Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports
Andrew Cristall departed the Kelowna Rockets as a rental, and former Prince Albert Raiders captain Eric Johnston was part of a three-team move.
Those were the two big deals that rounded out the transactions on Wednesday and Thursday leading to the WHL’s trade deadline, which passed at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time Thursday. Outside of those two deals, most of the other trades from Wednesday and Thursday involved usually moving a player to get a fresh start in a new centre for a WHL Prospects Draft pick.
The Cristall deal was the big move that was made on Wednesday. The Rockets sent the star 19-year-old right-winger to the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for 17-year-old centre Hayden Paupanekis, first and third round selections in the 2025 Prospects Draft, second and sixth round picks in the 2026 Prospects Draft, and a first round selection in the 2027 Prospects Draft.
Entering play on Friday, Cristall sat fifth in the WHL scoring race with 60 points coming off 26 goals and 34 assists to go with a plus-22 rating in the plus-minus department. Entering play on Friday, Paupanekis appeared in all of the Chiefs 39 games recording 24 points coming off 11 goals and 13 assists.
Combined with the deal that saw the Rockets ship star 19-year-old defenceman Caden Price to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Monday for six assets that included standout 17-year-old defenceman William Sharpe, the Rockets will have two strong 17-year-olds in Paupanekis and Sharpe who will be 18-years-old in 2025-26, when Kelowna hosts the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.
Cristall and Price will most likely be somewhere in the professional ranks next season as 20-year-olds. Cristall has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals, and Price has a signed entry-level contract with the Seattle Kraken.
The Rockets also have a bunch of Prospects Draft selections including three first round picks they can use to trade to get established stars in the off-season who are expected to return to the WHL next season.
Kelowna wasn’t able to unload star 19-year-old import left-winger Jakub Stancl before the trade deadline. Stancl, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues, helped Czechia win bronze at the recently completed world juniors. In 26 regular season games with the Rockets in the current campaign, Stancl has 32 points coming off 11 goals and 21 assists to go with a plus-10 rating entering play on Friday.
After the Cristall trade, the Rockets made a couple of minor moves. On Wednesday, they sent 18-year-old defenceman Landon Cowper to the Everett Silvertips for a seventh round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft.
On Thursday, the Rockets acquired 19-year-old centre Andrew Petruk from the Silvertipes in exchange for a ninth round pick in the 2025 Prospects Draft. Petruk will get to audition for the rest of the campaign to see if he will fit into the Rockets plans for 2025-26.
The Rockets proceeded to make more moves on Friday gearing things up for next season. They fired head coach Kris Mallette, 45, and moved 40-year-old Derrick Martin from assistant coach to interim head coach. Kelowna also hired 29-year-old Liam McOnie as an assistant coach.
Mallette had been the Rockets head coach since February 2020. Martin joined the Rockets before the start of the current campaign. McOnie was the head coach and general manager of the Sicamous Eagles of the junior A Kootenay International Junior Hockey League before joining the Rockets.
Entering play on Friday, the Rockets sat ninth in the WHL’s Western Conference with a 14-18-2-1 mark and were three points back of the 15-18-3-1 Wenatchee Wild for eighth place and the conference’s final post-season berth.
While the Rockets had a busy week, the Swift Current Broncos, Moose Jaw Warriors and Red Deer Rebels combined on a big three-team trade to account for the biggest deal on Thursday. That deal saw former Prince Albert Raiders captain and 20-year-old defenceman Eric Johnston move from the Broncos to the Warriors. Before the start of the current campaign, Johnston was sent by the Raiders to the Broncos for a third round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft.
Also in Thursday’s three-way deal that saw Johnston depart to Moose Jaw, the Broncos sent 17-year-old right-winger Ty Coupland to the Rebels along with a fourth round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft. Red Deer dealt 20-year-old defenceman Hunter Mayo and 18-year-old left-winger Trae Wilke to the Broncos and a sixth round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft and fourth round selection in the 2027 Prospects Draft to the Warriors. The Warriors sent 20-year-old defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk to the Rebels.
The Raiders made one last move on Thursday sending 17-year-old defenceman Ryan Gower to the Edmonton Oil Kings for an eighth round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft. Gower appeared in two games with the Raiders this season recording an assist and a plus-one rating.
The Saskatoon Blades continued to retool on Wednesday sending 19-year-old centre Ben Riche to the Prince George Cougars in exchange for 18-year-old centre Hunter Laing, 15-year-old prospect defenceman Luke Dumas, a first round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft and fifth round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft.
Riche had been the Blades leading scorer recording 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points to go with a plus-18 rating in 37 games. His totals in goals, assists and points are all career highs. Laing played 36 games with the Cougars in 2024-25 recording 10 goals, 12 assists and a plus-seven rating.
Back on June 6, 2024, the Blades acquired Riche from the Victoria Royals in exchange for gritty 20-year-old left-winger Vaughn Watterodt. Watterodt is no longer with the Royals and now plays for the Mount Royal University Cougars Men’s Hockey Team in the U Sports ranks.
On Thursday, the Blades dealt 17-year-old centre Lochlan Tetarenko to the Portland Winterhawks for a conditional 10th round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft.
Entering play on Friday, the Blades sat first in the WHL’s East Division with a 22-13-2-2 mark. Since January 2, they have dealt their two biggest stars in 20-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky and 19-year-old defenceman Tanner Molendyk and Riche to recover some draft capital that was lost in their load up in the 2023-24 campaign. Last season, the Blades topped the overall WHL standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark and fell in a spectacular seven game set in the Eastern Conference Championship Series to the eventual WHL champion Warriors.
For the rest of this season, Lisowsky will be skating with the Royals, and Molendyk will be manning the blue-line with the Medicine Hat Tigers. The question is will the Blades be able to hold first in the East Division without their three best players.
Entering play Friday, the Brandon Wheat Kings sit second in the East Division with a 19-11-3-2 mark and are five points back of the Blades with four games in hand. The Raiders are third in the division with a 19-14-3 mark and are seven points back of the Blades with three games in hand. The Broncos are 19-17-0-1 to occupy fourth in the division and are nine points back of the Blades with two games in hand.
The deck of cards has been shuffled in the WHL leading to the trade deadline. How the final standings shake out from here should be fun to watch.
Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 20 years of experience covering the WHL.
