The Battlefords North Stars once again turned to the Alberta Junior Hockey League when it came to strengthening their roster on Canadian Junior Hockey League trade deadline day Wednesday.
The defending Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions acquired versatile player Garan Magnes from the Spruce Grove Saints for a player development fee and then dealt forward Jacob Tibbatts to the Lloydminster Bobcats in exchange for forward Cole Johnson.
Magnes, a 20-year-old from Edmonton, has suited up at both forward and defence for the Saints over the last two campaigns.
He had 35 points in 53 games last year and put up nine points in 27 games this season.
Magnes also suited up in 73 Western Hockey League games for the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Seattle Thunderbirds from 2014-2016, where he had eight points.
Johnson, a 19-year-old from Marwayne, Alta., has put up 21 points in 27 games for the Bobcats this year after spending the last three seasons in the WHL.
After playing in just 10 games and scoring one goal over two injury shortened campaigns with the Swift Current Broncos, Johnson had 10 points in 34 games last year before being dealt to the Saskatoon Blades, where had one assist in 20 games.
Tibbatts, an 18-year-old from Foxwarren, Man., had three assists in 27 games for the North Stars after being signed from the Yellowhead Chiefs of the Manitoba Midget Hockey League last June.
Wednesday’s two deals brought the number of transactions that the North Stars had made since the end of the CJHL roster freeze on Jan. 1 to four.
The North Stars dealt the rights to forward Dylan Williamson to the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys for Jared Power on Jan. 4, and then traded Power to the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm on Monday for forward Parker Smyth.
Smyth, a 19-year-old from Red Deer who is the nephew of former NHL forward Ryan Smyth, had 25 points in 34 games for the Storm this season.
All three new players are expected to be the lineup for the team this weekend as they go on the road for two games with the Flin Flon Bombers.
Meanwhile, a former North Stars forward was part of a mammoth trade in the WHL Tuesday.
Nineteen-year-old Mossbank product Tanner Nagel, who had seven points in 23 games for the North Stars during the 2015-16 season before he was called up by the Portland Winterhawks, was dealt by the Lethbridge Hurricanes to the Swift Current Broncos in a deal that set the tone for a flurry of deals over the next 24 hours.
In what turned out to be a massive arms race among a number of title contenders in the WHL, the Broncos also acquired overage forward and Hurricanes captain Giorgio Estephan along with Edmonton Oilers goaltending prospect Stuart Skinner in exchange for highly-touted rookie forward Logan Barlage, overage goaltender Logan Flodell, forward Owen Blocker, defenceman Matthew Stanley, a first round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft, a third round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a conditional second round draft pick in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft.
What follows is a recap of the moves that the other 11 teams in the SJHL made over the course of the first 10 days of January.
Estevan Bruins
The only deal that the Bruins made during the trading period occurred on Wednesday as they acquired the rights to 19-year-old forward Bryce Platt from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles.
Platt has spent this season with his hometown Regina Pats of the WHL and has six points in 37 games with the 2018 Memorial Cup hosts.
In an interview with Estevan Bruins announcer Rob Mahon Wednesday night, Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood stated that he expected Platt to stay with the Pats this year, but he may join the Bruins roster next season.
Meanwhile, Bruins blueliner and former Battlefords AAA Stars player Austin King-Cunningham saw his WHL rights dealt Wednesday from the Vancouver Giants to the Tri-City Americans in exchange for a conditional draft pick.
The 17-year-old from Pilot Butte joined the Giants late last season and had an assist in three games following his Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League campaign with the Stars.
He played in five contests this year before he left the team in October after requesting a trade according to Giants general manager Glen Hanlon, which led to him joining the Bruins in November.
Flin Flon Bombers
The Bombers parted ways with their leading scorer Wednesday as they dealt third-year forward Nick Shumlanski to the Humboldt Broncos for future considerations.
The 20-year-old from Tisdale had 39 points in 35 games for the Bombers this year, and looks set to best the 56-point campaign he had last season.
With Shumlanski’s departure, the Bombers are now led in scoring by 18-year-old rookie Chrystopher Collin, as the Boisbriand, Que. product has put up 31 points in 29 games.
Humboldt Broncos
In addition to getting Shumlanski, who now sits second in team scoring behind Logan Schatz’s 54-point campaign, the Broncos also made a pair of deals with the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys Wednesday.
The Broncos acquired 18-year-old defenceman Cale Cripps for future considerations, then followed that up by dealing 19-year-old goaltender Sam-Jaxon Visscher for future considerations.
Cripps, who is from Grande Prairie, Alta., had three points in 30 games for the Grizzlys after an 11-point campaign on the blueline for the Nanaimo Buccaneers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League last year.
Visscher, a native of St. Albert, Alta., was acquired from the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines in the off-season and had compiled a 5-3-0 record with a 3.30 goals against average for the Broncos, but had been surpassed on the depth chart by Parker Tobin and Jacob Wassermann.
The Broncos also dealt 19-year-old forward McKullen Astill to the Maritime Hockey League’s South Shore Lumberjacks for future considerations.
Astill, who is from Edmonton, had three points in eight games for the Broncos after he was acquired from the British Columbia Hockey League’s Merritt Centennials in December.
Kindersley Klippers
A new face was added to the Klippers’ blueline Wednesday as they acquired 19-year-old Blake Kleiner from the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons in exchange for a player development fee.
The Lethbridge, Alta. native had seven points in 16 games for the Dragons this season and had 10 points in 46 games last year in his first Junior A campaign.
The Klippers also added goaltender Zach Johnson to their roster this week after his rights were acquired from the Notre Dame Hounds for a player development fee.
Johnson, an 18-year-old from Regina, had a 13-1-0 record and a 2.36 goals against average for the Regina Capital of the Prairie Junior Hockey League this season and is slated to replace former Klippers netminder Billy Girard as the backup to Justen Close.
La Ronge Ice Wolves
It was a busy day for the team at the bottom of the SJHL standings, as the Ice Wolves made six deals.
They started off the proceedings by sending their top scorer Jason Bednarski to the league leading Nipawin Hawks in exchange for future considerations.
Bednarski, who turns 21 on Thursday, had 22 points in 36 games for the Ice Wolves after putting up 56 points in 121 games over the last two seasons with his hometown Espanola Express in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
The Ice Wolves then dealt 20-year-old forward Daniel Chartrand to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Swan Valley Stampeders for 18-year-old forward Sam Harris and future considerations.
Chartrand, a native of Dauphin, Man., had three points in eight games for the Ice Wolves after being acquired in November from the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard in a deal that saw one-time Battlefords North Stars blueliner Austin Shumanski head east.
Harris, who calls Fort Myers, Florida home, had five points in 19 games for the Stampeders at the time of the trade.
The next transaction saw the Ice Wolves move the rights of 19-year-old forward Zac Gladu to the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder for 20-year-old goaltender Tymen Endelkoort and a player development fee.
Gladu, who is from Medicine Hat, Alta. and had seven points in 38 games with the Ice Wolves last year, has been plying his trade for the Val-d’Or Foreurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season and has two points in 17 games.
Endelkoort, a native of Smithville, Ont., didn’t stay long with the Ice Wolves as his rights were then dealt to the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Dryden Ice Dogs for a player development fee.
In their next deal, the Ice Wolves sent the rights to forward Elijah Carels to the MJHL’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines for fellow forward Marco Mazza.
Carels, an 18-year-old from Bruxelles, Man., had been acquired from the Melville Millionaires in November but never played for the Ice Wolves and is currently a member of the Pembina Valley Twisters of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League.
Mazza, an 18-year-old from Winnipeg, had 19 points in 25 games for the Wolverines after starting off his Junior A career with an assist in three games for the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals.
The Ice Wolves’ final transaction of the day saw them acquire 19-year-old forward Damon Porter from the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs in exchange for a player development fee.
The Calgary native had 12 points in 23 games this year with the Mustangs, who acquired him last season from the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
Melfort Mustangs
The only move that the Mustangs made came on Sunday evening as they acquired former Battlefords North Stars forward Ben Allen from the BCHL’s Penticton Vees in exchange for the rights to defenceman James Miller and future considerations.
Allen, a 20-year-old from Allen, Texas, had 45 points in 44 games with the North Stars in their run to the title last season and was often seen on the team’s top line with Coby Downs and Layne Young after being acquired from the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
Prior to the start of this season, Allen was dealt for future considerations to the Vees, where he had 11 points in 37 games and also announced his commitment to the NCAA’s Alabama-Huntsville Chargers for next year.
Miller, a 19-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., had 18 points in 37 games for the Vees last year and saw his rights dealt to Mustangs in the summer in exchange for forward Dakota Boutin.
After suiting up in just two games this year for the NCAA’s New Hampshire Wildcats, Miller returned to Penticton this week as the team currently deals with a number of injuries on their blueline.
Melville Millionaires
Although they didn’t make a trade in January, the Millionaires did add a forward to their roster Wednesday as Logan Foster returned to the lineup after being reassigned by the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos.
The 18-year-old from Kamsack had three points in 22 games this season but would be in tough to have a regular spot in the lineup following the many moves that the Broncos made to strengthen their lineup ahead of the WHL trade deadline.
Foster had four points in 14 games in an injury-shortened campaign with the Millionaires last year, as he joined the team following seven-game stints with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs and the Estevan Bruins respectively.
Nipawin Hawks
In addition to acquiring Bednarski for the Ice Wolves, the Hawks also dealt forward Caleb Paisley to the MJHL’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines Wednesday in exchange for defenceman Wayde Johanneson.
Johanneson, a 19-year-old from Arnes, Man., was in his third season on the Wolverines blueline and had 19 points in 40 games at the time of the trade.
Paisley, an 18-year-old from Steinbach, Man., had six points in 23 games for the Hawks after joining the team from the Rink Hockey Academy.
The league leaders also strengthened their forward core on Jan. 2 as they brought in 20-year-old forward Tyler Adams from the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds.
Adams, who is from Regina and had only played in one game for the Thunderbirds this year due to injury, had eight points in 41 games last season after being traded by the Swift Current Broncos and had five points in the playoffs during Seattle’s run to their first ever league championship.
The Hawks rung in 2018 by dealing defenceman Josh Laferriere to the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons to complete a trade that the two teams made on Oct. 19 that saw the Hawks acquired forward Gage Misskey.
Laferriere, a 19-year-old from Wainwright, Alta., had six points in 29 games for the Hawks in his second campaign for the team.
Since joining the Hawks, Misskey has five points in 28 games.
Notre Dame Hounds
While the only trade they made saw them deal the rights to goaltender Zach Johnson to Kindersley, the Hounds did announce that one of their forwards will be continuing his hockey career in a Canadian post-secondary intuition.
Jack Flaman, a 20-year-old from Vibank, committed to the Acadia Axemen Friday and joins Battlefords North Stars captain and future Saskatchewan Huskies forward Layne Young as the only players in the SJHL that are slated to move on to U Sports next season.
It’s been a busy year so far for Flaman, as he suited up for the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes and Red Deer Rebels to start the season and had 11 points in 21 games before joining the Hounds in December.
Since returning to Wilcox, where he started the 2015-16 campaign before joining the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, he has five points in nine games.
Weyburn Red Wings
The Red Wings dipped into the trade waters on Jan. 3 as they acquired forward Dryden Wust from the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder for a player development fee.
The 20-year-old from Langley, B.C. had 11 points in 34 games for the Thunder, who acquired him from the Melville Millionaires in July.
In his previous endeavor in Saskatchewan last year, Wust had 10 points in 37 games.
Yorkton Terriers
After a rough first half of the season that saw them part ways with head coach and general manager Casey O’Brien, the Terriers elected to stand pat with their last moves coming at the Dec. 1 CJHL roster cutdown deadline.
The most notable transaction involving a former Terrier came on Dec. 28 when forward Jared Legien, who led the team in scoring last year with 56 points, was traded by the WHL’s Victoria Royals to the Regina Pats for former Battlefords North Stars forward Braydon Buziak and a conditional seventh round draft pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft.
After putting up 33 points in 36 games with the Royals, the former ninth overall pick by the Kootenay Ice in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft has continued to impress in his return to the league as he has six points in his first seven games with the Pats.
Buziak, who had seven points in 32 games in his second season with the Pats at the time of the trades, has three points in six games with the Royals.
