Medicine Hat Tigers forward Lukas Svejkovsky makes a breakout pass during a Western Hockey League game against the Everett Silvertips at the Canalta Centre in this 2019 file photo. The Tigers have traded Svejkovsky to Seattle.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers have started to look toward the future.
On Monday, three weeks before the WHL’s trade deadline, the Tigers shipped star centre Lukas Svejkovsky to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
No players came back in the deal but the Tigers received a 2022 first-round pick, a conditional second-rounder in the 2023 draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft.
Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins said it was hard to make the move but was something both sides agreed would be the best outcome.
“It was hard for sure, Lukas has come in and been a big part of our team,” Desjardins said. “I think he’s grown a lot as a player here. He’s worked extremely hard, and I think it was tough. He needed something a little different here and we were able to help ourselves down the road.”
Desjardins said the Tigers and Thunderbirds talked trade for three weeks before coming to agreement Monday. After the trade, the Tabbies now have two picks in the first round of the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, only a few weeks after drafting Tomas Mrsic eighth overall in the 2021 draft.
The 20-year-old is a product of Point Roberts, Wash., which means the move to Seattle will bring him a little closer to home.
The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect came to Medicine Hat in a trade from the Vancouver Giants in December of 2019. Over his 163 career WHL games, Svejkovsky has recorded 52 goals and 64 assists for 116 points. He led the Tigers in scoring this season with 13 goals and 30 points in 24 games at the Christmas break.
Desjardins would not say if there was more moves to come for the orange and black ahead of the Jan. 17 trade deadline but said they’ll do anything that makes the team better.
“We’ll figure it out as we go along, there may be more coming,” Desjardins said. “We have some time between the deadline and we’ll see if we can do anything to help our team.”
The writing was on the wall for the Tigers to make a move as they are only one win and two losses removed from a 16-game losing streak and sit last in the WHL with a record of 5-18-3-1 heading into tonight’s game in Calgary.
Medicine Hat takes on the Hitmen tonight, obviously without Svejkovsky in the lineup. Desjardins said they still have to figure out who will slot into his now vacant place on the top line.
“We have to see, there’s lots of stuff coming in right now so we have to find out who is going to be here and once we know that then we’ll be good to go,” Desjardins said.
After acquiring Svejkovsky, the Thunderbirds had to make room for the winger, as each team can only have three over-agers. Seattle traded former Tigers defenceman Eric Van Impe, sending him to the Swift Current Broncos. Medicine Hat moved Van Impe at the start of the season.
The Thunderbirds sit in second place of the U.S. division with a record of 18-7-3 and have now made four trades in the month of December to gear up for a playoff run.
The Tigers look to remain competitive down the stretch after moving their best player this season. Desjardins said it’ll be a challenge figuring out what they do with the lineup the rest of the season.
“We have to figure out what we can do, we always try to make ourselves better if we can,” Desjardins said. “We will look if there is any other pieces we can do, we’ll do that. For us, we just need to find ways to win, so we have to keep moving.”
The Tigers’ first action after the break comes tonight in Calgary as they take on the Hitmen in the first of a two-game home-and-home series. The two teams meet again Thursday at Co-op Place for a 7 p.m. contest.
Two Tigers on WHL COVID protocol
The WHL announced Monday evening that 36 WHL players or hockey operations staff have been added to the league’s COVID-19 protocol list after returning from the holiday break.
Two members of the Medicine Hat Tigers organization have been added to the list as a result of displaying symptoms for COVID-19 or returning a positive test result prior to re-entering WHL club facilities.
The News reached out to the Tigers for more information but the club declined to comment on specific members citing privacy concerns.
Including the Tigers, 17 other WHL clubs had at least one player or staff member added to the COVID-19 protocol list. The Calgary Hitmen, Edmonton Oil Kings and Prince Albert Raiders were the only teams to not have a member added to the list. As of press time, results were still pending for the Prince George Cougars and Kamloops Blazers.
In a press release, the WHL said as a result of the limited number of positive cases with each club, there is no impact at this time on the regular season schedule.
