The Red Deer Rebels aren’t messing around this year.
With the WHL trade deadline less than a week away the Rebels have made big statements on and off the ice. A week after adding 40-goal scorer Jake DeBrusk they were busy this past weekend adding more offence.
They followed the DeBrusk move up by nabbing 20-year-old Adam Helewka from the Spokane Chiefs. Helewka is coming off of a 44-goal season and gives the Rebels even more offensive fire power, which was on display Saturday night.
Taking on fellow contenders, the Brandon Wheat Kings, Helewka and DeBrusk combined to lead Red Deer to a dominating 10-0 blowout over Brandon. DeBrusk picked up a hat trick and Helewka had a goal and three assists in the win. The game got Brandon’s attention, along with the rest of the Eastern Conference.
https://twitter.com/RDFigs19/status/683471579297132544
Apparently a 10-goal outburst wasn’t enough as Red Deer general manager and coach Brent Sutter swung another deal the next day. He picked up 20-year-old Luke Philp from the Kootenay Ice. Philp lit the lamp 30 times last year with the Ice so the Rebels offence just got even more explosive.
These moves didn’t come cheap for the Rebels.
To get Helewka they had to give up their team captain Wyatt Johnson, highly thought of prospect Eli Zummack as well as a 2016 second-round draft pick. To get Philp, who hasn’t played a game since November, the Rebels gave up three players – Presten Kopeck, Ryan Pouliot, Tanner Sidaway – along with a second and third-round draft pick.
The Rebels’ bank account is considerably more barren than it was after the DeBrusk move.
What does the rest of the league do now? There are tight races in each division and conference and we have more teams looking to buy than sell. Has Red Deer set the market with these moves? Will that out price some teams? Are there any good players out there for sale?
All these questions will be answered over the next week and will shape how the second half plays out.
Potential sellers
We’ve already seen Swift Current, Spokane and Kootenay sell off players as the deadline gets close. Who else might be looking to move players?
The big obvious chip still out there is Moose Jaw’s Brayden Point. Early in the year the Warriors were off to a hot start and it looked like there was no way that Point was going to be available. But they’ve cooled off and are in sixth place in the conference. Head coach Tim Hunter has commented that his team is really built to compete over the next couple of years with a number of good looking young players. Does that mean Point, who won’t be here for those years, is on the table?
What will the Edmonton Oil Kings do? They have guys like defenceman Dysin Mayo and forward Brett Pollock who will be very attractive for teams looking to make a run. Do the Oil Kings make either, or both, available? The Oil Kings are currently holding onto the last wild card spot in the East and moving those guys would make it tough to make the playoffs so the question for them to answer is whether or not the return is worth it.
The Portland Winterhawks are another interesting team. When Paul Bittner went down last month with an injury that has him out indefinitely, there was some thought that Portland would look to stockpile draft picks by trading away older players. Guys like goalie Adin Hill, Dominic Turgeon and Keegan Iverson would all be players who have trade value. The Winterhawks have a three-game win streak going for them, however, and have pulled to within five points of the U.S. Division lead, so selling seems unlikely at this point.
https://twitter.com/pdxwinterhawks/status/683851861938405377
Welcome home boys
The world junior championships didn’t work out for Canada this year but teams in the WHL have to be happy that their key players are returning from overseas.
With the final on Tuesday, most world junior players should be back to their junior teams at some point this week.
A couple of teams suffered the most from having guys gone in Finland.
In the West, the Seattle Thunderbirds had their top three centres playing in Finland and as a result have lost seven out of their last 10 games. In doing so they lost their hold on the top spot in the U.S. Division.
The Kelowna Rockets were missing three players, including Canada’s Rourke Chartier, and have played .500 hockey during the tournament. Luckily for them, neither the Victoria Royals nor Prince George Cougars were able to make up much ground in the B.C. Division.
Playing in the East without Point, the Moose Jaw Warriors lost six out of their last 10 and will be pleased to have Point back in uniform – even if it is just until the trade deadline.
Player of the week
Jake DeBrusk, Red Deer Rebels – DeBrusk played four games with the Rebels over the past week and so far is making the trade look like a big win. He had five points in Red Deer’s rout over Brandon which punctuated his five-goal, 10-point week. Not too shabby.
https://twitter.com/Rebelshockey/status/681267754217832448