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The Medicine Hat Tigers acquired defenceman Kurtis Smythe from the Portland Winterhawks for a 2023 eighth round pick in the WHL draft Wednesday morning.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers added versatility to the lineup Wednesday morning.
The club acquired 20-year-old defenceman Kurtis Smythe from the Portland Winterhawks in exchange for an eighth-round pick in the 2023 WHL prospects draft.
Medicine Hat head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins said they want to be good right now and he likes what Smythe brings on and off the ice for the Tigers.
“He’s played on a winning program. He was an assistant captain on a winning program and he’s a good skater,” Desjardins said. “He gives us versatility to play both forward and defence, and I think that’s something that can help us.”
In six games this season the Cloverdale, B.C. product has one assist – coming in the Winterhawks 4-3 overtime win against the Tigers on Oct. 8. Smythe joins the Tigers organization with 121 games under his belt, all with Portland, scoring two goals and adding 31 points. He also has a career +/- rating of plus-48, along with 145 penalty minutes.
On top of the versatility and his leadership qualities, Desjardins says Smythe will help on the Tigers’ penalty kill.
“He’ll play hard and we need that. We need a guy who can be a big part of our penalty kill, maybe a little bit on a shutdown line,” Desjardins said. “Then if (Bogdans) Hodass is off to the juniors, maybe he can fill in on the back end. He’s just a guy that gives us versatility and we need that moving ahead.
Smythe’s arrival marks the second move the Tigers have made this week, after acquiring 18-year-old goaltender Evan May from the Everett Silvertips on Tuesday. The Tigers also picked up a 2025 fifth-round pick and sent 18-year-old forward Oren Shtrom to Everett along with a ’23 eighth-round and a ’24 ninth-round pick in the WHL draft.
Wednesday’s trade leaves the Tigers roster with 12 listed forwards, eight defenceman and two goalies. With Smythe’s flexibility to play on either side of the puck Desjardins said the move pushes guys to be at their best.
“We want guys to be accountable, and if they didn’t bring their best game, then we want them accountable for that,” Desjardins said. “Because we need their best game and we’re not going to win if we don’t get best games. That’s just something we have to work on.”
Desjardins says when Smythe arrives, he’ll start as a forward for his first game, whether it be against the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night or against the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday, both home games for the Tigers. He did say 17-year-old forward Cru Hanas, who has yet to draw into a game, will be in the lineup against the Rebels.
“It’s important Cru gets to play, he’s a really good young player and he has great skills,” Desjardins said. “It’s going to be a challenge for him in his first game though, he’s going to have to be ready to play because those guys are going to go hard.”
Wednesday’s acquisition of Smythe also required the Tigers to move one of the three overage players on their roster. In their trade announcement, The Tigers said they released 20-year-old forward Alex Drover from the roster. The Port-aux-Basques, Nfld. product was acquired as a free agent from the QMJHL this summer and suited up in six WHL games for the Tigers, scoring two goals with four points. Desjardins says it was disappointing they had to move him and wished the forward the best.
“Alex is a great young man, he’s really smart, I think he wants to go to med school after, just a really quality person. So it’s tough when you got to move somebody like that,” Desjardins said. “It’s not that Alex wasn’t good it’s just we needed more depth on defence, and instead of a power play guy, we probably needed more of a penalty killer guy, and so I think that’s why we had to do it. But just an outstanding person.”
