The Western Hockey League (WHL) trading deadline provided plenty of fireworks over the last couple of days. The Regina Pats were one of the teams that stayed on the sidelines for the most part while other teams in the league decided to make their final modifications to their rosters this season.
There were two notable moves on Tuesday afternoon. The Seattle Thunderbirds acquired the rights to Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther in a multi-player deal with the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Oil Kings will receive conditional picks from Seattle based on Guenther being sent down to the WHL by the Coyotes.
Portland also made a late trade. They acquired the rights to forward Ozzy Wiesblatt from the Prince Albert Raiders. The Raiders will receive multiple conditional picks from the Winterhawks. Wiesblatt is currently playing the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, the Barracudas. He was a first-round pick of the Sharks in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Earlier in the day, the Saskatoon Blades acquired forward Jake Chiasson from the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for a package of picks including a 2023 first-round pick.
Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock spoke about the status of the Pats on Tuesday afternoon. He pointed out the Pats did their heavy lifting ahead of the deadline.
There has been plenty of debate about whether Regina should move the likely number one pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Connor Bedard. But according to Paddock, there weren’t any recent conservations from other teams across the league. He said teams didn’t make the call to the Pats to inquire about the status of Bedard.
On Sunday, the Kamloops Blazers made a blockbuster move with the Silvertips. The Memorial Cup hosts acquired Olen Zellweger and Ryan Hofer for a large package that included four first-round picks in four consecutive WHL Prospects Draft. The Pats head coach said it would have required a huge trade to acquire Bedard, but he was not sure what that deal would have looked like.
Paddock said he did have thoughts about a potential haul the Pats could have received in a major deal, but added the situation was different with Bedard being 17-year-old as opposed to moving a 19-year-old like Zellweger.
Teams like the Thunderbirds, Winterhawks and Blades have made their intentions of a serious playoff push over the last few weeks with their respective moves. The Pats GM says with Kamloops hosting the Memorial Cup this spring, the value of players has risen this season.
“I think everybody in the league is going like, wow like for prices period.” He added that this scenario was very similar to 2018 when the Pats were the last team in the WHL to host the Memorial Cup.
Paddock said Regina was interested in some players that were moved near the deadline but said the market was too much for their liking.
Following his media availability on Tuesday, the Pats officially announced the acquisition of 2003-born forward Steel Quiring from Everett in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick.
Earlier in the day, Regina announced that 2007-born forward Cole Temple had been reassigned to the Brandon Kings U18 AAA and 2005-born defenceman Ty Plaisier had been sent to the Virden Oil Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
The Pats currently sit in the seventh position of the Eastern Conference with a .500 record of 19-19-1-1.
On Friday night the Regina Pats will return to action when they host the Saskatoon Blades.
Coverage on 620 CKRM begins at 6:35 Dante De Caria will have the play-by-play at 7:00.
