The dominoes have started tumbling, it appears....we have one of the big names on the move tonight, Victoria's Kevin Sundher. The Royals have sent him to the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for 18 year old defenceman Jordan Fransoo, 17 year old forward Dakota Conroy, and Brandon's 2012 first round bantam pick.
Brandon, of course, had two first round picks in the 2012 draft so they could make this trade without dropping out of that round. They gave up their own pick here, but they still own Saskatoon's pick from last year's Brayden Schenn trade.
So now the question is, with the Braes trade to Moose Jaw and the Sundher trade to Brandon today, has anything changed in the minds of some other Eastern conference teams as a result? Are there now teams feeling more pressure to buy? More willingness to sell? I guess we'll find out tomorrow.
Couple other deals today to make note of:
- Moose Jaw dealt 19 year old defenceman Tyler Vanscourt to the Vancouver Giants for a 2012 5th round bantam pick. The Giants will be Vanscourt's fourth team this season alone. He started in Spokane, was traded to Prince Albert, then to Moose Jaw, and now Vancouver. The guy has played in three of the four divisions this year.
- Tri-City dealt 17 year old defenceman Riley Guenther to the Prince Albert Raiders for a 2013 5th round pick. Making a roster spot for some planned acquisitions?
- and in a seemingly minor deal that could be much more, Edmonton sent the rights to 20 year old forward Cam Reid to Portland for a 2012 8th round pick. Reid is (was) a sophomore at St. Cloud State University but has left school and will join the Hawks. Reid could be an impact player in the WHL for the half season he has remaining in eligibility; I can only assume the dirt-cheap price paid for him is because perhaps he wouldn't leave school for anyone else in the WHL except Portland and after tomorrow the Oil Kings would get nothing for him?
Anyway, since Portland already has three overagers (defenceman William Wrenn and forwards Oliver Gabriel and Dillon Wagner), they must trade or release one of those three by tomorrow. So the Reid deal will at least spur one more move for the Hawks for sure.
4 comments:
Dondient
Are you sure Portland has to give up a twenty tomorrow? Can't they wait until Oliver gets off injured reserve plus 14 days to decide?
Don - I believe tomorrow is also the roster deadline at which teams must declare their final roster for the rest of the season. As such, I don't believe the Hawks are allowed to go past that date with four overagers. That's a first half of the season situation only, as far as I know.
I could be wrong. But I don't think I have ever seen it happen before.
You think Kamloops will be in the market tommorow??
You never know....Kamloops already made a somewhat big move in acquiring Herrod. They might be done.
I guess it depends on their expectations of the season. Do they think they have what it takes to go head to head with Tri-Cities or Portland in the Western final? If not, then they might need to add more.
Or, maybe they're not prepared to give up a lot more this year. Maybe they'll see this as a year to just try to go a few rounds deep (more if they can of course!) and get the experience for the younger players for next year.
Blazers could go either way, I think.
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