WHL Trade Deadline

[beelby]

Also, the teams I think that are official 'buyers' are :

Rockets (probably done shopping)
Royals (have more work to do)
Winterhawks (of course)
Tbirds (hot, hot, hot)
Tigers (making noise, could come out of the East)
Ice (hottest team before Reinhart left)
Wheaties (Klimchuk?? maybe they want it this year too.)
Swift Current (have big players who won't be back next year.)

Players who I think *likely* will be gone by the deadline are :

Jackson Houck (Vancouver)
Cole Ully (Kamloops)
Ryan Rehill (Kamloops)
Matt Needham (Kamloops)
Brian Williams (Tri-City)
Eric Comrie??? Probably not but a 95', they aren't contenders this year.
Edgars Kulda (Edmonton) (oa)
Tristan Jarry (Edmonton)
Braden Cristoffer (Regina) (oa)
Wyatt Johnson (Red Deer)

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Also, the teams I think that are official 'buyers' are :

Rockets (probably done shopping)
Royals (have more work to do)
Winterhawks (of course)
Tbirds (hot, hot, hot)
Tigers (making noise, could come out of the East)
Ice (hottest team before Reinhart left)
Wheaties (Klimchuk?? maybe they want it this year too.)
Swift Current (have big players who won't be back next year.)

Players who I think *likely* will be gone by the deadline are :

Jackson Houck (Vancouver)
Cole Ully (Kamloops)
Ryan Rehill (Kamloops)
Matt Needham (Kamloops)
Brian Williams (Tri-City)
Eric Comrie??? Probably not but a 95', they aren't contenders this year.
Edgars Kulda (Edmonton) (oa)
Tristan Jarry (Edmonton)
Braden Cristoffer (Regina) (oa)
Wyatt Johnson (Red Deer)

I cant see him being traded. He is gonna be a 5 year guy in Kamloops imo. POSSIBLY might be traded in his 20 year old year season. He will stay put though.

 

[R S]

I have no idea why Victoria traded Axel Blomqvist...does anyone in Moose Jaw have any info on who we got back?..I know they are younger..but..

and Alex Forsberg? huh...

I think the Blomqvist deal was just to add depth. They're not exactly a powerhouse on the blueline and adding a goalie gives them strength/depth at that position too.

I ultimately think you see them try and trade one of their other two goalies now while Forsberg replaces the offence lost by dealing Axel.

From a MJ perspective I'm sure they value the two picks they got in the deal and will likely look to flip Blomqvist as well. Maybe to a team like Swift Current, who could use an upgrade on their import Fertelak. Even if they get something like a 2nd rounder back with Fertelak it makes sense for MJ. They would net:

3rd
5th
2nd from SC?
Fertelak from SC?

for

Paulic
Sleptsov
6th

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I hope toay is a busy day... Ill look for Kamloops, Calgary, Portland, Seattle, Edmonton, Vancouver and Everett to make deals in the next few days.

My predictions for a few teams.....

-Kamloops will unload Ully and Rehill
-Calgary will acquire Ully
-Portland will acquire another big name(perhaps Ully.. I think its between Port. and Cal.)
-Seattle will tinker a bit but not much. I could see them possibly moving a 19 year old dman(Hauf or Smith).. They are preparing for next season
-Edmonton will move Jarry
-Vancouver may unload older guys
-Look for Everett to pull off a massive blockbuster

 

[arsmaster*]

The acquisition of Paulic, indicates to me that they're probably going to move Vollrath - maybe to Red Deer. Solid OA goalie to take as your guy for the Memorial Cup.

Hard to say. The Victoria deals make sense, but they have to be part of something bigger.

You have to wonder what Red Deer is going to do to pave the way for their memorial cup run.

 

[Hordichuk_24]

Players who I think *likely* will be gone by the deadline are :

Jackson Houck (Vancouver)

Scott Bonner has made it known he is a buyer not a seller this year. I know many would disagree with that decision but he is the one in charge. As a Giants fan I would move Houck in a heartbeat for the right deal. The team has improved since bringing in Noel but they shouldn't be buyers, IMO.

 

[denominator]

-Calgary will acquire Ully

What is the asking price going to be on Ully? A pick or two and a roster prospect? Calgary has a bunch of 17 and 18s that I'd be disappointed to see leave, but would likely be what Kamloops is asking for.

 

[S E P H]

Wow, surprised Sandhu got traded after Rebels acquired him fairly recently as well.

What a story for him though, goes from Everett to Red Deer (which is like across the entire league for the WHL), and now back to Tri-City. Still a decent player, deserves probably a very late round pick if someone likes him. Personally speaking, I think I would rather get him as a free agent during the summer than waste a draft pick.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

that connolly for brycen martin deal got voided. Kamloops has now sent Connolly to PG for McNulty

 

[Hordichuk_24]

that connolly for brycen martin deal got voided. Kamloops has now sent Connolly to PG for McNulty

That's a strange deal, IMO. I wonder if Kamloops plans on moving McNulty before Saturday?

 

[arsmaster*]

that connolly for brycen martin deal got voided. Kamloops has now sent Connolly to PG for McNulty

Wonder what's going on there.

 

[Hordichuk_24]

Wonder what's going on there.

Why it was voided? Connolly wouldn't report to Swift Current.

 

[fluens]

The situation is very simple! Victoria wanted Sleptsov. MJ managegment able to trade. Paulic for the next season in MJ don't need! That's the whole combination!

 

[arsmaster*]

Why it was voided? Connolly wouldn't report to Swift Current.

Well it certainly seems they wanted to get rid of Connolly. Has there been issues with his attitude?

Weird that Swift also seemed to have a hard on to get rid of Martin.

McNulty moving seemed to come out of nowhere, also PG is getting a lot of contributions for other dmen, they're not as dependent as they had been on McNulty last year, Connolly coming home is nice to have as an OA next year.
--------
Surprised some of the other teams have been so quiet.

Fully expect Everett, Calgary, and Kootenay to do some things.

 

[beelby]

The situation is very simple! Victoria wanted Sleptsov. MJ managegment able to trade. Paulic for the next season in MJ don't need! That's the whole combination!

I agree to disagree. There is no reason for the Royals to have Paulic unless he is the back up to a new goalie. The goalie situation has been pretty confusing this year and I believe they are looking for a goalie who will play with confidence game in, game out. (Jarry, Comrie, Bow) etc. Vollrath has been all over the place. I'm sure he has been pulled over 5 or 6 times already this year. Sittler has looked very solid however and I would like to see him stay on the roster, he could be a trusted back up imo. The Royals need something better then Vollrath or Paulic if they want to even put up a fight with Kelowna

EDIT : Vollrath has also put up a lot of good games this year too. Just has been inconsistent.

 

[Hordichuk_24]

Well it certainly seems they wanted to get rid of Connolly. Has there been issues with his attitude?

Not to my knowledge. I don't think Kamloops necessarily wanted to get rid of him they just had a few teams interested in him and probably figured if there were a way to move him and possibly improve their team they would go for it. I thought their initial trade with Swift Current could have benefited them. The one they settled for with Prince George doesn't really, IMO. So that is a bit confusing. Unless of course they intend to flip McNulty to another team prior to Saturday's deadline. Connolly seems happy to be heading back home.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

The Blazers may not have wanted to get rid of Connolly initially but i'm guessing they did after he refused to report to SC. Getting McNulty may allow them to trade Rehill for a pretty good return. Lesser player than Rehill but can fill a similar role. I'd be shocked if they don't move Ully, no way he's back as an OA next year.

 

[arsmaster*]

Not to my knowledge. I don't think Kamloops necessarily wanted to get rid of him they just had a few teams interested in him and probably figured if there were a way to move him and possibly improve their team they would go for it. I thought their initial trade with Swift Current could have benefited them. The one they settled for with Prince George doesn't really, IMO. So that is a bit confusing. Unless of course they intend to flip McNulty to another team prior to Saturday's deadline. Connolly seems happy to be heading back home.

I agree that the first trade getting Martin made sense, but you wonder why they move him for McNulty, considering he's drafted and could jump to pro.

The reason I wondered if Connolly was having issues, is because of that second deal. Not the first.

 

[Hordichuk_24]

I know of a couple of teams that were interested in Connolly going back several weeks now. So I think he was unofficially available for a while now mostly due to interest from other teams not because the Blazers were specifically shopping him.

 

[Suter to MacInnis]

Kelowna filled their last overage slot with Braid. It's a bit odd... I think he's a downgrade on Carter Rigby who they shipped out. I like all Kelowna's moves but why not trade for a good 20 like Rodewald? Maybe the cost was really high and there could have been more to the rigby story behind the scenes.

Odd last move after going all in on Draisaitl and Morrisey though

I guess they lost Yorke and needed a second guy who can stand up to the bigger teams if a game gets out of hand, but getting back to Rigby, he could have been that guy with more skill. Oh well, probably won't make or break them.

 

[Hordichuk_24]

Kelowna filled their last overage slot with Braid. It's a bit odd...

Not really. It makes a lot of sense. Kelowna has a ton of skill but they lack a bit of grit. Other than Goulbourne they don't have much toughness up front. Braid brings that to the table.

As for Rigby you could certainly say he brings more skill than Braid but he definitely isn't a gritty or tough. But that is hindsight now. Ribgy is a streaky player and has had injury problems in the past so maybe that could have factored into Kelowna moving him earlier in the season? Either way would Kelowna have been better off keeping either Rigby or Heffley? Possibly. Although I thought they got pretty good return for both players (3rd and 4th round picks respectively). But given the circumstances I don't think Braid is a bad pick up at all.

 

[Suter to MacInnis]

Rigby has had more fights than Braid this year... I don't know how much you've watched him play but he's basically a pretty solid middleweight with decent hands, I didn't see all his fights in person but the ones I did he looked like a good fighter.

The concern with him as a physical player is inconsistency... Some nights he looked disinterested/disengaged, even when the game was getting heated. He seemed like more of a guy who stands up for himself than a policeman. Maybe thats why the rockets were done with him.

Back to Braid, I guess they didn't give much up. I would have rather seeb them trade a mid round pick or two for Rodewald. But like I said maybe moose jaw is being unrealistic or hanging on to him for some reason.

 

[Suter to MacInnis]

On the Oilers board they are saying that Braid is one of Draisaitl's best friends from PA... So maybe that was part of the motivation.

 

[Hordichuk_24]

Rigby has had more fights than Braid this year... I don't know how much you've watched him play but he's basically a pretty solid middleweight with decent hands, I didn't see all his fights in person but the ones I did he looked like a good fighter.

He's fought more since leaving Kelowna. He barely fought with the Rockets. But either way Braid is much tougher.

The concern with him as a physical player is inconsistency... Some nights he looked disinterested/disengaged, even when the game was getting heated. He seemed like more of a guy who stands up for himself than a policeman. Maybe thats why the rockets were done with him.

I'm very familiar with Rigby's inconsistency. That's why I described him as a streaky player. He scores in bunches. Sometimes he looks great and then he disappears for a long stretch. He can be a frustrating player to watch. I completely understand why he was dealt. Given the high price Swift Current paid I think the Rockets won that deal.

Back to Braid, I guess they didn't give much up. I would have rather seeb them trade a mid round pick or two for Rodewald. But like I said maybe moose jaw is being unrealistic or hanging on to him for some reason.

Moose Jaw could be asking for more than he's worth. With Kelowna's depth a guy like Rodewald wouldn't really fit into the top six. So why not acquire a player for less that will fit perfectly in the bottom six? That's the way I look at it.

 

[Suter to MacInnis]

Yeah fair enough, I'm liking what I'm reading about him, he seems like a gamer and a good fit on their 4th line.

Lots of speculation Eric Comrie has been dealt after he didn't even appear on the bench last night (they had no backup dressed). That would be a pretty big move for anybody as he has been a guy that can steal games singlehandedly in the past.