Hurricanes Acquire Longley, Prospect & Picks from Rockets for Smith, Cihar
Published on November 9, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Lethbridge Hurricanes News Release
LETHBRIDGE, AB - The Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club have announced the acquisition of 2006-born forward Kayden Longley, the WHL playing rights to 2010-born forward Grayson Bauer, a third-round pick in 2027 (SPO), a fourth- round pick in 2026 (REG), a sixth-round pick in 2026 (LET), a conditional first-round pick in 2026 (REG) and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2028 Western Hockey League Prospects Draft from the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for 2005- born forward Shane Smith and the WHL playing rights to 2006-born import forward Vojtech Cihar.
Longley, 19, was originally selected by the Rockets in the 13th-round draft pick (281st overall) in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft. The Wainwright, AB, product has appeared in 15 games this season amassing 12 points (5g-7a) with four penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating with Kelowna sitting tied for third in Rockets scoring. In his career, he has appeared in 136 regular season games with the Rockets collecting 63 points (24g-39a) along with 27 penalty minutes over parts of four seasons.
The 6'2, 182 -pound forward has also skated in 11 WHL post-season games during the 2024 WHL Playoffs going pointless with two penalty minutes. Longley set a career-high with 36 points (11g-25a) along with 21 penalty minutes in the 2024- 2025 season with the Rockets finishing sixth in team scoring. Prior to his time in the WHL, Longley spent the 2022-2023 season with the Northern Alberta Xtreme U18 Prep team where he collected 28 points (11g-17a) with 16 penalty minutes.
Bauer, 15, was picked in the fourth-round (82nd overall) by Kelowna in the 2025 WHL Draft. Last year, the Calgary, AB, product collected 37 points (15g-22a) with 22 penalty minutes with the Edge School U15 Prep team before adding three points (1g-2a) in three post-season games. He finished fourth in team scoring during the 2024-2025 season. Bauer has totaled two points (1g-1a) with six penalty minutes in nine games with the Edge U18 team this season.
"We're excited to be able to add both Kayden and Grayson to our organization," said Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt. "We think Kayden will be an important player for us this season. He's a guy that's had a really good start to the year and is going to come in and push our current group and be able to play a lot. We also felt that the opportunity to be able to add to our 2010 draft class with Bauer helps us bolster that age group.
The draft picks that we've been able to acquire in this trade as well are very important for our organization after giving up a lot of pieces last year. Being able to add some picks over the next couple of drafts is crucial as we continue to look to the future of our team and with the conditional first-round pick, that could be a very, very important pick for our group after not picking in the first two rounds of last years draft," added Anholt.
Smith, 20, was acquired by the Hurricanes at the start of the 2024-2025 season from the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Cessford, AB, product appeared in 60 games with Lethbridge last year totaling 30 points (12g-18a) along with 50 penalty minutes. Smith added six points (3g-3a) with 25 penalty minutes in 14 playoff games helping the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference Championship. He was named the recipient of the Herman Elfring Award as the Hurricanes Community Relations Player of the Year last season.
So far this season, the 6'2, 204 -pound forward has collected 23 points (12g-11a) along with 33 penalty minutes. Smith appeared in 80 regular season games with the Hurricanes over parts of two seasons totaling 53 points (24g-29a) and 83 penalty minutes. The overage forwards currently sits 15th in WHL scoring while sitting sixth in Eastern Conference scoring.
He has appeared in 223 WHL games with the Hurricanes and Tigers totaling 138 points (72g-66a) with 213 penalty minutes along with 23 playoff games collecting eight points (3g-5a) with 31 penalty minutes. Smith served as an Alternate Captain for Lethbridge this season.
"It's always hard to trade good people and good players like Shane," said Anholt. "He has been a very important player for our team since we acquired him last year and his leadership both on and off the ice with his commitment to our program and community will be a big loss. We are at a point, though, where we need to look to the future and being able to move Shane to a really good team who will have a chance to win and compete in a Memorial Cup is an exciting opportunity for the player and we wish Shane an d his family nothing but the best moving forward."
Cihar, 18, was originally selected by the Hurricanes in the first-round (38th overall) in the 2024 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. The Chomutov, Czechia, product was chosen in the second-round (59th overall) in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. This season, Cihar has appeared in 20 games with the HC Energie Karlovy Vary club posting five points (2g-3a) along with eight penalty minutes.
The Hurricanes will open a six-game BC Division road trip on Wednesday when they visit the Penticton Vees are 7:30pm MT at the South Okanagan Events Centre before facing Smith and the Rockets on Friday at 8:00pm MT at Prospera Place. The 'Canes will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, November 2 8th when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre and VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca. Catch up on all the latest on the Lethbridge Hurricanes by visiting the team's website at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com, and/or follow on Twitter @WHLHurricanes.
Western Hockey League Stories from November 9, 2025
- Broncos Fall to Pats 7-1 - Swift Current Broncos
- Semeniuk Pushes Warriors to Win in Overtime Thriller - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Hurricanes Acquire Longley, Prospect & Picks from Rockets for Smith, Cihar - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Pats Power Past Broncos 7-1 with Season-High Offence - Regina Pats
- Oil Kings Acquire Kanjyu Gojsic from Kelowna Rockets - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Rockets Trade Forward Kanjyu Gojsic to Edmonton - Kelowna Rockets
- Colt Carter, Canada Red Take Gold at U17 World Challenge - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Tigers Fall, 7-4, to Wheat Kings - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Hawks Push Late, But Fall Just Short Saturday Night - Portland Winterhawks
- Conway Snags First WHL Win, Stops 36 as Wild Stop Division-Leading Prince George, 2-1 - Wenatchee Wild
- Seattle Thunderbirds' Power Play a Factor in Win Over Giants - Vancouver Giants
- Chiefs Put Themselves Back in Win Column with 4-3 Victory Over Portland Saturday - Spokane Chiefs
- T-Birds Chop Down the Giants - Seattle Thunderbirds
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