When Vancouver Giants General Manager Barclay Parneta stayed away from a blockbuster type trade in January, some fans were left with doubts or questions.
All of those “questions” or “doubts”, have been answered through just one playoff series.
Instead of emptying cupboards and selling the farm, Parneta shipped away two draft selections for forward Jadon Joseph, and dealt away young defender Cyle McNabb for veteran big man Dallas Hines to bolster the blue line.
Among other deals made this season, Seth Bafaro was acquired via a fifth round draft pick, and earlier in the season workhorse Tristen Nielsen was dealt west from Calgary in exchange for James Malm and a conditional draft pick in 2020.
In past years, some more key acquisitions have been key parts of such a deep Giants squad this season. Most notably, back in January 2018, when the Giants brought Davis Koch back home along with a third round draft pick this season for Todd Scott, Brendan Semchuk and a third round pick who were sent to Edmonton.
Most would now call the Giants winners of that deal thanks to a monster season by Koch, a not so good season for Semchuk, and for the cold hard fact that goaltending was never an issue in 2018-19 in Vancouver.
When the Giants acquired forward Jadon Joseph from the Regina Pats in exchange for second round and seventh round WHL Bantam Draft selections, nobody envisioned a dominant force that Giants fans have gotten used to seeing on the front end.
Joseph has gone far and beyond as far as proving his value in Vancouver goes, earning seven points (6 G, 1 A) in Vancouver’s first round series against Seattle.
There’s no doubt the 19-year-old has found his fit in Vancouver after being traded twice this season. Joseph started the season in Lethbridge then was dealt to Regina in the Jake Leschyshyn blockbuster before he was traded to the west coast in January.
Joseph hasn’t been the only valuable addition to the Giants team “getting it done” either.
A big part, physically and figuratively of the Vancouver Giants blue line Dallas Hines has also been a big reason for a series win in the first round.
Although his stats might not scream success like those of a forward in the big picture, Hines has been there in big games on both ends of the ice.
Hines broke a tie and pushed the game winner into the net in Game 5 in front of an electric Langley Events Centre, something that proved to be a turning point in Round 1 for the G-men.
Hines has earned himself three points (2G, 1A) in what were the first six WHL playoff games of his career.
More importantly though a stat not tracked by the WHL officially is the amount of hits thrown. Something A big part of Hines’ game and a big part of why the Giants netminders could see the puck thanks to the big man’s ability to clear out the goal mouth.
Hines also eats up big minutes in all scenarios, including the power play, the penalty kill and everything in between. He may not be the fastest skater, but he reads the play so well there’s no concerns that he’ll be in the right place at the right time.
Good positioning is just one of the many things Giants coach Michael Dyck has said over and over again for all of his defenseman including another key body in Seth Bafaro.
More of a depth player on the blue line as the top four for Vancouver are relatively set in stone, the 2000-born has been a solid go-to in Round 1.
Bafaro strikes more for his defensive game, a player that will prove to be more and more worthy when the top four need a break.
Prior to the deadline, the Giants defense corps was missing players like Bafaro.
For now that problem has been solved, however in the upcoming playoff series there’s no question it’s set to be tested once again.
