After a season of change for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, many players are heading home Monday on exit day.
A flurry of trades saw a number of veterans, including Detroit Red Wings prospect Alex Cotton, Chase Wheatcroft and Logan Barlage shipped out, bringing in draft picks and plenty of young talent like Brayden Edwards, Hayden Smith and Ross Stanley.
In all, the Canes made eight trades since November 2021, with a total of 13 players and and 14 draft picks exchanging teams in the deals.
“We certainly added some skill to our group and I’d look out on the ice at some periods of time and there’d be a 17-year-old, two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old on the ice and playing well,” the team’s architect, general manager Peter Anholt said.
A middling start saw the Canes fighting for a playoff spot in the spring, finishing the regular season by grabbing points in the final seven games.
“Way more positives than negatives for sure,” Anholt said.
“I think our first couple months of the year were hard, just a real weird start to the season and we managed to get through it and turned things around.”
“Early on in the season when we played top teams, the games weren’t close,” head coach Brent Kisio said. “We got blown out in some of them, but by the end, not only were the games close but we played Edmonton, Red Deer and we beat them.”
“The team went on a roll there at the end and those were some big games for sure,” rookie forward Logan Wormald said.
Despite a first-round loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings, members of the organization are pleased with the strides the Canes took throughout the year.
“As a team, I think we gave (the Oil Kings) all they could handle,” Anholt said. “We took some bites out of them, which they certainly felt.”
“It was a grind for our team the last two months to make sure we earned a spot (in the playoffs), but I was proud of how hard we played and the level we played at down the stretch,” Kisio said.
Including a year of growth from the youngsters that the players are ready to build on next season.
“There were games where they won us games and they’re all great young players,” co-captain Jett Jones said. “I’m excited to see how they look next year coming into camp.”
As for offseason plans?
“Work on my game and my confidence, come back better than ever,” Wormald said.
The next order of business for the Canes is the WHL U.S. priority draft and the prospects draft, scheduled for May 18 and 19, respectively.