Alexander returns at trade deadline (updated)

Published 5:34 pm Saturday, January 10, 2009

Mike Alexander is returning to Everett.

The 19-year-old defenseman, who was included in the deal that sent Kyle Beach to Lethbridge on Tuesday, was been reacquired at today’s trade deadline for a fifth-round pick in this year’s bantam draft.

Part of the motivation behind Alexander’s reacquisition was that defenseman Shayne Brown suffered a setback in practice yesterday and will be undergoing season-ending surgery on his hip flexor. Alexander became available in part because Brown was expected to return.

Everett made one other roster move, reassigning left wing Jordan Mistelbacher to the Winnipeg Saints of the MJHL. It’s been quite the adventurous season for Mistelbacher, who was sent home for disciplinary reasons in the preseason, brought back, then has not been the impact player the Tips were hoping ever since. He’s been a healthy scratch lately, so I suppose this was not a surprise.

Finally, the Tips found no takers for goaltender Shayne Barrie, so he was reassigned to the Estevan Bruins of the SJHL.

More after I talk to general manager Doug Soetaert, along with thoughts about the trade deadline throughout the league.

—- UPDATE, 5:35 p.m.

OK, here’s the scoop with Alexander after talking to Soetaert. Alexander reported to Lethbridge, but decided he would not play for the Hurricanes. So technically the Tips did not re-trade for Alexander, they gave the Hurricanes the fifth rounder as compensation for Alexander choosing not to play for the team. That means the Beach deal ends up being Beach and a fifth rounder for Dan Iwanski, Alex Theriau and a first rounder. Alexander will return to the Tips.

It turns out Brown’s injury did not factor into Alexander returning, that was purely a coincidence. But because of it the Tips will welcome Alexander, who they didn’t really want to trade in the first place but had to in order to make the Beach deal work, back with open arms.

As for Mistelbacher, Soetaert said the move was purely based on hockey reasons and had nothing to do with past disciplinary problems. He felt 15 forwards on the roster was one too many, and he wants 17-year-olds Ryan White and Cameron Abney to get more games. He tried to trade Mistelbacher, but was unsuccessful. Mistelbacher will remain an affiliated player, meaning the Tips can bring him back if they run into injury problems.

And Barrie, Soetaert said he was on the market, but there were no takers.

—-

Anyway, enough about the Tips, how about the rest of the league? Once again there was a flurry of activity on deadline day, despite the odd decision to put the deadline on a Saturday, and despite the fact that many of the biggest names available had already been moved. I figured I’d give my take on the major trades/players from the past week:

– The biggest prize, league goal scoring leader Joel Broda, was landed by Calgary. The Hitmen got the 19-year-old forward along with 19-year-old forward Tomas Karpov from Moose Jaw in exchange for 18-year-old forward Brendan Rowinski and second- and seventh-round picks in 2009. Not sure Calgary needed to do this, as the Hitmen are already the highest-scoring team in the league and ranked No. 1 in the entire CHL. But another weapon is another weapon, and it at least kept Broda from going to a rival. Incidentally, I don’t think Moose Jaw got nearly as much for Broda as Everett got for Beach.

– In another somewhat strange deal, Vancouver, the league’s top defensive team, picked up arguably the top available defenseman by getting 19-year-old Nick Ross from Kamloops. The Giants got Ross and 19-year-old forward Alex Rogers in exchange for 18-year-old defenseman Curtis Kulchar, third- and fourth-round picks in 2009 and a second rounder in 2010. Again, I guess it doesn’t hurt to strengthen an area of strength, and again it kept Ross out of the hands of a team like Tri-City. But did the Giants really need him? And now it’s possible Vancouver will lose its top five d-men to graduation or the pros next season. That being said, I don’t think the Giants really had to give up much to get Ross. Vancouver has never built itself through the draft, and I’m skeptical how much third- and fourth-round picks are worth anyway.

– Spokane got better just by sitting still as 19-year-old forward Ondrej Roman returned to the team. A key player for the Chiefs the past two seasons, he began this season playing pro in his native Czech Republic. His return is a major boost. In addition the Chiefs acquired former Tip Brady Calla, getting the overage forward from Kamloops in exchange for overage forward Seth Compton and a third rounder in 2010. I’ve always liked Calla, but I’m not sure how much of an upgrade he is over Compton. Calla’s offense has never really come around, and Compton was a real heart and soul guy for the Chiefs for four-plus seasons.

– Kelowna made a flurry of deals. The Rockets acquired their second goaltender this season, picking up 19-year-old Mark Guggenberger from Swift Current for a conditional 2010 fifth rounder. That’s a really small price for Guggenberger, who played well as the backup in Swift Current. But it has to sting GM Bruce Hamilton having to trade for a second goalie this season. And there’s no proof Guggenberger is going to do any better than bust Kris Lazaruk as Guggenberger has never been a No. 1 in this league.

Lazaruk, by the way, was released after the Rockets picked up overage forward Ian Duval from Moose Jaw for 17-year-old forward Jesse Paradis. It was the second overage forward going from Moose Jaw to Kelowna this week as the league’s biggest heavy Ryley Grantham was picked up along with a fifth rounder in 2011 for 18-year-old forward Dylan Hood.

No official word on whether 19-year-old Swedish forward Mikael Backlund will be joining the Rockets. Speculation was that Backlund was going to Kelowna, but it’s still possible he’ll play in the AHL or even stick with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

– Swift Current turned around and acquired 19-year-old defenseman John Negrin and 19-year-old forward Michael Stickland from Kootenay for 16-year-old forward Christian Magnus, 17-year-old defenseman James Martin and second- and fourth-rounders in 2010. Now Negrin and Stickland are nice players — Negrin was probably the best available defenseman still on the market Saturday. But why would Swift Current make this deal? I can’t see the Broncos challenging Calgary even with these two additions, and they forked over a lot to get them. Just kind of shaking my head at this one.

– Finally, Seattle made a curious move. The T-birds acquired the rights to 19-year-old forward Oscar Moller from Chilliwack in exchange for the rights to 17-year-old forward Ondrej Palat and a conditional fourth rounder in 2010. Moller, of course, has spent the entire season with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings looking like he belongs, and now he has a fracturec clavicle that will keep him out a while. There’s no guarantee Moller will ever step foot in Kent, but if somehow he does he’ll be an electrifying presence in the new building. The conditions on the fourth rounder is that it’s upgraded to a second rounder if Moller plays for the T-birds.

So what does all this mean? It means the teams that were already the league’s best reinforced that notion. The teams that did the most to improve are the ones that were already toward the top of the standings (with the exception of Tri-City, which stood pat). It’s almost as if an arms race developed and the superpowers kept stockpiling ICBMs. Calgary and Vancouver got better and are probably still the big favorites in the East and West, respectively. Kelowna got a lot better without having to give up much, and may now be able to challenge Vancouver. The Americans, by not making any deals, may find themselves in a rough spot. And the borderline teams that made big deals to improve — Lethbridge acquiring Beach, Swift Current — may have mortgaged their future for nothing.

One last minor trade worth mentioning. Former Tip Matt Ius was on the move again as Swift Current sent the 18-year-old forward to Chilliwack in exchange for 18-year-old forward Liam Darragh. Chilliwack is about as close to Ius’ home in Pitt Meadows, B.C., as you can get in the league, so I’m sure he’s happy about that. Everett traded Ius to Swift Current earlier in the season after Ius left the team.