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WHL Wenatchee Wild

Wild Restock Draft, Add New Faces Ahead of 2023-24 WHL Roster Deadline

January 11, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild forward Maddix McCagherty
Wenatchee Wild forward Maddix McCagherty
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild)

WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Wenatchee Wild went into the final weeks before the Western Hockey League trade deadline with plenty of hard decisions and no easy answers. High-round draft picks were difficult to come by in the midst of the team's offseason relocation from Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the former ICE were coming off a trip to the WHL Final last May, and a stop in the Eastern Conference final the year before.

Wenatchee successfully finished restocking its draft cupboard in the week before Wednesday afternoon's WHL trade deadline, and added several key pieces to its roster along the way. In all, the Wild picked up 12 draft picks and four players over the span of a week in four separate deals with three different WHL teams. A full roster freeze at the end of the night on Wednesday passed with no further movement from the club.

That, plus a series of roster moves during the offseason and early in the 2023-24 season, allowed the team to pick up an additional handful of WHL draft picks and several players who are already contributing to this season's team, plus the rights to a young prospect. In all, the draft haul for Wenatchee since July includes 17 picks spread over the next four seasons, with four first-round draft picks, two second-round selections, three third-round picks, two fourth-rounders, and six additional mid- and late-round draft picks.

"We feel fortunate that since the relocation from Winnipeg, we've been able to recoup most of our draft picks over the next three years," said Wild general manager Bliss Littler. "We're also fortunate that we've been able to add six players who are not just contributing to our team this season, but will be valuable to our team in the years to come."

The team completed three moves in the span of two days in late July, bringing in forwards Gabe Ludwig and Luka Shcherbyna from Prince Albert and Spokane, respectively. Both entered the league as second-round WHL picks, with Ludwig going to the Raiders in the 2019 draft and Shcherbyna chosen by the Chiefs in 2021. The Wild also picked up third- and fifth-round picks from the Red Deer Rebels in late July in exchange for 20-year-old forward Carson Latimer.

In September, forwards Ty Nash and Dawson Seitz traded places in a trade with the Edmonton Oil Kings, with Wenatchee landing another first-round forward in Seitz. October saw the Wild trim their roster back to the limit of three 2003-born players, with Easton Armstrong moving to Saskatoon in exchange for third- and sixth-round draft picks. The team also landed a fourth-round pick after waiving Wyatt Wilson, who would eventually land in Vancouver with the Giants.

Two moves remained before the holidays, as the Wild acquired the WHL playing rights to 2007-born defenseman Justus Chyld from the Tri-City Americans, and stepped outside of the WHL to reel in former Wild AAA defenseman Brayden Pankey.

The January moves included a pair of blockbuster trades involving first-round National Hockey League draft picks, as Buffalo Sabres prospect Matthew Savoie shifted to the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for seven WHL draft picks, including two first-round selections and a second-round pick.

In a simultaneous deal, Arizona Coyotes prospect Conor Geekie was dealt to the Swift Current Broncos for four picks - three of them in the first or second round of upcoming drafts - and three players. 2006-born defenseman Josh Fluker, 2005-born defenseman Sam Ward and 2006-born forward Maddix McCagherty all came to Wenatchee in the deal involving Geekie. Two of the three were high-round WHL draft picks in their own right - Fluker was selected by Swift Current in the first round of the 2021 WHL Draft, while McCagherty was picked by the Broncos moments later in the second round.

The addition of Fluker and Ward expanded the blue line to nine players for Wenatchee, allowing the team to deal defenseman Ashton Cumby to the Seattle Thunderbirds for a sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft. The Wild added a deal with Seattle on Wednesday ahead of the deadline, swapping forwards by sending Oscar Lovsin to the Thunderbirds for Cru Hanas. That move allowed the Wild to add some additional experience to its forward group, with Hanas carrying 65 career WHL games into his new organization.

McCagherty, Ward and Fluker made their Wenatchee debuts this past Saturday, while Hanas will join the team in time for its next game against the Everett Silvertips on Sunday.

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Images from this story

Wenatchee Wild forward Maddix McCagherty
Wenatchee Wild forward Maddix McCagherty
(Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 11, 2024


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