More trades

Seattle has acquired 18 year old forward Andrew Johnson from the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for a 2013 4th round bantam pick.

And Calgary has acquired 19 year old forward Colten Mayor from Regina in exchange for 18 year old forward Carson Samoridny and a 2013 4th round bantam pick.

Also, 19 year old forward Collin Valcourt has been traded to Saskatoon by Spokane; in return the Chiefs get a 2013 5th round bantam pick and Saskatoon's 2015 first round bantam pick. Yes, a first round pick. Valcourt is a good player - strong, gritty player, exactly what a playoff team would want. And whaddya know, the Chiefs are a playoff team, probably one that can go two or three rounds this spring. So why would they want to trade Valcourt for future draft picks? The answer would appear to be that Saskatoon simply upped the price to the point where Spokane couldn't say No anymore. Remember, if Saskatoon struggles for a few years after this season, that 2015 first round pick that the Chiefs got could end up being a lottery pick. For Collin Valcourt. You can see why this might have gotten too hard for the Chiefs to decline.

In fairness to the Blades, Valcourt is not drafted or signed by any NHL club and so there is a strong possibility that he will play in the WHL again next year as an overager. It makes the price slightly more reasonable when you figure they'll have him for a year and a half - or can trade him next fall to recoup something. Which is more than can be said for Saskatoon's OTHER trade today:

The Blades sent their 2013 first round bantam pick to Brandon for overage forward Michael Ferland. This is more than I figured the Wheat Kings were going to get for Ferland, who was possibly the best power forward in the WHL last season.

Acquiring Ferland gave Saskatoon too many overagers, so they traded one of theirs, forward Adam Kambeitz, to Seattle for a 2014 3rd round pick. (So to sum up: upgrading from Kambeitz to Ferland cost the Blades a swap of a first round bantam pick for a third round pick)

Acquiring Kambeitz gave Seattle too many overagers, so they released forward Brendan Rouse. Rouse was immediately snapped up on waivers by the Vancouver Giants, who had an opening for an overage.

And Saskatoon made one other trade as well, sending a 2013 4th round bantam pick to the Kootenay Ice for 19 year old forward Erik Benoit. Benoit gets to go from the last place team in the Eastern Conference, to a team with a guaranteed Memorial Cup spot.