While headed in opposite directions as franchises, it was a busy trade season for Saskatchewan’s Western Hockey League (WHL) clubs.
With the league’s trade deadline marking the end to in-season deals Thursday night, general managers for the Regina Pats, Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos reflected on their decisions.
“When I look at the body of work and where we’re at, we’ve made some good progress,” said Pats GM Alan Millar during a press conference Thursday. “[We] can start to see the addition of young players, the talent and the upgraded skill set I believe we’ve added to our club.”
“We have a three or four year plan we’re continuing to do here,” Warriors GM Jason Ripplinger told CTV News Friday morning. “After our championship run, I knew we had to make some big moves.”
“We’ve scored consistently and we have some very offensive players,” said Chad Leslie, GM for the Broncos. “But to be where we need to be moving forward, we needed to address [our defence].”
Building for the playoffs
As of Friday afternoon, Swift Current sits in the eighth seed of the WHL’s Eastern Conference, four points ahead of Red Deer in ninth.
Since the start of the 2024-25 season, the Broncos were a part of just five trades.
The biggest saw the team acquire 19-year-old Czech defenseman Marek Rocak from Kelowna.
“I like Marek a lot,” Leslie said. “We got a player that could step in and affect our lineup in a positive manner.”
Leslie also got creative on deadline day when they were a part of a three-way trade with Moose Jaw and Red Deer, which saw Swift Current add some depth throughout the lineup in d-man Hunter Mayo and forward Trae Wilke.
“My focus and my target was on Red Deer and the two guys I was trying to acquire,” he said. “The three way part of it was probably more on the Brent [Sutter] and Jason [Ripplinger] side of things.”
However, the playoff-aspiring Broncos will have to battle with conference rivals who have loaded up for deep post season runs.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes, Medicine Hat Tigers and Calgary Hitmen have each made blockbuster deals with championship goals in mind. Something Swift Current did in 2023-24, when they traded for Connor Geekie.
Leslie says he was fine staying small, even as other teams went big.
“We have a responsibility to do things responsibly here,” he said. “And I feel the guys are going to take another big step here. Being patient comes with knowing your team and knowing the cycle you’re in.”
The Broncos’ next game is at home against Lethbridge Friday night. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
Rebuilding rivals
Meanwhile, the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats occupy the basement of the WHL.
The Warriors are dead last in the league, just one point behind Regina.
Ripplinger used the word ‘rebuild’ when describing his team’s trades this season.
“People don’t like to hear that word,” he said. “But at the end of the day, that’s what it is and there’s no sugarcoating it.”
The defending champion Warriors were one of the busiest teams on the market, making seven trades since the start of the season.
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It saw fan favourites like Kalem Parker, Brayden Yager, Jackson Unger and Rilen Kovacevic – who were all on last year’s championship team – all moved out of Moose Jaw.
“It’s a lot more fun to win and when you’re buying instead of selling,” Ripplinger added. “Junior hockey comes in cycles.”
“[A championship] was something that never happened in Moose Jaw for 40 years and with the special player we had last year, I didn’t want to go to waste.”
But their deep run last season came at the cost of trading valuable draft picks to buy some of the league’s top players, including Matthew Savoie.
Ripplinger said his priority was regaining some of his future draft pick capital.
“Our cupboards are full now,” he said. “It’s time to move forward.”
“[High picks] are our foundation,” Ripplinger added.
The Pats were also sellers prior to the trade deadline.
While Regina only made one trade on deadline day, they were busy in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, making a total of 18 trades.
Millar came out pre-season to layout the team would be tearing down their roster and rebuilding for future years.
“It’s been hard on our staff,” he said Thursday. “But more importantly, it has been hard on the players.”
The Pats traded star players like Tanner Howe, Sam Oremba, Jaxsin and Corbin Vaughan, Tye Spencer and Zackary Shantz.
But the team now has 10 draft picks in the first two rounds combined in the 2025 and 2026 WHL bantam draft.
Millar is most proud of building his future assets.
“We’ve put ourselves in a position to give us significant options at the draft to improve our team,” he said. “Whether that’s via trade of drafting.”
Millar would not put a timeline on the Pats’ rebuild but reiterated the need for optimism down the road.
“Get excited about the young players and the draft capital and understand what value that has,” he said, “And how important that’s going to be in the future.”
The Pats and Warriors play Friday night at the Brandt Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
