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WHL trades since Dec. 27:
Trades: 35.
Players: 62.
Bantam draft picks: 45.
Conditional bantam draft picks: 11.
(WHL trade deadline passed on Jan. 10 at 3 p.m. MT).
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The WHL hung the “CLOSED” sign on its meat market on Tuesday afternoon, but not before 62 players had changed addresses. That’s just since Dec. 27.
Since Nov. 8, which was the date of the season’s first major deal — the Lethbridge Hurricanes sent F Brayden Burke to the Moose Jaw Warriors for F Ryan Bowen, a second-round bantam draft pick and a conditional third-rounder — the WHL office has cleared 53 trades involving 89 players, 59 bantam draft picks and 17 conditional draft picks.
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No one keeps track of the movement of WHL bantam draft picks like Alan Caldwell over at Small Thoughts At Large.
On Tuesday afternoon, he posted a couple of tweets point out the following involving the Regina Pats and some of their first-round bantam draft picks, starting with 2015.
D Dawson Barteaux, Regina’s first-round pick in 2015, was traded to the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday.
The Pats’ 2016 first-rounder was dealt to Red Deer last season in a trade that brought back F Jake Leschyshyn.
Regina’s 2017 first-round pick was part of a deal involving Red Deer on Tuesday.
The Pats still own their 2018 first-rounder but it will go to the Everett Silvertips if F Tyson Jost reports to them. Jost is a freshman with the U of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
Regina’s 2019 first-round pick will go to Everett if Jost reports or to Red Deer as part of Tuesday’s deal.
Got that? If not, check out Caldwell’s site. There’s a link over there on the right.
Jost spent two seasons with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees before heading to North Dakota. The Colorado Avalanche selected him with the 10th overall pick in the NHL’s 2016 draft.
For the latest on the Pats and Jost, check out this story right here by Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post.
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An OHL GM once told me why the league in his view doesnt allowing trading of 1st rounders. "They are protecting stupid GMs from themselves."— Steve Fitzsimmons (@playbyplayguy) January 10, 2017
“More than 150 players and almost 200 draft picks have been exchanged in (major) junior hockey leading up to the trade deadline, including picks far, far into the future,” writes Ken Campbell of The Hockey News.
In one trade involving the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and Hamilton Bulldogs, a second-round selection in the OHL’s 2026 draft changed hands. Yes, 2026!
Campbell’s piece is right here.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings, the WHL’s defending champions, shook up things a bit just before the WHL trade deadline arrived by sending G Jordan Papirny, 20, to the Swift Current Broncos.
Papirny, who was in his fourth season in Brandon, was the go-to goaltender as Brandon won the Ed Chynoweth Cup last season.
From Edmonton, Papirny and a fourth-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft were sent to the Swift Current Broncos for G Travis Child, 19, D Kade Jensen, 19, and two draft picks — a second-rounder pick in the 2019 draft and a fifth-rounder in 2019.
The Wheat Kings then traded that second-round pick and D Jordan Wharrie, 19, to the Vancouver Giants for Russian D Dmitry Osipov, 20. Wharrie will be joining his third team this season, having started with the Victoria Royals.
Papirny, who was a first-round pick by Brandon in the 2011 bantam draft, is the Wheat Kings’ franchise career leader in games played (188), minutes played (10,967) and victories (111). He and Tyler Plante share the record for shutouts (12).
This season, Papirny was 13-11-1, 3.24, .906 in 26 games. In his career, he is 111-53-20, 2.90, .907. He also holds the franchise record for playoff appearances by a goaltender (49) during which he went 33-15-1, 2.87, .910.
Jensen, from Calgary, is in his fourth WHL season, having also played with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 bantam draft. In 41 games this season, the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has three goals and six assists. In 220 career games, he has 14 goals 32 assists.
Child goes to Brandon where he will share the net with Logan Thompson, who also is 19. Child, from Killam, Alta., was a second-round pick by Swift Current in the 2012 bantam draft.
This season, in 24 games, Child was 13-3-3, 3.03, .902 with the Broncos. In 75 career games, he is 23-23-6, 3.20 and .902.
Osipov, 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, has one goal and 10 assists in 42 games with the Giants this season. In 239 career games with Vancouver, he has seven goals and 31 assists. With Brandon, Osipov joins Czech D Daniel Bukac, 17, as the import players and F Tyler Coulter and F Reid Duke as the 20-year-olds.
Wharrie, from Port Moody, B.C., had three goals and seven assists in 34 games with the Wheat Kings, who acquired him in September from the Victoria Royals.
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Having added F Ryley Lindgren, 20, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Monday and G Jordan Papirny, 20, from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday, the Swift Current Broncos found themselves with too many 20-year-olds.
In order to get down to the maximum of three, the Broncos traded F Calvin Spencer to the Vancouver Giants for a conditional ninth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Spencer, from Brooklyn Park, Minn., had 10 goals and six assists in 36 games with the Broncos this season. In 200 career games, the first 99 of them with the Seattle Thunderbirds, he has 26 goals and 27 assists.
The Giants now have two 20-year-olds on their roster, with Spencer joining D Jeff Rayman.
The Broncos now have F Ryan Graham, Papirny and Spencer as their 20s.
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The Portland Winterhawks made two moves on Tuesday, one a trade and the other a waiver claim.
Portland dealt D Jake Hobson, 17, to the Swift Current Broncos for a fifth-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft.
Hobson, from Christopher Lake, Sask., is the son of former WHL D Doug Hobson and played the previous four seasons with teams in Prince Albert. He was a third-round pick by the Winterhawks in the 2014 bantam draft.
This season, as a freshman, he had one assist in 18 games with Portland.
Meanwhile, the Winterhawks also claimed F Matt Revel, 20, off waivers from the Kamloops Blazers. Revel was in his fourth season with Kamloops when he suffered a collarbone injury during a game against the host Edmonton Oil Kings on Dec. 10. He isn’t expected to be able to play until some time in February.
Revel, from Abbotsford, had seven goals and 11 assists in 31 games with Kamloops this season. Last season, the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder finished with 53 points, including 23 goals, in 66 games. In 303 career games, including 104 with the Saskatoon Blades, he has 169 points, 69 of them goals.
In Portland, Revel joins D Shaun Dosanjh, who was on the Blazers’ roster earlier in the season, and F Keegan Iverson as the 20-year-olds.
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this season. Kylington was a second-round selection by the Calgary Flames in last month’s NHL draft, although he is working on a two-year contract with Swedish pro team AIK. . . . The Wheat Kings selected him in the CHL’s import draft. . . . On Wednesday, with the Flames holding their development camp and Kylington in attenance, Ryan Pike, the managing editor of @FlamesNation, tweeted that “Oliver Kylington told me he's locked in with AIK for this season, but season after has exit clause.” . . . Later in the day, Darren Haynes, who covers the Flames for Canadian Press, tweeted: “Spotted at WinSport this afternoon, meeting up with Oliver Kylington, was Brandon coach/GM Kelly McCrimmon. Wheat Kings own his WHL rights.”
World Junior Championship. On Wednesday, Casey sent a letter to IIHF president René Fasel, citing, according to a news release, “the city’s success in hosting major events and the region’s rich hockey history . . .” Casey wrote: “With all due respect to Detroit, Pittsburgh really is America’s hockey capital. Selecting Pittsburgh would be good for the city and the tournament. The opportunity to play in front of some of the nation’s most enthusiastic hockey fans will only add to the tournament.Pittsburgh has a successful record of hosting major events. Adding the 2018 World Juniors to the city’s roster of major events would contribute to the revitalization occurring in Pittsburgh and throughout the region.” . . . The 2016 tournament is to be held in Helsinki, Finland, with the 2017 event in Montreal and Toronto.
B.C., was a ninth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. He had 20 points, six of them goals, in 28 games while at the Okanagan Hockey Academy last season. . . . F Chase Lowry was a third-round pick in 2015. He had 36 points, 16 of them goals, in 21 games with the major bantam Edmonton South Side Athletics. . . . D Jared Herauf, a first-round pick in 2015, had six goals and 17 assists in 33 games with the major bantam Sherwood Park Flyers. . . . D Ethan Sakowich, a second-rounder in 2014, is from Athabasca, Alta. He played last season with the midget AAA Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, earning five assists in 27 games. . . . F Tanner Sidaway, a 16-year-old from Victoria, was put on the Rebels’ protected list last season. He had 12 points, including nine goals, in 40 games with the bantam AAA South Island Royals. . . . Greg Meachem, the sports editor at the Red Deer Advocate, also reported that F Austin Adamson, 19, is out for up to five months after having surgery on a hip. He split last season between the Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer, finishing with 10 points, including five goals, in 53 games.
F Chad Robinson, 20, had a goal and four assists Sunday as Team Black beat Team White 12-4 in the Brandon Wheat Kings’ annual intrasquad game. . . . The Wheat Kings trimmed their roster to 35 players after the game, with four of those leaving this week for NHL camps. D Ryan Pulock (New York Islanders), D Nick Walters (St. Louis Blues), D Eric Roy (Calgary Flames and F Richard Nejezchleb (Pittsburgh Penguins) all are expected to return to Brandon. . . . The Wheat Kings are down to two goaltenders — veteran Curtis Honey and freshman Jordan Papirny. From Edmonton, the 17-year-old Papirny was the 22nd overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. 
The Kamloops Blazers got their roster down to 25 players, including two goaltenders and eight defencemen, following a 4-3 OT victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants on Sunday night. . . . The Blazers re-assigned F Quinn Benjafield and F Jake Kryski, both first-round selections in the 2013 bantam draft, and D Travis Verveda, 16, following the game. . . . Kryski (Okanagan Rockets) and Benjafield (Vancouver-Northwest Giants) are expected to play in the B.C. Major Midget League. Verveda will join the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Chiefs. . . . Kryski and Verveda played on Sunday; Benjafield didn’t. . . . The Blazers’ 25-man roster includes F Tim Bozon, who leaves Wednesday for the Montreal Canadiens’ camp, and F Cole Ully, who will go to rookie camp with the Dallas Stars.
The Prince Albert Raiders are down to two goaltenders, with Nick McBride, 16, having earned the backup position to veteran Cole Cheveldave, 20. . . . McBride beat out a pair of 1996-born goaltenders — Tanner Balk and Rylan Parenteau, the latter having now joined the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. McBride, from Maple Ridge, B.C., played last season with the Vancouver-Northeast Chiefs of the B.C. Major Midget League. He was a second-round selection by the Raiders in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . The Raiders also signed D Tomas Andrlik, F Darcy Zahirchuk, D Cody Paivarinta and F Luke Coleman. . . . Andrlik, from Czech Republic, was selected in the CHL’s 2013 import draft. Last season, he played for HC Plzen’s U-18 and U-20 teams. . . . Zaharichuk, 17, from Sherwood Park, Alta., had 30 points in 31 games with the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the Alberta Midget Hockey League. . . . The 6-foot-5 Paivarinta, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., was a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. He played for a bantam AAA team in Abbotsford last season. . . . Coleman was taken in the fifth round of the 2013 bantam draft. He had 41 points in 32 games with the bantam AAA Red Deer Rebels Black last season.
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