When Brandon Heck took his job as Battlefords North Stars head coach and general manager, he expected the annual Jan.10 trade deadline to be one of the most enjoyable days of the year.
Instead, the last day to make roster moves across the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League turned out to go differently than he envisioned.
“Prior to when everything started, [assisstant coach] Boyd [Wakelin] talked about how we thought everything would go and we weren’t totally sure what to expect,” Heck said. “We like the way the future is looking here and we didn’t want to sell many of those assets off with the moves that we made.
“I came expecting it to be one of the funnest days of the year but it’s actually one of the saddest as we had to say goodbye to one of our most popular guys in the room.”
The one change when it came to a roster player was the departure of forward Jacob Tibbatts, as he was traded to the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Lloydminster Bobcats for forward Cole Johnson.
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.
“Having to give up Jacob hurt us a lot,” Heck said. “He’s such an outstanding guy with huge potential and he was really starting to come around as a player at this level.
Coming to the North Stars is Johnson, a 19-year-old from Marwayne, Alta., that put up 21 points in 27 games for the Bobcats this year after spending the last three seasons in the Western Hockey League.
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 he had one assist in 20 games.
“He has a lot of skill but he also has that sandpaper grit to his game,” Heck said.
“He can score goals in the crease and he’s hungry to find the back of the net. It’s always nice to have that secondary scoring and especially in the playoffs. We’re going to need that if we want to make another run at a championship.”
The other trade that take place on Wednesday saw the North Stars acquire versatile player Garan Magnes from the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints for a player development fee
“We like that plays both forward and defence, and he’s got some experience from playing in the WHL,” Heck said.
“He’s a smart and savvy player, and that’s someone that’s key to having good records on the road. We like to have guys that are able to make plays under pressure.”
Magnes, a 20-year-old from Edmonton, has suited up at both ends of the ice 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.
“When [TJ] Lloyd and [Jarrod] Gourley both left to play for Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge, Garan jumped right into their top four defencemen and played really well for the Saints,” Heck said. “He could be a guy in a top pairing for most teams in the country.
“His addition really gives us some more flexibility on both forward and defence, and it should make the battle for ice time even more competitive.”
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.
The North Stars also 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 last Monday for forward Parker Smyth.
“We had talks with Grande Prairie before Christmas but nothing really materalized,” Heck said.
“We brought Power in, but it wasn’t going to be a fit for both parties. We got talking to Grande Pairie once again and we jumped on the opproutnity as it developed to add someone with Parker’s size and skill to our lineup.”
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.
“He reminds me a bit of [Calgary Flames forward] Matthew Tkachuk,” Heck said. “He’s got a little bit of that extra competivness to his game that I like.”
North Stars fans will have to wait a little bit to see all three new faces in the lineup, as the team’s next home game isn’t until Friday, Jan. 26 when the Nipawin Hawks will pay a visit to the Civic Centre.
When asked if the additions of players from the AJHL is something fans might expect going forward, Heck said that it just happened to work out that way over the course of this year’s deadline.
“Obviously there’s that familarity for me with guys from the league from when I coached bantam, but we wanted to trade within our league,” Heck said. “There just wasn’t a right fit.
“I thought that we could get some of the players from the AJHL for a lesser price than it would cost to get some of the players from the SJHL, which is why we went that way this time around.”
There were only a couple of in-league deals at the deadline, with the biggest move seeing the Flin Flon Bombers trading third-year forward and leading scorer 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.
“We tried to get in on the Shumlanski deal but we didn’t want to give up what Flin Flon wanted for him,” Heck said.
“I think teams don’t want to make other teams better, which is something you saw at times with all of the moves at the WHL trade deadline this past week. There’s such parity in this league that no one wants to give an advantage for their rivals in the coming years. As a result, I think that’s why you saw more teams looking elsewhere to add the pieces that they need for the playoffs.”
The other big in-league swap saw the La Ronge Ice Wolves send 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.
Meanwhile, former North Stars forward Ben Allen has returned to the SJHL after he was traded to the Melfort Mustasngs by the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League last Sunday for the right 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.
