Scout
01-06-2009, 08:34 AM
Courtesy Alan Caldwell
Monday, January 5, 2009
Okay....idle speculation only, and this is just my opinion so it's worth exactly what you paid for it. But here's a quick look at what each team might be thinking of doing in the leadup to the trade deadline this Saturday.
I've listed the teams by conference, in order of the current standings....
Western Conference:
Vancouver: Probably don't need to do anything, seeing as how they and the Hitmen are running away with the league overall lead as it is. On the other hand, the Giants are a team that has never shied away from the big move either so I'd expect to see them do something, perhaps a 2nd/3rd line forward or 2nd/3rd pairing defenceman, just to add more depth to the team. All depends on the asking prices though, as (again) they don't HAVE to do anything, everyone else is already chasing them.
Tri-City: Last year's regular season champs are, right now, the #1 competition to the Giants for the West crown. I think they will be buyers as they try to put together a team that can take four out of seven from the Giants. They have top quality goaltending already and plenty of scoring punch, but I can see them making a move for a top defenceman, an offensive type because scoring from the blueline is not a strength of the Americans this year. Big price to be paid for a guy like that though.
Spokane: There are few better defensive teams in the league, but the Chiefs are a woeful 16th out of 22 teams in the scoring department, so I think they will be looking for a top-line forward to help rectify that situation and perhaps get them closer to knocking off Vancouver, which they need to do in order to get out of the West and defend their title. Broda in Moose Jaw is a great fit here, as is a guy like Bernhardt in Prince Albert. Bernhardt would mean the Chiefs have to move or drop an overage, likely Seth Compton, but Bernhardt also has almost twice as many points (on a poor team) as the highest scoring Chief. No changes needed to the Chiefs defence or goaltending, they are amongst the league's best in both areas.
Kelowna: Their biggest move this week might not cost them anything, if the rumours of Swedish WJC star and NHL first round pick Mikael Backlund leaving his Swedish mens team and joining the Rockets are true. Backlund could be a goal-a-game player in the WHL which would be a huge boost to the Rockets' chances of catching up to the Giants' level by playoff time. The Rockets would have to trade or release Lukas Matejka in order to add Backlund but that's a small price to pay for a player like Backlund. Apart from Backlund, you'd have to think the Rockets are looking to add a defenceman since they only have six on the roster right now and an injury (or two!) would be really hard on their blueliners. They don't need a top end guy because their top four are as good as anyone in the league's, but they could definitely use a veteran 3rd pairing kind of guy, the one who won't cost more than a mid-round pick or something like that. I know some fans are unhappy with Lazaruk in net but I don't think the Rockets are going to make any changes there.
Everett: Along with the next two teams, the Silvertips are probably in the West's group of teams that aren't contenders and have to decide whether to sell off assets, or add a player or two and try for a first round upset of the Chiefs, Ams, or Rockets. Personally, I think they'll all be looking to move players out. For the Tips, first out the door is probably goalie Shayne Barrie, who has lost his job to the newly acquired Thomas Heemskerk. Barrie might have value to a contender looking for a veteran backup. See Calgary and Lethbridge for details. I think the Tips might also be looking to move overage d-men Ellington and Potuer, not because they want to but because the demand (and prices) for veteran d-men will be so high this year. I also don't think Kyle Beach is going anywhere, although there might be some interest in him. He's only 18 and will be back in the WHL next year unless he makes the NHL's Blackhawks, which is something that seems less likely when you see how stacked the Blackhawks are looking these days.
Kamloops: Nick Ross is the big target here for a lot of contenders, I'm sure. A quality offensive defenceman and NHL first round pick, the Blazers would be fools not to be shopping Ross around in this seller's market for defencemen. I would be surprised if he were not moved for a big return....this is a guy Tri-City and Kelowna might be very interested in. There may also be interest in overage forward Brady Calla and 19 year old forward C.J. Stretch but on the other hand, Stretch should be back as an overage next year so the team might want to keep him.
Seattle: The Birds have 7 19 year olds, which is four too many for next year's overage spots. The big target here though is likely pro-bound defenceman Thomas Hickey, who would fetch an even bigger return than Ross if the Birds wanted to trade him. Same with 19 year old forward Jim O'Brien - he won't be back next year and could be attractive to a contender. Overage forward Greg Scott is another guy in that category with O'Brien. I guess the question is, with the new rink and all the home games in the 2nd half of the season, does Seattle want to throw in the towel by trading their best players? Or do they think that with some home cooking and a few more parts, they can get into the top half of this conference and make some playoff noise? Maybe they'll want to add a top-six forward in that case and give their suspect offence a jolt.
Prince George: Holding down the 8th playoff spot in the West right now but trail #7 by 8 points so realistically #8 might be the best they can do. In which case, a first round meeting with the Giants is probably not worth holding onto some vets for. Losing Dana Tyrell for the season really sucks for the Cougars as he would have been one of the primo trade targets and would have brought a really good return. There's also not really a lot here to move after Tyrell. Dallas Jackson on defence would bring some interest but maybe the Cougars want him as an overage next year. Cameron Cepek and Brian Matte might have some value too but they're average overagers you're not going to get much more than equal value for that. Might not be worth the trade. So other than maybe Jackson, I don't expect to see a lot of moves here.
Chilliwack: Same as the Cougars - they're in the race for the #8 spot but is a four game annihilation by the Giants worth not moving your valuable vets if you have a chance? There's four 19 year olds here who are all likely to be back next year and the Bruins can only keep three as overagers so they might very well move one or two of them. They are forwards Andy Smith, Matt Meropoulis, and Jadon Potter, and defenceman Jesse Craige. Potter broke his neck a few weeks back so he won' t be moved but the other three are all possibilities. Craige is the plum of the lot, a good 30-40 point puck moving defenceman with playoff experience who should have some good value to a contender - if the Bruins want to move him, that is. I wouldn't be surprised to see them not make a move either.
Portland: Ditto what I said for the Bruins. The Hawks could still make the playoffs (they'd be in 8th if they won two of their three games in hand on the Cougars) but they'll go four-and-out against the Giants in the first round. Better to move any valuable trade bait you have. And Portland has eight 19 year olds, which is five too many for next season, so they might as well trade a few of them if there's any interest. They are forwards Chris Francis, Nick Dietrich, and Radim Valchar, defencemen Travis Ehrhardt, Ryan Kerr, Brock Cornish, and Stefan Schneider, and goaltender Kurtis Mucha. I doubt there's any interest in Dietrich and Valchar's import status makes him tough to move but Francis is a good 2nd/3rd line forward for a contender and Kerr, Cornish, and Schneider are all good 4th/5th defencemen who shouldn't cost too much to acquire. (Cornish's injured status probably affects his tradability though!). Ehrhardt and Mucha are the more expensive of the bunch but they're also probably the ones the Hawks would rather keep to be quality overage leaders on what will hopefully be a playoff team next year. I'd expect to see the Hawks move at least one or two of these eight players anyway.
Eastern Conference:
Calgary: Similar to the Giants.....do they need to do anything? Do they risk messing up a good thing with some big additions? G.M. Kelly Kisio does not have a history of making blockbusters at the trade deadline so I wouldn't look for any big splashes here unless there was something too good to pass up. As with the Giants in the West, everyone else in the East is playing catch-up to the Hitmen now anyway so there's not tremendous pressure to make a deal. I do expect to see some deals to bring in another 4th/5th defenceman for depth & protection against injuries, and possibly a veteran goaltender to act as backup as well because they could be sunk if Martin Jones went down with injury. A guy like Barrie in Everett would be a good fit in that role since he just lost his job in Everett to Heemskerk and wouldn't cost that much.
Saskatoon: On paper, the best threat to Calgary in the East, having beaten the Hitmen twice this season. Probably would like to add another top-six forward and a top four defenceman would be nice too. On the other hand, their team should be good again next season so how much youth do they want to give up to try to win this year? Might not do as much as you'd think in that case. They do have overage forward Mike Reich at home waiting for a trade so there should be at least one move there, even if that move might only amount to sending Reich to Jr A.
Brandon: The pre-season favourites in the East along with Lethbridge, the Wheat Kings are doing better than the Canes but not where they thought they'd be contending-wise. Goaltending quality and depth on defence are the two biggest holes here, I think. They're definitely not hurting for scoring and should return almost all their top forwards again next year so there's no need for moves up front. But if they want to contend, they need to either find a #1 goalie or have one of their two existing guys seize the job finally. They also badly need a top-four defenceman or two as well, but the price for those guys is so high this year that the Wheaties might have to take a step back and decide whether instead of trying for a title this year, if they'd rather try to just win 1 or 2 rounds in the playoffs this year and tweak their team for next year's Memorial Cup hosting season instead. Given that, I would look for the Wheaties to maybe try and turn some of their 19 year olds, such as defenceman Keith Aulie, into 17 or 18 year olds at the same positions. Same with the forwards - Fehr, Calvert, Lewadniuk, Green, etc. They can't keep them all as overagers next year so if they can swap one out for a similar piece a year younger....why not?
Medicine Hat: Along with the next three teams, the Tigers are probably in a group of East teams who maybe aren't looking for a championship but feel they can win one, maybe two rounds in the playoffs at least and gain some experience for their younger players in the process. So, these teams could be either buyers or sellers depending on the market. If the Tigers decide to buy, they have an open overage spot and could use a veteran defenceman to replace Matt McCue. If they want to sell, they could trade snipers like Ennis or Bosch who aren't going to be back next year, but I just don't see them trading those guys. Maybe a defenceman like Tomas Kundratek, if anyone's interested in him. As a Euro though, his value might be a bit lower. Overall, I don't expect to see any major moves out of the Hat.
Swift Current: The Broncos do need to move an overager and it looks like it'll be defenceman Jesse Dudas, who is off the injured list and at home waiting for a trade. Dudas' size and two-way ability could fetch a decent price but his overage status and history of injuries is going to weigh against his value. Otherwise, I don't think the Broncos are going to be serious players at the deadline. They're about right where everyone expected them to be and they're not looking at significant losses for next season so at most a little tweaking of the age groups here and there perhaps.
Kootenay: Could probably get a huge return for defenceman John Negrin or forward Andrew Bailey if they decided to deal either one, but I don't see that happening. Without Negrin, the so-so Ice blueline would be even weaker and that alone could kill any Ice chances of a playoff round win. Bailey's a little more expendable perhaps but not by much as the team is already offensively challenged some nights. If the Ice were to be buyers, I think they'll be looking for depth on defence (this is a fairly common theme league-wide, isn't it?).
Regina: Have the Pats ever been sellers lately? They're just hanging onto a playoff spot right now by a couple points and I don't see them selling off any of their 19/20 year olds even though they could probably spare a 19 year old forward (Czibere, Leffler, Strueby, Cerveny) if they want to make their overage situation next year clearer. There will probably be a lot of interest in overage defenceman Victor Bartley if the Pats want to move him too. But the Pats have enough problems with lack of blueline depth that again, moving Bartley could seriously hurt their playoff chances. I'm sure they'd like to add a #4 or #5 defenceman instead.
Lethbridge: Despite their precarious playoff position right now (#8 in the conference, with teams nipping at their heels), I don't think the Canes are going to be sellers. If anything, they'll be buyers, as they have a team that is built to win this year with some very high quality 19 year olds and will require some rebuilding after this season. I think they really miss Luca Sbisa's puck-moving ability on the back end (and maybe Jesse Craige's too?) and could really benefit from picking up a top offensive defenceman, but the price for those is going to be astronomical. They have the snipers up front but those guys need someone to get them the puck other than Ben Wright. The other big need the Canes have is for a backup goalie. Since starter Juha Metsola left for the World Juniors, backup Michael Tadjdeh is 0-5 with a 6.27 GAA and .798 save percentage. Like the Hitmen with Jones, the Canes will be in big trouble without Metsola in net in the playoffs. They need a good veteran backup, not an expensive guy but a guy who can fill in for Metsola in a pinch and provide at least average quality goaltending. I still don' t know why they gave Torrie Jung away to Edmonton.
Prince Albert: So close to the playoffs.....tied with the Canes for the #8 right now actually, and one point back of Regina at #7. Selling off their best players could cripple any chances they have of getting one of those playoff spots. But, 3 of the Raiders' top 4 scorers are overage and they are going to lose all those guys next year. If they can get a prospect for Bernhardt, McDonald, or Robertson, a guy who's going to help them score next year, they should be considering the benefits of that over losing to Calgary or Saskatoon in the first round. Ditto on defence, where they have five 18/19 year olds. Not that they need to trade any of these guys but the market for defencemen is such that they can probably get a decent return for a guy like Garrett Thiessen, a guy who might not even be in the WHL next year as an overager.
Edmonton: The Oil Kings are so close to making the WHL playoffs for the first time in just their second year - two points out of a spot right now. They're also saved from some of the tough trade questions by the fact that they don't have many 19/20 year olds that (A) they want to part with and (B) have a lot of value to other teams. Overage forwards Jeff Lee and Brendan Dowd might have some interest around the league but they're overagers so their value is affected by that. For 19 year olds, I doubt the team is interested in trading Brett Breitkreuz or Craig McCallum when those guys will be back as overagers next year to lead the team offensively. But perhaps they might be interested in moving an 18 year old defenceman like Hlookoff or Van de Mosselaer though if the price is good from contending teams looking for 3rd-pairing depth.
Red Deer: I have no doubt the Rebels are sellers, but they don't have much to offer either, really. They are so young that there's not a lot of older veteran players that would have a lot of interest around the league. Defenceman Cullen Morin would be worth something, but they probably also want to keep him for next year. Forward Cody Gross is probably expendable as a 19 year old but also might not have as much value. So unless the Rebels want to start moving 18 year olds and giving the younger kids even more ice time, I don't think there's going to be much happening here.
Moose Jaw: Definitely sellers, as they are 13 points out of a playoff spot right now. They also own probably the league's #1 trade chip in 19 year old forward Joel Broda, who is the runaway league leader in the goals department this year with 35 at the moment. That's 7 more goals than the next highest total. Broda will no doubt attract a lot of interest from teams looking for that one more offensive weapon. His value is enhanced by the decent possibility that he'll be back as an overage next year since he's a mid-round NHL pick who's a late birthdate and doesn't have to be signed until 2010. So the price will be high. The only other player on the Warriors roster who I see attracting attention (and who the Tribe are likely willing to deal) would be overage forward Ian Duval, who has 40+ games of playoff experience and a point-a-game this year. I don't see the Warriors interested in moving Jason Bast or Ryan Stanton since they'll definitely be back next year to lead that team as overagers, and there probably isn't that much interest in other older Warriors like Filo, Karpov, or Grantham.
Scout
Monday, January 5, 2009
Okay....idle speculation only, and this is just my opinion so it's worth exactly what you paid for it. But here's a quick look at what each team might be thinking of doing in the leadup to the trade deadline this Saturday.
I've listed the teams by conference, in order of the current standings....
Western Conference:
Vancouver: Probably don't need to do anything, seeing as how they and the Hitmen are running away with the league overall lead as it is. On the other hand, the Giants are a team that has never shied away from the big move either so I'd expect to see them do something, perhaps a 2nd/3rd line forward or 2nd/3rd pairing defenceman, just to add more depth to the team. All depends on the asking prices though, as (again) they don't HAVE to do anything, everyone else is already chasing them.
Tri-City: Last year's regular season champs are, right now, the #1 competition to the Giants for the West crown. I think they will be buyers as they try to put together a team that can take four out of seven from the Giants. They have top quality goaltending already and plenty of scoring punch, but I can see them making a move for a top defenceman, an offensive type because scoring from the blueline is not a strength of the Americans this year. Big price to be paid for a guy like that though.
Spokane: There are few better defensive teams in the league, but the Chiefs are a woeful 16th out of 22 teams in the scoring department, so I think they will be looking for a top-line forward to help rectify that situation and perhaps get them closer to knocking off Vancouver, which they need to do in order to get out of the West and defend their title. Broda in Moose Jaw is a great fit here, as is a guy like Bernhardt in Prince Albert. Bernhardt would mean the Chiefs have to move or drop an overage, likely Seth Compton, but Bernhardt also has almost twice as many points (on a poor team) as the highest scoring Chief. No changes needed to the Chiefs defence or goaltending, they are amongst the league's best in both areas.
Kelowna: Their biggest move this week might not cost them anything, if the rumours of Swedish WJC star and NHL first round pick Mikael Backlund leaving his Swedish mens team and joining the Rockets are true. Backlund could be a goal-a-game player in the WHL which would be a huge boost to the Rockets' chances of catching up to the Giants' level by playoff time. The Rockets would have to trade or release Lukas Matejka in order to add Backlund but that's a small price to pay for a player like Backlund. Apart from Backlund, you'd have to think the Rockets are looking to add a defenceman since they only have six on the roster right now and an injury (or two!) would be really hard on their blueliners. They don't need a top end guy because their top four are as good as anyone in the league's, but they could definitely use a veteran 3rd pairing kind of guy, the one who won't cost more than a mid-round pick or something like that. I know some fans are unhappy with Lazaruk in net but I don't think the Rockets are going to make any changes there.
Everett: Along with the next two teams, the Silvertips are probably in the West's group of teams that aren't contenders and have to decide whether to sell off assets, or add a player or two and try for a first round upset of the Chiefs, Ams, or Rockets. Personally, I think they'll all be looking to move players out. For the Tips, first out the door is probably goalie Shayne Barrie, who has lost his job to the newly acquired Thomas Heemskerk. Barrie might have value to a contender looking for a veteran backup. See Calgary and Lethbridge for details. I think the Tips might also be looking to move overage d-men Ellington and Potuer, not because they want to but because the demand (and prices) for veteran d-men will be so high this year. I also don't think Kyle Beach is going anywhere, although there might be some interest in him. He's only 18 and will be back in the WHL next year unless he makes the NHL's Blackhawks, which is something that seems less likely when you see how stacked the Blackhawks are looking these days.
Kamloops: Nick Ross is the big target here for a lot of contenders, I'm sure. A quality offensive defenceman and NHL first round pick, the Blazers would be fools not to be shopping Ross around in this seller's market for defencemen. I would be surprised if he were not moved for a big return....this is a guy Tri-City and Kelowna might be very interested in. There may also be interest in overage forward Brady Calla and 19 year old forward C.J. Stretch but on the other hand, Stretch should be back as an overage next year so the team might want to keep him.
Seattle: The Birds have 7 19 year olds, which is four too many for next year's overage spots. The big target here though is likely pro-bound defenceman Thomas Hickey, who would fetch an even bigger return than Ross if the Birds wanted to trade him. Same with 19 year old forward Jim O'Brien - he won't be back next year and could be attractive to a contender. Overage forward Greg Scott is another guy in that category with O'Brien. I guess the question is, with the new rink and all the home games in the 2nd half of the season, does Seattle want to throw in the towel by trading their best players? Or do they think that with some home cooking and a few more parts, they can get into the top half of this conference and make some playoff noise? Maybe they'll want to add a top-six forward in that case and give their suspect offence a jolt.
Prince George: Holding down the 8th playoff spot in the West right now but trail #7 by 8 points so realistically #8 might be the best they can do. In which case, a first round meeting with the Giants is probably not worth holding onto some vets for. Losing Dana Tyrell for the season really sucks for the Cougars as he would have been one of the primo trade targets and would have brought a really good return. There's also not really a lot here to move after Tyrell. Dallas Jackson on defence would bring some interest but maybe the Cougars want him as an overage next year. Cameron Cepek and Brian Matte might have some value too but they're average overagers you're not going to get much more than equal value for that. Might not be worth the trade. So other than maybe Jackson, I don't expect to see a lot of moves here.
Chilliwack: Same as the Cougars - they're in the race for the #8 spot but is a four game annihilation by the Giants worth not moving your valuable vets if you have a chance? There's four 19 year olds here who are all likely to be back next year and the Bruins can only keep three as overagers so they might very well move one or two of them. They are forwards Andy Smith, Matt Meropoulis, and Jadon Potter, and defenceman Jesse Craige. Potter broke his neck a few weeks back so he won' t be moved but the other three are all possibilities. Craige is the plum of the lot, a good 30-40 point puck moving defenceman with playoff experience who should have some good value to a contender - if the Bruins want to move him, that is. I wouldn't be surprised to see them not make a move either.
Portland: Ditto what I said for the Bruins. The Hawks could still make the playoffs (they'd be in 8th if they won two of their three games in hand on the Cougars) but they'll go four-and-out against the Giants in the first round. Better to move any valuable trade bait you have. And Portland has eight 19 year olds, which is five too many for next season, so they might as well trade a few of them if there's any interest. They are forwards Chris Francis, Nick Dietrich, and Radim Valchar, defencemen Travis Ehrhardt, Ryan Kerr, Brock Cornish, and Stefan Schneider, and goaltender Kurtis Mucha. I doubt there's any interest in Dietrich and Valchar's import status makes him tough to move but Francis is a good 2nd/3rd line forward for a contender and Kerr, Cornish, and Schneider are all good 4th/5th defencemen who shouldn't cost too much to acquire. (Cornish's injured status probably affects his tradability though!). Ehrhardt and Mucha are the more expensive of the bunch but they're also probably the ones the Hawks would rather keep to be quality overage leaders on what will hopefully be a playoff team next year. I'd expect to see the Hawks move at least one or two of these eight players anyway.
Eastern Conference:
Calgary: Similar to the Giants.....do they need to do anything? Do they risk messing up a good thing with some big additions? G.M. Kelly Kisio does not have a history of making blockbusters at the trade deadline so I wouldn't look for any big splashes here unless there was something too good to pass up. As with the Giants in the West, everyone else in the East is playing catch-up to the Hitmen now anyway so there's not tremendous pressure to make a deal. I do expect to see some deals to bring in another 4th/5th defenceman for depth & protection against injuries, and possibly a veteran goaltender to act as backup as well because they could be sunk if Martin Jones went down with injury. A guy like Barrie in Everett would be a good fit in that role since he just lost his job in Everett to Heemskerk and wouldn't cost that much.
Saskatoon: On paper, the best threat to Calgary in the East, having beaten the Hitmen twice this season. Probably would like to add another top-six forward and a top four defenceman would be nice too. On the other hand, their team should be good again next season so how much youth do they want to give up to try to win this year? Might not do as much as you'd think in that case. They do have overage forward Mike Reich at home waiting for a trade so there should be at least one move there, even if that move might only amount to sending Reich to Jr A.
Brandon: The pre-season favourites in the East along with Lethbridge, the Wheat Kings are doing better than the Canes but not where they thought they'd be contending-wise. Goaltending quality and depth on defence are the two biggest holes here, I think. They're definitely not hurting for scoring and should return almost all their top forwards again next year so there's no need for moves up front. But if they want to contend, they need to either find a #1 goalie or have one of their two existing guys seize the job finally. They also badly need a top-four defenceman or two as well, but the price for those guys is so high this year that the Wheaties might have to take a step back and decide whether instead of trying for a title this year, if they'd rather try to just win 1 or 2 rounds in the playoffs this year and tweak their team for next year's Memorial Cup hosting season instead. Given that, I would look for the Wheaties to maybe try and turn some of their 19 year olds, such as defenceman Keith Aulie, into 17 or 18 year olds at the same positions. Same with the forwards - Fehr, Calvert, Lewadniuk, Green, etc. They can't keep them all as overagers next year so if they can swap one out for a similar piece a year younger....why not?
Medicine Hat: Along with the next three teams, the Tigers are probably in a group of East teams who maybe aren't looking for a championship but feel they can win one, maybe two rounds in the playoffs at least and gain some experience for their younger players in the process. So, these teams could be either buyers or sellers depending on the market. If the Tigers decide to buy, they have an open overage spot and could use a veteran defenceman to replace Matt McCue. If they want to sell, they could trade snipers like Ennis or Bosch who aren't going to be back next year, but I just don't see them trading those guys. Maybe a defenceman like Tomas Kundratek, if anyone's interested in him. As a Euro though, his value might be a bit lower. Overall, I don't expect to see any major moves out of the Hat.
Swift Current: The Broncos do need to move an overager and it looks like it'll be defenceman Jesse Dudas, who is off the injured list and at home waiting for a trade. Dudas' size and two-way ability could fetch a decent price but his overage status and history of injuries is going to weigh against his value. Otherwise, I don't think the Broncos are going to be serious players at the deadline. They're about right where everyone expected them to be and they're not looking at significant losses for next season so at most a little tweaking of the age groups here and there perhaps.
Kootenay: Could probably get a huge return for defenceman John Negrin or forward Andrew Bailey if they decided to deal either one, but I don't see that happening. Without Negrin, the so-so Ice blueline would be even weaker and that alone could kill any Ice chances of a playoff round win. Bailey's a little more expendable perhaps but not by much as the team is already offensively challenged some nights. If the Ice were to be buyers, I think they'll be looking for depth on defence (this is a fairly common theme league-wide, isn't it?).
Regina: Have the Pats ever been sellers lately? They're just hanging onto a playoff spot right now by a couple points and I don't see them selling off any of their 19/20 year olds even though they could probably spare a 19 year old forward (Czibere, Leffler, Strueby, Cerveny) if they want to make their overage situation next year clearer. There will probably be a lot of interest in overage defenceman Victor Bartley if the Pats want to move him too. But the Pats have enough problems with lack of blueline depth that again, moving Bartley could seriously hurt their playoff chances. I'm sure they'd like to add a #4 or #5 defenceman instead.
Lethbridge: Despite their precarious playoff position right now (#8 in the conference, with teams nipping at their heels), I don't think the Canes are going to be sellers. If anything, they'll be buyers, as they have a team that is built to win this year with some very high quality 19 year olds and will require some rebuilding after this season. I think they really miss Luca Sbisa's puck-moving ability on the back end (and maybe Jesse Craige's too?) and could really benefit from picking up a top offensive defenceman, but the price for those is going to be astronomical. They have the snipers up front but those guys need someone to get them the puck other than Ben Wright. The other big need the Canes have is for a backup goalie. Since starter Juha Metsola left for the World Juniors, backup Michael Tadjdeh is 0-5 with a 6.27 GAA and .798 save percentage. Like the Hitmen with Jones, the Canes will be in big trouble without Metsola in net in the playoffs. They need a good veteran backup, not an expensive guy but a guy who can fill in for Metsola in a pinch and provide at least average quality goaltending. I still don' t know why they gave Torrie Jung away to Edmonton.
Prince Albert: So close to the playoffs.....tied with the Canes for the #8 right now actually, and one point back of Regina at #7. Selling off their best players could cripple any chances they have of getting one of those playoff spots. But, 3 of the Raiders' top 4 scorers are overage and they are going to lose all those guys next year. If they can get a prospect for Bernhardt, McDonald, or Robertson, a guy who's going to help them score next year, they should be considering the benefits of that over losing to Calgary or Saskatoon in the first round. Ditto on defence, where they have five 18/19 year olds. Not that they need to trade any of these guys but the market for defencemen is such that they can probably get a decent return for a guy like Garrett Thiessen, a guy who might not even be in the WHL next year as an overager.
Edmonton: The Oil Kings are so close to making the WHL playoffs for the first time in just their second year - two points out of a spot right now. They're also saved from some of the tough trade questions by the fact that they don't have many 19/20 year olds that (A) they want to part with and (B) have a lot of value to other teams. Overage forwards Jeff Lee and Brendan Dowd might have some interest around the league but they're overagers so their value is affected by that. For 19 year olds, I doubt the team is interested in trading Brett Breitkreuz or Craig McCallum when those guys will be back as overagers next year to lead the team offensively. But perhaps they might be interested in moving an 18 year old defenceman like Hlookoff or Van de Mosselaer though if the price is good from contending teams looking for 3rd-pairing depth.
Red Deer: I have no doubt the Rebels are sellers, but they don't have much to offer either, really. They are so young that there's not a lot of older veteran players that would have a lot of interest around the league. Defenceman Cullen Morin would be worth something, but they probably also want to keep him for next year. Forward Cody Gross is probably expendable as a 19 year old but also might not have as much value. So unless the Rebels want to start moving 18 year olds and giving the younger kids even more ice time, I don't think there's going to be much happening here.
Moose Jaw: Definitely sellers, as they are 13 points out of a playoff spot right now. They also own probably the league's #1 trade chip in 19 year old forward Joel Broda, who is the runaway league leader in the goals department this year with 35 at the moment. That's 7 more goals than the next highest total. Broda will no doubt attract a lot of interest from teams looking for that one more offensive weapon. His value is enhanced by the decent possibility that he'll be back as an overage next year since he's a mid-round NHL pick who's a late birthdate and doesn't have to be signed until 2010. So the price will be high. The only other player on the Warriors roster who I see attracting attention (and who the Tribe are likely willing to deal) would be overage forward Ian Duval, who has 40+ games of playoff experience and a point-a-game this year. I don't see the Warriors interested in moving Jason Bast or Ryan Stanton since they'll definitely be back next year to lead that team as overagers, and there probably isn't that much interest in other older Warriors like Filo, Karpov, or Grantham.
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