Not a lot of movement expected at WHL trade deadline

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This article was published 04/01/2022 (1378 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A spike in COVID-19 infections that forced the WHL to suspend team activities in Red Deer, Edmonton and Moose Jaw Tuesday could seriously deter the league’s championship contenders from making big moves prior to the trade deadline.

The rationale being — why make costly deals to improve your team with the season in jeopardy?

“I’m not in a position to be buying, so it’s a little different for me, but if I was buying I’d be awfully cautious,” said Tri-City Americans general manager Bob Tory by phone Tuesday afternoon. “We’re not really selling either, although obviously you’re always listening, but I think it has an effect on the trade market.”

Tory, whose young team is 10th and last in the Western Conference, said he does not expect to be busy on the trade front.

“We did move our trade deadline back to Jan. 17 (from Jan. 10), which gives teams a little bit more time,” said Tory. “There may be not as many (title contenders) — you’ve got Winnipeg, Edmonton and Red Deer out there (in the Eastern Conference) and Everett, Seattle and Kamloops out here. How aggressive are they going to be? I don’t know. You know, the big fish is already gone in (Kaiden) Guhle.”

Guhle, the highly coveted Team Canada defenceman who went from the Prince Albert Raiders to the Oil Kings in a multi-player deal on Dec. 2, would have been an excellent fit with any team, including the Eastern Conference-leading Winnipeg Ice.

Winnipeg is still believed to be trying to bolster its blue-line corps but the options appear to be limited.

Tri-City’s Marc Lajoie, a veteran 6-5, 220-pound defender with some bite to his game, would probably be a good fit, but the price would be high.

“He’s got got 2 1/2 years left to play (in the league) so I have to get an awful lot for that player, beyond the high draft pick,” said Tory of the 18-year-old Lajoie. “I’ll also need a player back that’s gonna go into my lineup and make a difference. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me. Every team is trying to win and they can’t afford to give you that type of player (back) because they need that player to win.”

The Ice, which has had three games postponed since the holiday break, returned to practice Tuesday with defencemen Max Streule and Carson Lambos back from an abbreviated stay at the world junior championship in Alberta.

As a result, the club reassigned a trio of affiliate players, including defenceman Ashton Cumby (Lloydminster Bobcats U18 AAA), goaltender Noah Stenvig (Delta U17 Prep) and blue-liner Jonas Woo (Winnipeg Bruins AAA U18).

Winnipeg’s next games are scheduled for Jan. 15 and 16 against the visiting Regina Pats.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14