Curtis Hunt went deep like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. when it came to this year’s WHL trade deadline.
The WHL trade deadline is passed on Thursday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time. A total of nine deals were made on the deadline day itself, and pretty much all those transactions equate to a team sending a player to another team in hopes of getting more ice time and a restart.
On Tuesday, the Raiders executed their final deal before the deadline and it was a blockbuster. They landed Seattle Thunderbirds captain in 18-year-old centre Braeden Cootes. Cootes just finished helping Canada win bronze at the world juniors that wrapped up on Monday in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Cootes started the campaign playing three regular season games with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks selected the Sherwood Park, Alta., product in the first round and 15th overall in the NHL Entry Draft held last June. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Canucks on July 9, 2025.
After being returned to the Thunderbirds, Cootes appeared in 17 regular season games posting 10 goals, 13 assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department before departing to join Canada’s squad for world juniors. He had a pair of goals in seven games for Canada at world juniors.
Last season, Cootes, who stands 6-feet and weighs 183 pounds, became one of the youngest captains in the history of the Thunderbirds as a 17-year-old sophomore. He appeared in 60 regular season games posting 26 goals, 37 assists and a plus-five rating. The Thunderbirds fell in six games in a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs to the Everett Silvertips, and Cootes had two goals and six assists in that series.
The arrival of Cootes in “Hockey Town North” was a big addition for Hunt, who is the Raiders long time astute general manager. The deal to land Cootes saw 12 pieces get moved between the Raiders and Thunderbirds.
Cootes went to Prince Albert along with a fourth and sixth round selections in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft and a conditional second round selection in the 2028 Prospects Draft. The Raiders sent centre Ethan Bibeau, who turned 19-years-old on January 1, to Seattle along with 16-year-old prospect forward Knox Burton, 16-year-old prospect defenceman Diego Gutierrez and 15-year-old prospect forward Tripp Fischer.
The Thunderbirds also received a quartet of Prospects Draft picks from the Raiders including first round selections in 2026 and 2028, a second round selection in 2026 and a third round selection in 2027.
Bibeau, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 191 pounds, battled injuries early in the campaign appearing in 15 regular season games with the Raiders posting one goal, four assists and a minus-two rating. He made his debut with the Thunderbirds on Wednesday recording one goal, one assist and a plus-two rating in a 6-3 victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge.
Outside of the trade to get Cootes, the Raiders sent 18-year-old left-winger Oli Chenier to the Hurricanes on Monday for a fourth round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft. Chenier had three goals, 10 assists and a plus-seven rating in 30 regular season games in the current campaign with the Raiders before being dealt.
On Wednesday, the Raiders reassigned 19-year-old netminder Dimitri Fortin to a team to be determined. Fortin posted a 13-2-1 record, a 2.99 goals against average, a .883 save percentage and one shutout in 17 regular season games in the current campaign with the Raiders.
The Raiders elected to keep rookie Steele Bass, who turned 18-years-old last Sunday, as the backup to 18-year-old import rookie Michal Orsulak, who helped Czechia win silver at world juniors along with Raiders defenceman Matyas Man. Bass started the campaign with the Battlefords North Stars in Junior A and has won all four of his starts with the Raiders entering play Friday posting a 1.75 goals against average, a .916 save percentage and one shutout.
Entering play on Friday, the Raiders sat first in the WHL’s East Division with a 27-5-4 mark, were tied with the Edmonton Oil Kings (27-7-3-1) for third in the overall WHL standings and were rated third in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday. The addition of Cootes shows the Raiders believe they can compete for a WHL title this season and are hoping the skilled centre will be the piece that further cements an already strong lineup.
Prince Albert’s trade for Cootes was by far the biggest deal that occurred heading towards the WHL trade deadline. This is also the first season the trade deadline has passed in the current era of the WHL which all teams are still getting a feel for after a number of potential returning players jumped to the NCAA this past summer.
It felt like teams weren’t as anxious to pull the trigger on a blockbuster type deal like has happened in the past. On the trade deadline that passed on January 10, 2018 as part of the 2017-18 campaign where the Regina Pats hosted the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup, a total of 17 trades were made on the deadline day itself, and it was easy to lose count of how many blockbuster moves were made between January 1 to January 10 of that year.
It seems like teams in the WHL are well aware they can’t do roster projections for three years out like they did in the past and that reloads could occur more quickly in the current day. The caution that you might not be able to have players for three or four seasons like you did in the past likely put a freeze on making blockbuster moves resulting in most deals seeing a player get moved for a Prospects Draft selection or two in the hopes of getting more ice time.
Still, there were some blockbuster moves. On Monday, the Vancouver Giants dealt 18-year-old high-scoring right-winger Cameron Schmidt to the Thunderbirds in exchange for 18-year-old defenceman Kaleb Hartmann, a first round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft, second and fifth round picks in the 2027 Prospects Draft and first and fourth round selections in the 2028 Prospects Draft.
In the Eastern Conference that the Raiders play out of, arguably the biggest high-profile deal outside of the Cootes trade was the Oil Kings getting 20-year-old star offensive-defenceman Carter Sotheran from the Portland Winterhawks. Edmonton sent Seattle 20-year-old defenceman Niko Tsakumis, a first round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft and a fourth round selection in the 2028 Prospects Draft in return.
On Wednesday, the Medicine Hat Tigers, who entered play Friday with a slim lead in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, acquired breakout 19-year-old high scoring right-winger Luke Cozens and a conditional fourth round selection in the 2028 Prospects Draft for 18-year-old defenceman Kyle Heger and a conditional fourth round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft. That move was the Tigers offensive counter to the Raiders adding Cootes.
Also on Wednesday, the Swift Current Broncos dealt 17-year-old breakout star import centre Noah Kosick to the Thunderbirds for 17-year-old left-winger Brendan Rudolph, a first round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft and a fourth round selection in the 2027 Prospects Draft.
While you could say about four other deals were significant, action leading to this year’s trade deadline was a lot quieter on the blockbuster front outside of the Raiders move to get Cootes. Now, the Raiders will look to have some luck in factors they can’t control like the injury bug, and it looks like Prince Albert is in for an exciting time for the rest of the 2025-26 campaign.
Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 25 years of experience covering the WHL. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.
