Another week has come and gone in the WHL, and in this week, a lot has happened. The Kelowna Rockets swept both games in Portland, their winning streak came to an abrupt halt to a very determined Vancouver Giants squad, and Myles Bell was named the WHL Player of the Week with his 5 Bingos and 5 helpers in 4 games played.
The attention now shifts to a day a lot of WHL players dread. Trade Deadline day. Every year the WHL's trade deadline is January 10th, and it's the point in the season where GM's have to look at their squad, where they are in the standings and determine whether they will be a seller, or a buyer.
This year, I think it is fair to say that the Kelowna Rockets are going to be big time buyers, but to what extent do they want to go, to buy? It's common knowledge around these parts that Bruce Hamilton has never, nor will he ever sacrifice his future for a loaner player. If he can get a game changer for free, then obviously, he will take it, Example Jamie Benn and Mikael Backlund. This year, however, the Rockets are not getting any freebee's, so where do we go from here? What does the team need, what don't they need?
I'm not going to start speculating which player on the current roster the team could do without, because to be fair, the chemistry of this team is almost too good that you don't want to take any piece out of this fine tuned machine, but what I will do, is speculate on what the Rockets need and who may be available come Jan 10.
I think it's fair to assume the Rockets back end and goaltending situation is not being changed in the slightest as they are by far the most mobile group in the league, but, It's well documented that Kelowna is lacking pure, raw forward talent. The kind of player that breaks a game open. Someone who, when the puck is on his stick, you know something special is about to happen, like a Nic Petan for Portland or a Curtis Lazar for Edmonton. So what could the Rockets possibly do to acquire such an integral piece to a championship team? First off, we can look south of the border.
As of right now, the WHL Scoring leader is Mitch Holmberg of the Spokane Chiefs, it would be a hefty price to get Holmberg, and as he is 20, it would be a rental player, so the chances of that happening are very slim. One player, however, that I could see coming to Kelowna in the coming days is Russian forward, and Saskatoon Blades' leading scorer, Nikita Scherbak. It may require a decent prospect and a pick or two, however, I don't think you have to sell the farm to get Scherbak in the Red, White and Teal, this move makes the most sense, seeing as the Rockets went down to 1 European player when Swede Henrik Nyberg left the team just before the Christmas Break.
Scherbak would be a perfect fit on the Right Wing of the top line with LW Myles Bell and C Tyson Baillie. That line along would scare any defensive core in the WHL.
But, when it's all said and done, I think the Rockets will come out on the other side of deadline day with a much stronger team and nobody but themselves to lose the league title too.
EDIT: After further research, I've learnt that Nikita Scherbak would not be eligible for trade, with new CHL Import draft rules forbidden the trade of an Import until 1 full year after they have been selected in the Import Draft. Which leaves us with the question. Who is available at Right Wing that could be a game breaker for the Rockets?
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