The Prince Albert Raiders nabbed one of the top netminders on the Western Hockey League marketplace ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
In a deal that took place on Thursday morning, the Raiders acquired 19-year-old netminder Max Paddock from the Regina Pats for 17-year-old forward Jakob Brook, a second round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a conditional third round pick in 2022.
“We’re really excited to add Max to the organization,” said Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt in a statement. “We believe he provides experience and stability at a very important position. He is a consistent performer and has big-game experience with Regina.
“Unfortunately to get a player of Max’s quality, we had to give up a quality player. We thank Jakob for his contributions on and off the ice in Prince Albert. He leaves here a champion and we look forward to seeing him have success in the future.”
Paddock, who is from Brandon, has a 10-13-5 record this season with a 3.31 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and two shutouts.
His best campaign came during his rookie season in 2017-18, as he had an 19-7-1 record with a 2.90 goals against average and a 904 save percentage.
Although he was unable to play in the opening round of the playoffs, which saw the Pats fall to the Swift Current Broncos in seven games, Paddock was sublime at the Memorial Cup in Regina as helped the team to the championship game after being out of action for almost two months.
“We wish Max all the best in Prince Albert,” said Pats vice president of hockey operations and general manager John Paddock, who is also Max’s uncle.
“He has been our MVP so far this season and has been a great Pat over the last three years.”
Jakob Brook races up the ice with the puck during an Eastern Conference final contest between the Prince Albert Raiders and the Edmonton Oil Kings last spring.
Brook, who is from Roblin, Man., was a second round pick of the Raiders in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.
He had 12 points in 61 games during the team’s run to the league title last season and had nine points in 38 games in his sophomore campaign at the time of the trade.
“We are excited to add Jakob to our group,” Paddock said in a statement. “He is a good young player with a lot of speed who will be a big part of our team going forward.”
The Raiders also reassigned 19-year-old goaltender Keegan Karki to a team to be named later, which leaves 17-year-old rookie Carter Serhyenko on the roster as the backup to Paddock.
Karki, who was acquired from the Everett Silvertips on Friday night, had a 1-1-1 record with a 4.30 goals against average and a .852 save percentage during his brief time with the club.
The Raiders will be back in action on Friday night as they’ll welcome the Prince George Cougars to the Art Hauser Centre at 7 p.m.
The WHL trade deadline is at 4 p.m. Friday.
Around the WHL
The biggest deal of the 2019-20 campaign in the Western Hockey League took place on Thursday afternoon as the Moose Jaw Warriors dealt 18-year-old forward Brayden Tracey, 19-year-old goaltender Adam Evanoff, a fourth round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a fifth round pick in 2023 to the Victoria Royals.
As part of the trade, the Royals sent 18-year-old netminder Brock Gould, 18-year-old forward Logan Doust and 18-year-old blueliner Nolan Jones to the Warriors, along with a first round pick in 2021, a second round pick in 2022, a third round pick in 2020 and a fourth round pick in 2022.
Tracey, a first round pick by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2019 NHL Draft and has signed an entry level deal with the team, is the showcase piece of the deal.
He won the Jim Piggott Trophy as the WHL’s Rookie of the Year last season after leading all first year players in the Canadian Hockey League with 81 points in 66 games.
After a long stint at the Ducks’ training camp, the Calgary product put up 38 points in 28 games with the Warriors to sit second in team scoring at the time of the trade.
Evanoff, who had been with the Warriors for three years, became the full-time starter for the club this season and had a 5-14-1 record with a 3.85 goals against average, a .901 save percentage and one shutout.
Gould is in his second season in the league and will be taking part in the CHL Top Prospects Game next Wednesday in Hamilton.
Doust has nine points in 36 games in his sophomore campaign, while Jones has six points in 30 games.
Jones, who is from Moose Jaw, was acquired by the Royals in August from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for forward Dino Kambeitz.
The Warriors also swapped players from the Czech Republic on Thursday as they sent 19-year-old blueliner Libor Zabransky to the Kamloops Blazers for 18-year-old forward Martin Lang.
Zabransky, who was the captain for his country and had four goals in five games at the World Juniors, has 11 points in 29 games this year with the Saskatoon Blades and the Warriors.
Lang had 19 points in 31 games in his second season for the Blazers, where he had 33 points in 65 contests a year ago.
Thursday’s other big deal saw the Blades send Washington Capitals draft pick Eric Florchuk and a seventh round pick in 2021 to the Vancouver Giants for 18-year-old forward Evan Patrician, a first round pick in 2020 and a second round pick in 2021.
Florchuk, who will celebrate his 20th birthday on Friday, had 24 points in 33 games this season after posting a career high 50 points in 68 games last year.
Patrician, who was part of the Giants’ run to the Ed Chynoweth Cup final during the 2018-19 campaign, has eight points in 37 games.
The Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets dealt overage forward Jadon Joseph to the Tri-City Americans for a conditional sixth round pick in 2022, as they made room for returning 20-year-old forward Kyle Topping.
The team also acquired 18-year-old blueliner Tyson Feist from the Regina Pats late Wednesday night.
Around the CHL
Business picked up in the Ontario Hockey League over the last two days ahead of their trade deadline, which is on Friday at 11 a.m.
The most eye-popping deal took place Thursday as the Niagara IceDogs dealt 18-year-old Nashville Predators foward prospect Philip Tomasino to the Oshawa Generals for the rights to 17-year-old blueliner David Gucciardi and nine draft picks.
Tomasino, who recorded five points in his debut for the Generals on Thursday night, led the IceDogs in scoring with 57 points in 36 games.
Gucciardi, who has five points in 18 games this season for the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks and the Sioux City Musketeers, is committed to the NCAA’s Michigan State Spartans.
Shortly after the Tomasino trade, the IceDogs then traded their second leading scorer and team captain Akil Thomas to the Peterborough Petes for forward Cameron Butler and four draft picks.
The 20-year-old Thomas, who is a signed prospect of the Los Angeles Kings and scored the gold medal winning goal for Canada at the World Juniors on Sunday, had 44 points in 27 games and leaves the IceDogs as their third all-time leading scorer in team history.
Butler, who is eligible for this year’s NHL Draft, has 19 points in 32 games.
The Generals also dealt 19-year-old Florida Panthers forward prospect Serron Noel to the Kitchener Rangers on Wednesday for 18-year-old forward Ryan Stepien and four draft picks.
Noel was tied for fourth in scoring for the Generals with 29 points in 28 games, while Stepien had 16 points in 38 contests at the time of the deal.
The Sudbury Wolves also added some firepower to go along with top ranked NHL Draft prospect Quinton Byfield as they picked up 19-year-old Czech forward Matej Pekar from the Barrie Colts for five draft picks and then landed North Bay Battalion captain Bradley Chenier in exchange for fellow overage forward Shane Bulitka and two draft picks.
Pekar, who is a signed prospect of the Buffalo Sabres and just represented his country at the World Juniors, was third in scoring for the Colts with 29 points in 26 games.
Chenier led the Battalion in scoring with 42 points in 37 games, while Bulitka had 32 points in 38 games for the Wolves and was serving as the team’s co-captain with MacAuley Carson.
Meanwhile, the London Knights upgraded their overage position with a pair of deals.
The perennial championship contenders were able to land signed Los Angeles Kings defensive prospect Markus Phillips from the Guelph Storm for three draft picks on Wednesday and followed that up a day later by acquiring Barrie Colts captain Jason Willms for fellow 20-year-old forward Josh Nelson and two draft picks.
Phillips, who was part of the Storm’s run to the OHL title last year after being acquired from the Owen Sound Attack, had six assists in 20 games this season with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.
Willms was second in scoring for the Colts with 41 points in 35 games, while Nelson had 15 points in 37 contests for the Knights.
Pre-Game Notes
The Raiders have won their last two meetings with the Cougars heading into Friday’s contest and have also picked victories over the side in their last two trips to the Art Hauser Centre.
The Cougars, who are on a two-game losing streak, are in fifth place in the B.C. Division with a 10-22-2-4 record and are seven points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Prior to their trip to Prince Albert, the Cougars made a pair of deals on Thursday night.
The biggest of the two trades saw the Cougars pick up 18-year-old blueliner Majid Kaddoura, the rights to 16-year-old forward Jayden Watson and a first round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft from the Saskatoon Blades for 18-year-old defender Rhett Rhinehart and a third round pick in 2020.
Rhinehart, who was the 13th overall pick by the Raiders in the 2016 draft, has 15 points in 36 games this season and is eligible for the NHL Draft in June.
Kaddoura has 10 points in 36 games in his sophomore campaign, while Watson has 21 points in 25 games for the Grande Prairie Midget Storm after being picked in the eighth round by the Blades in the 2018 draft.
The Cougars also acquired 18-year-old forward Jonny Hooker from the Brandon Wheat Kings for 19-year-old forward Reid Perepeluk.
Hooker has 13 points in 34 games this year, while Perepeluk has nine points in 31 games.
Although Rhinehart’s return to the Art Hauser Centre is delayed until February, two former Raiders could take to the ice on Friday as forward Nikita Krivokrasov and Josh Maser are both on the Cougars roster, along with one-time prospect Davin Griffin.
Wednesday’s Scores
- Victoria 1 Kelowna 0 (Shane Farkas – 29 Saves – Second Shutout This Season)
- Edmonton 7 Moose Jaw 4 (Ethan McIndoe – Three Goals – First Career Hat Trick)
- Regina 5 Prince George 4 (Zack Smith Shootout Winner – Filip Koffer – Two Goals and One Assist)
- Saskatoon 8 Red Deer 1 (Tristen Robins – Two Goals and Three Assists)
- Medicine Hat 4 Winnipeg 1 (Lukas Svejkovsky – Two Goals)
Friday’s Schedule
- Prince George vs. Prince Albert – 7 p.m.
- Edmonton vs. Saskatoon – 7 p.m.
- Red Deer vs. Brandon – 7:30 p.m.
- Lethbridge vs. Calgary – 8 p.m.
- Moose Jaw vs. Medicine Hat – 8:30 p.m.
- Kelowna vs. Kamloops – 9 p.m.
- Vancouver vs. Spokane – 9 p.m.
- Seattle vs. Tri-City – 9 p.m.
- Portland vs. Victoria – 9 p.m.
