prince Albert Raiders.
Draisaitl, a 19-year-old from Germany, was one of the league’s elite players last season, notching 105 points (38 goals, 67 assists) in 64 games with Prince Albert. He subsequently was picked third overall in the NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers determined Draisaitl was ready for the NHL this season, but he didn’t have the impact Edmonton expected, tallying just two goals and seven assists in 37 games.
Because Draisaitl is 19 and was drafted out of the WHL, the only place the Oilers could reassign him was Prince Albert. With Draisaitl struggling, rumors swirled for weeks about him being returned to the WHL.
However, the Oilers never had any intention of letting Draisaitl play for Prince Albert. After being reassigned to the WHL, Draisaitl’s rights were promptly dealt to Kelowna for 18-year-old forward Kris Schmidli, 18-year-old defenseman Dalton Yorke, a first-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft, a fourth-rounder in 2016 and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2016 or 2017.
It turns out the Oilers would only reassign Draisaitl to the WHL if his rights were traded to Kelowna.
“I had a real specific destination in mind for Leon and I talked to (Prince Albert general manager) Bruno Campese many times throughout the year, saying it was very unlikely he’d be assigned back to P.A.,” Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish told the Edmonton media in a video posted on the Oilers’ website. “At one of those conversations, I said to Bruno that I had this specific situation I thought was going to be ideal for Leon and if that situation was satisfied, then there’d be a likelihood that we’d send him back.
“For obvious reasons, Kelowna was the destination for Leon and I think this is going to be extremely important for his development.”
The addition of Draisaitl makes Kelowna look like an unstoppable juggernaut. The Prince Albert Daily Herald pointed out that Kelowna general manager Bruce Hamilton has close ties with members of the Oilers organization, including MacTavish.
The Raiders received a good haul for Draisaitl, but one has to wonder whether Prince Albert, which is fighting for its playoff life, would have preferred to have access to the talents of its former star — and whether having NHL teams dictate the destinations of top players is the best thing for the WHL.
Other notable moves in the days leading up to the trade deadline:
n Two players traded by the Everett Silvertips earlier in the season were on the move again. Twenty-year-old forward Zane Jones, dealt to Lethbridge for a fourth-round bantam pick at the beginning of the season, was flipped to Vancouver in exchange for 17-year-old forward Johnny Wesley. Eighteen-year-old forward Tyler Sandhu, sent to Red Deer for a pair of fourth-round picks in October, was traded to Tri-City, again for two fourth-rounders. Another former Silvertip, 18-year-old forward Mitch Skapski, was dealt to Saskatoon, with the teams also swapping fifth-round picks.
n There was an odd situation as a trade between Kamloops and Swift Current, which saw 19-year-old defenseman Josh Connolly and a second-round pick go to the Broncos for 18-year-old defenseman Brycen Martin, was voided by the league because Connolly refused to report to Swift Current. Both players were dealt the next day, with Connolly going to Prince George for 19-year-old defenseman Marc McNulty, while Martin was traded to Saskatoon with a conditional fifth-rounder in exchange for 18-year-old defenseman Jordan Thomson and a first rounder.
n Portland filled its vacant overage roster slot by acquiring 20-year-old defenseman Adam Henry from Saskatoon in exchange for a second-round pick. The Winterhawks also dealt 19-year-old goaltender Brendan Burke to Calgary for 18-year-old goalie Evan Johnson and a fourth-rounder, then turned around and dealt that fourth-rounder to Edmonton for 18-year-old forward Mitchell Walter. Following the deadline, Portland announced that 19-year-old forward Tyson Predinchuk and 17-year-old forward Ethan Price had both left the team to pursue situations where they would get more playing time.
n Victoria was one of the more active buyers. The Royals acquired 19-year-old forward Alex Forsberg, who was the first-overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft, along with third- and fourth-round picks from Saskatoon in exchange for 16-year-old forward Brayden Dunn and a first-rounder. Victoria also picked up 19-year-old goaltender Justin Paulic, 18-year-old defenseman Alexey Sleptsov and a sixth-rounder from Moose Jaw for 19-year-old forward Axel Blomqvist and third- and fifth-round picks.
Leaders
Points—Trevor Cox (Medicine Hat) 70; goals—Rourke Chartier (Kelowna) 36; assists—Cox 55; penalty minutes—Keegan Kanzig (Calgary) 111; wins—Jordan Papirny (Brandon), Jackson Whistle (Kelowna) 25; goals against average—Taran Kozun (Seattle) 2.24; save percentage—Adin Hill (Portland) .933.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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