Silvertips open to upgrades, won’t sell away future at WHL trade deadline

Published 1:30 am Monday, January 8, 2024

The Everett Silvertips gave general manager/head coach Dennis Williams some food for thought with their performances over the weekend.

Everett took five of a possible six points from a challenging three-in-three weekend, giving Williams something to think about in advance of Wednesday’s WHL trade deadline.

The Tips acquitted themselves well against the Western Conference’s top two teams over the weekend, beating Prince George 4-2 at home on Sunday, then losing 5-4 in a shootout at Portland on Friday in a game Everett had all but won before the Winterhawks tied it with a short-handed goal with 38 seconds remaining in regulation. In between the Tips won 4-2 at home against Seattle.

The weekend’s results mean Everett is 24-14-1-2 and tied for third in the Western Conference, which places the Tips in the second tier of Western Conference teams. Prince George and Portland occupy the first tier with .700 winning percentages, while Everett, Wenatchee and Victoria comprise the second tier at around .630.

However, of the second-tier teams, Wenatchee has already degraded itself by trading away star forwards Connor Geekie and Matthew Savoie in the rare example of a division leader selling to recoup trade assets, while Victoria is walking a high wire as it is 10 games over .500 despite a negative goal differential. So as things stand Everett is arguably the favorite to finish third in the conference.

What does that mean for the trade deadline? Everett has already made one move to upgrade its roster by trading for overage defenseman Parker Berge. Could the Tips make a big splash in an effort to compete with Prince George and Portland? Might Everett believe it can already compete with those teams, given the results over the weekend? Could the return of winger Dominik Rymon, who should be back this week following a strong performance for Czechia at the World Junior Hockey Championships (two goals and five assists in seven games as the Czechs won the bronze medal), as well as the return of top-nine forwards Cade Zaplitny and Caden Brown, who the Tips hope to get back from long-term injuries in the coming weeks, effectively serve as substantive trade-deadline deals?

”There’s a lot of parity this year,” Williams said last week. “Last year when you saw three teams load up, it kind of made it easy for the rest of us to decide what to do. I think a lot of teams right now, including us, are trying to figure it out because we’re not sure what other teams are doing.

“I think if the right trade is there then we’ll make it,” Williams added. “But I’m also cognitive of our assets and our future. Last year we put ourselves in a really good position in terms of draft picks (with the blockbuster trade that sent Olen Zellweger and Ryan Hofer to Kamloops), but we’re not going to empty the cupboards for one or two players. Our decisions are always about what’s best for the organization, not only this year bur for the years to come. If there’s a deal that makes sense and makes us a better club, it’s definitely something I’ll look at. But we’re not going to give up all the assets we acquired for a short-term fix.”

The trade deadline is set for 2 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday.

Three stars of the week

Third star: Jesse Heslop. The 17-year-old winger returned after a month out because of a lower-body injury, and he came out firing as he notched two goals and two assists across the three games.

Second star: Ben Hemmerling. The 19-year-old winger was the key player in Everett’s victory over Prince George when he registered two goals and an assist. He finished the weekend with three goals and two assists.

First star: Julius Miettinen. The 17-year-old center from Finland had four goals and an assist in the three games. He was named the game’s first star when he scored twice against Seattle, and he was named the WHL Rookie of the Week for the second time this season.

The week ahead

Everett has its second consecutive three-in-three weekend, with the games potentially affected by snow as the bus routes between games involve mountain passes.

It starts with a home-and-home set against Kamloops on Friday (in Kamloops) and Saturday (at Angel of the Winds Arena). The Blazers (9-24-3-2) have the worst record in the WHL, and their roster could be gutted even further before the trade deadline. The team’s current scoring leader is 19-year-old forward Shea Van Olm (11 goals, 18 assists).

The Tips’ weekend concludes with a game at Wenatchee on Sunday. The Wild (24-13-3-0) will be an interesting team to watch at the trade deadline, as they still have some sellable assets, but they also held their own while Geekie and Savoie were away, so they may choose to stand pat. Rookie 19-year-old Japanese forward Kenta Isogai (20 goals, 36 assists) has been a revelation, while 20-year-old Graham Sward (nine goals, 43 assists) leads the league in scoring among defensemen.