Trade Deadline Comes Early

 Tigers Make 2 Big Trade

First off I haven't followed the whl very much the last 2 season. I used to feel a ton more knowledgeable on happenings, player talent levels etc, but you can quickly loose key insights into the league and players if you don't pay attention.  As such my comments are basically trash. 

Lukas Svejkovsky

Their biggest trade piece has left the table. Lukas Svejkovsky has been traded to Seattle in return for a 2022 first round pick, conditional 2nd round pick in 2023, and conditional 3rd round pick in 2025.

Svejkovsky was the only point per game player in the lineup. It also left the Tigers temporarily down an Overager. 

The Tigers ended up filling that slot by signing a player that was let go earlier in the season to OA numbers.  Carter Chorney.  He had .5ppg as a 19 year old in the WHL and this season was near a ppg player in the AJHL.

Chorney has played for rebuilding teams in Regina and Swift Current. He will be looked upon to provide some guidance and experience for this young squad.

2nd Big Deal

This was a 3 way deal involving 3 teams. I will just point out the returns for the Tigers and players sent away.

Leaving the Tigers:

Carlin Dezainde(17) - F

Cayden Glover (17)- F

2023 Second Round Pick (conditional)

Ryan Nolan(17) - F

I might be wrong on this, but as far as I'm aware a team can only trade 17 year olds if they request a trade as per the new rules in 2018. This meant all 3 players requested a trade. 

Coming to the Tigers

Pavel Bocharov(17)
Brendan Lee(19)
2025 5th Round Pick

The key piece to this deal is likely landing Bocharov. Also the Tigers are going into next season with just 2 overagers. Picking up a 19 complements the need to balance out the age groups and have 3 20's for next season.

Pavel Bocharov

Pavel Bocharov, a defenceman, played for the under 18's and was the captain of team USA.  He is in his 17 year old year and put up 7 points in 30 games for Saskatoon. As a 17 he must have asked for a trade.  He is listed as  "C" prospect for the upcoming NHL draft.

Brendan Lee

Is a 19 year old who's put up 11 points in 30 games for Saskatoon.

Thoughts

The Tigers gave up  youth that have been in and out of the lineup.  Bocharov is probably the key piece in this deal for the Tigers, but this deal to me feels like it was initiated by players requesting trades. 

Ryan Nolan was only dressed in 8 games

Cayden Glover was only dressed in 15 games

Carlin Dezainde was dressed in 21

I haven't watched a lot of Tiger games this year or last year, so my thoughts on talent are not accurate in the least.  The few games I saw,  Cayden Glover seemed like one of the better 17's on the Tigers team. I say that with hesitations because watching a player casually for a few games is a terrible way to judge a players talent.  Glover only has 15 of 27 games games this season so he was a player that was scratched on and off and so perhaps saskatoon saw a young player who wasn't being utilized as a big return for them.

In Total

Their lineup changes quite drastically with the addition of 2 older players, and the loss of scoring leader as well as 3 younger players. 

Their is still 41 games left in the season. The WHL playoff format has changed back to a conference formatt. The conference is very top Heavy which means the majority of teams are around the .500 mark. The Tigers only have 14 points in 27 games, and are 13 points back of a playoff spot. 

These big changes as well as lots of time remaining in the season means their is still lots of time for them to catch up.