REGINA – The Moose Jaw Warriors continue to wheel and deal ahead of the WHL Trade Deadline.
On Friday the Warriors pulled off their second trade in five days sending 18-year-old defenceman Tyler Brown, the rights to 16-year-old Marcus Kichton and a second-round pick in 2017 to the Vancouver Giants for 19-year-old defenceman Josh Thrower and a fifth-round pick in 2017. Thrower has nine assists and 59 penalty minutes in 40 games this season, and will make his Warriors’ debut on Saturday.
Earlier in the week the Warriors pulled off a deal with Saskatoon shipping d-man Dustin Perillat to his hometown Blades for 17-year-old Dean Stewart, a fifth-round pick in 2016 and a second-round pick in 2017.
So the dominoes have started to fall in Moose Jaw, which begs the question: what will happen with Brayden Point?
The Warriors’ captain is the hottest commodity at this year’s deadline, and is likely drawing interest league-wide, but will the Warriors part with the skilled 19-year-old?
The price tag for arguably the WHL’s best player would no doubt be steep. Despite missing over half the season due to an upper body injury and the world juniors, Point is still among the league leaders in scoring with 43 points in 19 games, and he would be a huge boost to any team that has the assets to acquire him.
For comparison sake here’s a few past deals involving high-end talent.
Schenn traded to Blades
The Saskatoon Blades and Brandon Wheat Kings pulled off a blockbuster trade in early 2011 that saw Brayden Schenn shipped to the Blades.
To Saskatoon:
F Brayden Schenn
Third-round pick in 2012
To Brandon:
F Tim McGauley
D Ayrton Nikkel
First-round pick in 2011
First-round pick in 2012
First-round pick in 2012 CHL Import Draft
Second-round pick in 2011
Eakin shipped to Kootenay
The Brayden Schenn deal wasn’t the only big trade at the 2011 deadline. The Swift Current Broncos sent Cody Eakin to the Kootenay Ice for an eight-piece package of player and picks.
To Kootenay:
F Cody Eakin
To Swift Current:
F Christian Magnus
F Ryan Bloom
F Jarrett Zentner
F Colby Cave
G Steven Myland
First-round pick in 2011
Second-round pick in 2011
Third-round pick in 2012
Rockets Acquire Draisaitl from Raiders
The Kelowna Rockets grabbed the big fish at last year’s deadline sending players and picks to Prince Albert for big centre Leon Draisaitl.
To Kelowna:
Leon Draisaitl
To Prince Albert:
F Kris Schmidli
D Dalton Yorke
First-round pick in 2015
Fourth-round pick in 2016
Conditional fourth-round pick in 2016 or 2017
Winterhawks get Dumba from Rebels
On December 12, 2013 the Portland Winterhawks pulled off a big trade to acquire defenceman Matthew Dumba.
To Portland:
D Matthew Dumba
To Red Deer
F Preston Kopeck
Second-round pick in 2014
Second-round pick in 2015
Second or third-round pick in 2016
Broncos Trade DeBrusk to Rebels
More recently on December 27th, 2015 the Red Deer Rebels acquired former 40-goal man Jake Debrusk from the Swift Current Broncos.
To Red Deer:
F Jake DeBrusk
To Swift Current:
F Lane Pederson
First-round pick in 2017
Third-round pick in 2016
If the Warriors do decide to part ways with Point, I expect the return to be along the lines of the Schenn and Draisaitl deals, but again a very high price to pay.
We’ll find out if a team is willing to pay for Point in the coming days. The WHL Trade Deadline is at 1:00 PM Saskatchewan time on Sunday.
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