A look back at the Eakin trade

By request of a reader who saw my breakdown of the Brayden Schenn trade....here's a similar look at the 2011 Cody Eakin trade which happened the day before the Schenn deal. This was one of the biggest deals in WHL history just based on sheer numbers: Eakin was traded for eight players.

To recap the deal, it was January 9, 2011 and Swift Current traded Eakin to Kootenay for five players (Ryan Bloom, Colby Cave, Christian Magnus, Steven Myland, and Jarrett Zentner) and Kootenay's 2011 first and second round bantam picks plus their 2012 third round pick.

A bit on each of those:

• Bloom: 17 at the time, he had been Kootenay's 2008 2nd round bantam pick. He started the season with Kootenay that year but was sent to the AJHL after 5 games. He was in the AJHL at the time of the trade but joined the Broncos after the deal.
• Cave: 16 at the time, he had been Kootenay's 2009 1st round bantam pick (13th overall). He did not make the Ice as a 16 year old and was playing AAA midget at the time of the trade. He remained in midget for the rest of the year as well.
• Magnus: 18 at the time, he had been Swift Current's 2007 1st round bantam pick and was traded from the Broncos TO the Ice two years earlier in the John Negrin trade. 
• Myland: 16 at the time, he had been Kootenay's 2010 10th round bantam pick. He was playing AAA midget in B.C. at the time of the trade and remained there after the trade.
• Zentner: 17 at the time, he had been Kootenay's 2008 4th round bantam pick. He was in the AJHL at the time and remained there after the trade.
• the 2011 first round pick (actually Vancouver's pick which Kootenay had acquired for David Musil and then flipped to the Broncos) was used by the Broncos to pick Zach Gonek
• the 2011 second round pick was used by the Broncos to pick Cavin Leth
• the 2012 third round pick was used by the Broncos to pick Wyatt Sloboshan

Now - unlike Saskatoon with Schenn - with Cody Eakin in their lineup the Kootenay Ice defeated the Portland Winterhawks to win the 2010-11 WHL championship. So regardless of how these players did for the Broncos, it's going to be really tough to argue that despite giving up 8 players the Ice did not win this trade, especially seeing as how the Broncos have not won a playoff series in the four postseasons since the deal and have missed the playoffs in two of those four. But let's see how those 8 have fared with the Broncos:

• Bloom: played the rest of 2010-11 with the Broncos after the trade, notching 1 assist in 24 games. Was released during training camp in September 2011 and never played in the WHL again. He finished out his junior career playing Jr A in the AJHL.
• Cave: joined the Broncos in 2011-12 and has blossomed into a star, with 33 goals and 70 points last season while also wearing the captain's "C" for the Broncos. He will almost certainly play as an overager next year and be the captain again as well.
• Magnus: played the remainder of 2010-11 and all of 2011-12 with the Broncos, posting 13 goals and 17 assists in 86 games. Was released during training camp in 2012 due to overage numbers and played his overage season in the SJHL. 
• Myland: mostly played Jr B in 2011-12, with a 2 game stint with the Broncos in which he posted a 5.41 GAA and .818 save percentage. In 2012-13 he split between Jr B and Jr A in the BCHL, but made 4 appearances for the Broncos with a 2.35 GAA and .896 save percentage. He was released by the Broncos after that and has not played in a WHL game since. Last season was mostly spent in the BCHL.
• Zentner: never played a game for the Broncos. Spent the rest of his junior career playing Jr A in the AJHL and SJHL. 
• Gonek: did not make the Broncos as a 16 year old in 2012-13 and last summer was traded to Prince George for another '96 defenceman, Jordan Harris. Harris played 52 games last year for Swift Current, with 1 goal and 8 assists. He should play another 2 or 3 years for the Broncos yet.
• Leth: did not make the Broncos as a 16 year old in 2012-13 but cracked the roster at 17 last season, putting up 3 goals and 1 assist in 48 games. 
• Sloboshan: did not sign with the Broncos and last season had his rights traded to Saskatoon in the deal which saw Nathan Burns and a 2014 7th round pick go to Swift Current for Connor Sanvido, Sloboshan, a 2014 2nd round pick and a conditional 2015 3rd round pick. The conditional 3rd round pick is believed to transfer if Sloboshan does not sign with the Blades either.

So to analyze this deal for Swift Current, clearly Bloom, Myland, and Zentner did not amount to anything of significance at the WHL level. Given their ages and/or draft status and level of development - none were in the WHL at the time of the trade despite 2 of them being 17 - it is likely Swift Current never considered them integral to the deal in the first place though. They were probably longshots that weren't going to play in Kootenay and as it happened didn't pan out for the Broncos either.

Magnus was a decent player for several years in the WHL despite never reaching his first round bantam pick potential. The fact that he did not play in the league as an overager is a clear indication of his status as a bottom-six forward. He was OK while he was there but was also, like the above three, not a key part of the deal. I would speculate that he was involved in the deal at least in part in order to maintain the # of forwards on each team's roster - ie, to offset the loss of Eakin to the Broncos roster and the addition of Eakin to the Ice roster.

The keys to the deal, from the Broncos perspective, were almost certainly acquiring the rights to Cave plus three good draft picks from the Ice. In that respect, they have gotten one very good player in Cave. For the other three, right now neither Harris nor Gonek (who was used to acquire Harris) looks like they will become stars in the WHL although both should play several years and be contributors. Leth is in the league but did not put up numbers that stand out for a 17 year old. I would speculate he needs to take on a much bigger role next year if he is to stay in the WHL. Sloboshan is not in the league; if he does play for the Blades then to the Broncos he is essentially part of the price they paid to get Nathan Burns. If he does not play in the league then he will force the Broncos to give up a 2015 3rd round pick. 

In sum, I believe the Ice won this trade by a considerable margin; they have a banner hanging in their building which Eakin was a big part of them winning (27 points in 19 games, tied for 2nd in league playoff scoring). Obviously the jury is still out on the careers of Harris and Leth and if they become star players in the next year or two then the deal will look a lot better for the Broncos than just Colby Cave and a couple other average-so-far players.