Heavy lifting already done, Tigers stand pat on WHL trade deadline day

By JAMES TUBB on January 10, 2025.

The Medicine Hat Tigers stood pat on WHL deadline day.

The Tigers did not make a move on Thursday leading up to the league’s 6 p.m. MST deadline, with the last trade made being the acquisition of goaltender Cruz Chase from the Regina Pats on Wednesday.

Of course the Tigers made a splash earlier in the week, acquiring Nashville Predators defence prospect Tanner Molendyk and forward Misha Volotovskii from the Saskatoon Blades, sending back 17-year-olds Hayden Harsanyi and Jack Kachkowski, as well as five draft picks.

“We made a big move, like a really big move, we got probably the top guy out there, or one of the top guys for sure,” head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins said. “Whenever you can do that, that’s exciting. I thought last night I liked our group for lots of that game. We played pretty hard and it’s going to be exciting for us.

A total of 11 deals were swung on Thursday as WHL teams prepared their groups for the playoffs or moved players out for prospects and picks with eyes for the future. Quiet on deadline day, Desjardins says they always try to add but are happy with the roster they have put together.

“As a coach you always want to add, you want to make sure you give yourself the absolute best chance to win every year and that’s not possible,” Desjardins said. “You have to rely on your draft picks and you have to grow them.”

The Tigers have three 16-year-old forwards in the lineup, with centre Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and forwards Markus and Liam Ruck. Desjardins says any additions would have taken away the valuable ice time not only needed for development but also earned by the rookies.

“We’ve always kept trying to develop the younger guys as well and that’s a challenge, but we’ve always tried to keep that,” Desjardins said. “The problem is, whenever you build a team to win, some of the younger players don’t get the ice time they want and then they want out.

“It hasn’t been like that in the past, this is kind of a new thing. So it’s going to change the landscape on building teams.”

The Tigers come out of the trade deadline tied for first place in the Eastern conference with the Blades and the Calgary Hitmen. The Hitmen and Lethbridge Hurricanes have both loaded up ahead of the deadline, acquiring multiple NHL prospects and look poised to challenge for the division.

The Tigers have 29 games left on the calendar before the playoffs begin at the end of March. Between tonight, when the Tigers host the Red Deer Rebels, and the end of the season, Desjardins is looking for further development of their depth as they make the push for the postseason.

“We’ve seen some really good signs in some of our guys who haven’t got as many minutes,’ Desjardins said. “The Rucks have come a long ways, (Marcus) Pacheco is starting to play the best he’s played, Ethan Neutens is starting to play good, Carter Cunningham should be back and he’s playing better. So we have a lot of our guys who maybe don’t get our most minutes, are starting to get the best part of their game and that’s going to help us down the road.”

A full breakdown of all the trades made in the WHL leading up to the deadline can be found on the league website.