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WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Trade Tree: 13 Years Later, Schenn Trade Still Unfolding

July 10, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Junior hockey is a business that runs in short cycles. Teams can build up to contention, blow it up and start over, and build up again in the space of only a few short years. Over the course of 13 seasons, a team might change so much as to be unrecognizable.

After 13 seasons, however, the Brandon Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Blades are both still feeling the effects of a trade made on January 10, 2011. The Wheat Kings, one season removed from hosting the Memorial Cup and trying to start their winning cycle anew, moved on from one of the best players ever to wear the Wheat King crest: Brayden Schenn. The Saskatoon Blades, trying to crank open their own championship window, were willing to pay a premium to acquire him.

The 9th overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft, Schenn was everything the Wheat Kings could've dreamed when they drafted him. An immediate star with 71 points in 66 games in his first year, he played a power game that swiftly put him on NHL radars and saw him get taken 5th overall in the NHL entry draft. He represented Canada at the U17s, U18s, and World Juniors while with Brandon as well.

Schenn posted 262 points in 197 games as a Wheat King, so naturally when the time came to move him, Brandon was able to demand a king's ransom. As had been the case with Schenn himself, the Wheat Kings could hardly have dreamed they'd do better out of the picks and players they got.

The journey that trade would take each team on would result in a Wheat Kings' championship, thousands of WHL games played each way, and a chain reaction of moves and pickups that is still unfolding to this day. This is one of the most impactful trades in WHL history, and one that still has a ripple effect on both the Wheat Kings and Blades.

THE TRADE: Saskatoon acquires forward Brayden Schenn and a 3rd Round Pick in 2012

Brandon acquires forward Tim McGauley, defenseman Ayrton Nikkel, a 2011 first rounder, a 2011 second rounder, a 2012 first rounder and 2012 Import Draft first rounder

History will remember the Wheat Kings as winners of this trade, but that's not Schenn's fault. The Blades unquestionably got a superstar out of this deal as Schenn posted 53 points in just 27 games with the Blades, then tacked on 11 points in 10 playoff games. The problem was, the Blades only got those 10 playoff games. After beating the Prince Albert Raiders in six games in a surprisingly close first round series, they were swept in round two by the Kootenay ICE.

That proved to be the end of Schenn's WHL career. He was traded the following summer from the Los Angeles Kings to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he would turn pro and never look back. Schenn has gone on to play 940 NHL games for the Flyers and St. Louis Blues, and won the Stanley Cup with the latter in 2019. Though his excellent career continues, his part in this trade tree is done.

Curiously, the 2012 3rd rounder has quite a story of its own to tell. The Blades used this selection on forward Cameron Hebig, who would play 238 games for the franchise and pile up 193 points in that time. He became a sought-after player himself, so when the Regina Pats hosted the Memorial Cup in 2018, they traded for Hebig to bolster their championship run.

A convoluted three-way trade involving the Medicine Hat Tigers ensued. Hebig and Ryan Kubic went to Regina in exchange for goalie Tyler Brown, forward Bryan Lockner and Regina's first- and second-round draft picks in 2020, and third-round draft picks in 2019 and 2021.Lockner, a first-round pick in 2020 and a second-round pick in 2021 went to Medicine Hat in exchange for Max Gerlach.

For the purposes of this trade tree, we are only interested in the pieces the Blades got directly for Hebig (since the first and second-rounders they traded to Medicine Hat were their own original picks). And out of this game of musical draft picks, the Blades emerged with the fifth overall pick in 2020. That selection was used on Tanner Molendyk, who has since become an NHL first-round pick and Team Canada World Junior player, and is still a member of the Blades. His branch of the tree ends for the moment, but time will tell if it stays in place.

This trade tree, however, just kept on sprouting new branches. The Blades packaged the second-round pick in 2020 along with Jackson Caller and a third-round pick to the Kamloops Blazers for defenseman Nolan Kneen. Kneen played a season and a half with the Blades before turning professional, and did not play for any other WHL team. This newly sprouted branch comes to an end.

Yet still this side of the trade tree persists! The third round pick in 2019 from the Hebig trade turned out to be goaltender Ethan Chadwick. He played 46 games for the Blades over two seasons, before being traded himself. On May 11 of 2023, the Blades traded him to the Everett Silvertips for a second-round pick in 2023 and a fourth-round pick in 2025.

The fourth-round pick in 2025 absolutely guarantees this trade tree is not dead for a few years at least. The second-round pick likely has a ways to go before that branch wraps up too; the Blades used it on goaltender Ryley Budd, whose humanitarian work off the ice has received deserved praise from the WHL and who has been signed by the team. His branch, too, will carry on.

Finally we arrive at the last branch of this trade tree (for now) on the Blades side, and it must be said, for a team that many feel lost the trade, the Blades did remarkably well out of it. The third-round pick in 2021 was used on goaltender Evan Gardner. After a stellar rookie season with the Blades in 2023-24, Gardner was a second-round pick this summer by the Columbus Blue Jackets. So he, too, might see his branch of the trade tree split again, but even if he doesn't the Blades have to be proud of how that original third-round pick panned out.

Saskatoon is still reaping the benefits of the trade themselves, and might not be done creating new branching pathways for it. So we figured we had better do this trade tree before it got any bigger! And would you believe this was actually the smaller side of the tree?

Tim McGauley

We begin the Wheat Kings' side of the tree with the simplest part of it. But just because it's the easiest part to catalogue does not mean it wasn't incredibly important.

McGauley played his first games as a Wheat King in 2011-12, but when he joined the team full-time the following season he began an immediate, sharp uptick in production. From 45 points to 60 to a whopping 105 in 2014-15, McGauley was an offensive threat for the Wheat Kings right from the start and grew into a force up front. While he suffered a step back in production the following year, that's the year Wheat Kings fans will remember most fondly from his time with the team.

In 2015-16, McGauley posted 26 points in 21 playoff games and helped the Wheat Kings to a championship. Incidentally, with 19 points in 19 games the previous playoffs, McGauley proved to be a big-game player for Brandon. His championship run with the team was his final act as a Wheat King before turning pro the following season and so his simple, but remarkably successful branch of the trade tree comes to an end.

Ayrton Nikkel

The second young player the Wheat Kings picked up in the deal, Nikkel got off to a good start in Brandon with a full season in 2011-12 and an appearance for Canada at the U17s. Ultimately, his time with the team was a little less successful, but McGauley set a high bar to clear.

After 102 games with the Wheat Kings, Nikkel went in trade to the Everett Silvertips, who sent back defenseman Nick Walters and prospect forward Taylor Sanheim. Sanheim never played a game for the Wheat Kings, so his part of the trade tree is straightforward enough. Walters, however, played 50 games over parts of two seasons before he was dealt.

On November 16, 2013, the Wheat Kings made a swap that was to have a big impact on their team and had the potential for an even larger one than it ended up having. They shipped Walters, Taylor Cooper, and the rights to defenseman Tanner Browne to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Ryan Pilon and the rights to Colt Conrad.

There's an element of "what might've been" with this trade, even though what actually happened was still fairly impressive. Conrad went the college route and never suited up in a game for Brandon, but Pilon would go on to play 117 games for the Wheat Kings, and be extremely effective offensively in that time.

Pilon posted 81 points in those games, and added 12 points in 19 games in the Wheat Kings' 2014-15 run to the WHL finals, but that was where his story with the Wheat Kings came to a sudden halt. He elected to play senior hockey the following season rather than return to the team, and his part in the trade tree, and therefore this branch of it, is now done.

2011 First Round Pick (Jordan Papirny)

Because Saskatoon had just finished such a strong season in 2011, the first-round pick the Wheat Kings got proved to be 22nd overall, the final pick of the first round. That didn't stop them from making the most of it, however.

Papirny would become the starting goaltender for some of the biggest moments in the Wheat Kings' recent and overall history. His rise mirrored that of the team, going from a .900 save percentage and a 3.28 GAA in 46 games in 2013-14 to a .910 save percentage each of the next two seasons and a 2.61 GAA in 2015-16. He was the starting goaltender for the Wheat Kings in both of their runs to the finals and their championship win, finishing his Wheat Kings' career with a playoff record of 33-15-1.

As with Schenn before him, however, Papirny became an attractive trade chip for a rebuilding Wheat Kings' squad the following season, so he was dealt to the Swift Current Broncos. On January 10, 2017, the Wheat Kings moved Papirny in exchange for goaltender Travis Child, defenseman Kade Jensen, a second-round pick in 2019, and a fifth-round pick that same year.

This branch of the trade tree didn't even wait one day to grow further. That same day, the Wheat Kings flipped the second-round pick and Jordan Wharrie to the Vancouver Giants for 20-year-old defenseman Dmitri Osipov. His 31 games following the trade were the sum of his career with the team, and he was not traded, turning pro the next season.

Child's career with the Wheat Kings was short lived (he played only nine games with the team that season) but his branch of the trade tree continues as he was flipped to the Edmonton Oil Kings that offseason in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2018. That pick was used on Owen Weihs, who never played for the Wheat Kings.

Jensen had a slightly longer stint with the Wheat Kings, playing 57 games and briefly serving as an alternate captain before trade winds swept him up as well. Jensen went to the Victoria Royals in December of 2017 for another conditional fifth-round pick in 2018. This time, the Wheat Kings got a little more service out of the player they scooped up: defenseman Logen Hammett.

Hammett would spend three seasons with the Wheat Kings, playing 144 games in that time. But just last year, he was on the move as well, traded to the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a fourth-round pick on May 19 of 2023. That fourth-rounder was in the 2024 prospects draft, and the Wheat Kings used it, fittingly, on another defenseman from Regina in Ethan Young.

Young hasn't even had his first camp with the Wheat Kings yet, so it's too soon to say what his future with the team will look like. His branch of the trade tree is done, but could still grow in the years ahead.

2011 Second Rounder (Jayce Hawryluk)

After striking gold with the first-round pick they acquired in the Schenn trade, the Wheat Kings struck it a second time just ten picks later when they grabbed a future cornerstone piece of their championship team.

Like Schenn before him, Hawryluk was a scorer for the Wheat Kings right out of the gate. He began his career with a solid 43 points in 61 games in 2012-23, then jumped up to 64 points in 59 games the following season, playing for Team Canada at the U17s and U18s along the way. And while his 2014-15 season was impressive again (65 points in just 54 games) he saved his best for last.

In 2015-16, on a team with championship aspirations, Hawryluk led the way from day one. He had 106 points in just 58 games to lead the team in scoring in the regular season, and picked up 30 points in 21 playoff games to tie for the team lead and steer the Wheat Kings to a championship. And because he was never traded, his Wheat Kings career ended with that once-in-a-lifetime season.

As impressive as his branch of the trade tree is, Hawryluk's is also one of the shortest, and it is now concluded.

2012 First Rounder

This was the only pick acquired in this trade tree that the Wheat Kings didn't end up using. Before the 2012 draft could happen, they used this pick as ammunition to add to their forward corps in a swap with the Victoria Royals.

On January 9, 2012, the Wheat Kings moved this pick along with Jordan Fransoo and Dakota Conroy in exchange for Kevin Sundher. The 19-year-old had been ripping the league apart with the Royals, with 64 points in just 40 games, but that offensive production dried up considerably when he came to Brandon. He posted only 11 points in 18 games and just three points in nine playoff games before turning pro the following season. His branch of the trade tree comes to an abrupt end.

2012 Import Draft Pick (Richard Nejezchleb)

There was one more rabbit to be pulled out of the hat for the Wheat Kings in this already unbelievably successful trade, as they selected a productive import player to add on to their growing roster of offensive weapons.

Nejezchleb joined the Wheat Kings in 2012-13 and settled in rather quickly, picking up 24 points in 35 games that season. By 2013-14 he was obviously even more at home in Brandon, scoring 32 goals and 57 points in 66 games.

The following season, however, Nejezchleb was the odd man out as the Wheat Kings also had imports Ivan Provorov and Rihards Bukarts. So, they worked out a trade to send Nejezchleb to the Tri-City Americans in exchange for a pair of third-round picks in the WHL draft, one in 2015 and one in 2017.

The first of those picks was used on forward Rylan Bettens. Bettens played 114 games with the Wheat Kings over the course of three seasons, but very early into his time with the team in 2018-19, he was traded to the Portland Winterhawks for a conditional pick in 2021. Those conditions were never met, and the pick did not in fact change hands.

The 2017 third-round pick, meanwhile, turned out all right.

With that pick, the Wheat Kings kept it local as they selected Brandonite Nolan Ritchie. Ritchie would go on to have an excellent career and spend every one of his 185 WHL contests as a member of the Wheat Kings. A mixture of injuries and COVID-shortened seasons conspired to keep his games played totals down, but Ritchie would steadily build up offensively over his four full seasons in Brandon.

After putting up over a point-per-game in the COVID-shortened year in 2021, Ritchie took off. The next season he posted 33 goals and 76 points, then broke the 70-point barrier again in his 20-year-old season. In total, he had 185 points in 185 career games, was never traded, and finished his WHL career in the city he was born and raised in. He would go on to the European professional ranks in 2023-24.

Ritchie marks an impressive final chapter of the trade tree so far, one in which the Wheat Kings knocked it out of the park time and time again, and have the banners to show for it. Yet even the Blades, who did not achieve their goal of a championship with this trade, are still reaping the benefits from what must, at the time, have seemed a small part of the deal.

The Wheat Kings won an Ed Chynoweth Cup out of this trade. The Blades push for one last season was fueled in part by assets acquired from it. Both teams still have pieces that can trace their roots back to this trade. This is one of the most significant trades in the WHL's recent history. And the tree is almost certainly going to grow.

13 years later, the trade that sent shockwaves through the WHL on that fateful day in 2011 is a gift that could still be giving for both teams.

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