NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins watches the play during a Western Hockey League game against the Moose Jaw Warriors at Canalta Centre Friday.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
It started as one of the calmest Western Hockey League trade deadline days in recent memory, but just when it looked as though the dust had settled, the Medicine Hat Tigers announced their final transaction of the 2019-20 season.
In a look to the future, Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins opted to send a sixth-round bantam draft pick to the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for 16-year-old defensive prospect Luke Rybinski – younger brother of former Tabby forward Henrik Rybinski.
“He’s a big body, thinks the game pretty good, makes a good first pass and competes real hard,” said Desjardins, adding Rybinski likely won’t join up with the team this season. “We’ll have to see how it goes down the stretch here. Right now, we’ve got eight D. We’ll have him in maybe somewhere along the line, but it’s a big step to come in and play.”
Desjardins added he didn’t feel the need to make any more big moves after acquiring overage defenceman Dylan Plouffe and 18-year-old forward Lukas Svejkovsky in a blockbuster deal with the Vancouver Giants last month. But even with the WHL’s third-best record at 27-12-1-1, the Tabby bench boss says he knows nothing will come easy once playoffs roll around.
“I like our group. I’ve liked it all year. I like how hard we work. Saying that, it’s going to be a real challenge. There are lots of good teams in our league on any given night,” said Desjardins. “I do like our group, but it’s going to be a battle.”
Rybinski has yet to play a game in the WHL, but the 6-foot-3, 172-pound Vancouver product has posted a goal and three assists in 14 Canadian Sport School Hockey League games with St. George’s School’s midget prep squad this season. The 137th overall bantam draft pick also recorded 22 points in 33 games with St. George’s elite 15s last year.
Rybinski joins the Tigers almost exactly one year after Henrik was traded to the Seattle Thunderbirds. The 18-year-old forward requested a trade from Medicine Hat last November.
Shaun Clouston’s Blazers were one of the more active teams Friday, completing three trades – all of which were announced following the 3 p.m. deadline. On top of shipping Luke Rybinski to the Gas City, the Blazers picked up 18-year-old goaltending prospect Brett Balas from the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for a ninth-round bantam pick in 2021 and 19-year-old winger Tyler Carpendale from Seattle in exchange for a conditional third-round pick this year.
The Everett Silvertips made the biggest move of the afternoon by acquiring Swift Current Broncos captain Ethan Regnier, 19, and 17-year-old Finnish defenceman Kasper Puutio in exchange for 19-year-old Czech winger Martin Fasko-Rudas, 18-year-old defenceman Parker Hendren, a first-round pick in this year’s draft and a second-round selection in 2022. The Silvertips (26-9-2-1) entered Friday five points back of the Portland Winterhawks (28-6-1-3) for first in the U.S. Division, while Swift sits last in the Eastern Conference with a 9-25-1-2 record. The Broncos ended up shipping Fasko-Rudas to the Saskatoon Blades just over an hour later in exchange for 18-year-old Czech forward Mataj Toman, 15-year-old defensive prospect Cale Ashcroft and a sixth-round pick in 2022.
The East Division-leading Winnipeg Ice also completed a big deal late in the afternoon by picking up 19-year-old defenceman Dawson Barteaux and two lower-round draft picks in exchange for four second-round picks spanning 2020-2023 as well as a fifth-round selection in 2021 and a conditional third-round pick in 2023.
While only four trades broke prior to the league’s 3 p.m. deadline to submit, a total of 12 transactions were completed – compared to 11 in 2019 and 17 in 2018. However, what was arguably the biggest blockbuster deal came Thursday between the Victoria Royals and Moose Jaw Warriors.
Trailing the Blazers by five points for the top of the B.C. Division entering the weekend, the Royals opted to make a few waves by obtaining reigning WHL rookie of the year Brayden Tracey, goaltender Adam Evanoff, a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft and a fifth-rounder in 2023. In return, the Royals gave up goaltender Brock Gould, defenceman Nolan Jones, forward Logan Doust – all 18 years old – a first-round selection in 2021, a third-rounder in 2020, as well as second and fourth-round picks in 2022.
The five-player, six-pick transaction was one of nine completed Thursday. Other noteworthy trades included the Prince Albert Raiders landing 19-year-old goaltender Max Paddock from the Regina Pats in exchange for 17-year-old forward Jakob Brook and a pair of early-round picks, and the Vancouver Giants acquiring overage forward Eric Florchuk and a seventh-round pick in 2021 from Saskatoon in exchange for 18-year-old winger Evan Patrician, a first-round pick this year and a second-rounder next year.
