B.C. Division, East Division, NHL Draft

Rockets and Blades pull off big trade

Written by Kevin Olenick on

 

The Kelowna Rockets and Saskatoon Blades pulled off a headline-grabbing trade today.

The Blades sent Chicago Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach to the Rockets for centre Trevor Wong.

Colton Dach was a second-round pick, 62nd overall of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021. He had 20 points (11G, 9A) in 20 games for the Blades last season. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound forward is the younger brother of Kirby Dach who played parts of three seasons with the Blades. Colton had 49 points (22G, 27A) in 82 career games with the Blades.

Wong was the leading scorer for the Rockets last season with 16 points in 16 games (6G, 10A). In 82 career games with the Rockets, The Vancouver, BC product had 31 points. (13G, 18A). Wong was selected 18th overall by the Rockets in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. The 5-foot-9 154-pound forward got an invite to the Florida Panthers rookie camp last summer.

For Blades President and General Manager Colin Priestner, this was not an easy trade to make. He told saskatoonblades.com that Colton’s representatives requested a trade after the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

“We remained patient in our discussions on Colton’s future, and we’re not going to agree on a trade until we received an equal or better player of the same age coming back to our club.”Priestner said, “Trevor is certainly that level of player.”

Priestner has been scouting Wong for years. He also told saskatoonblades.com that he was excited to bring him to the club.

“Trevor was one of the most dynamic bantam players I have scouted in my nine years with the Blades. He’s someone that you normally would never be able to acquire in a trade because he’s so talented and so well-regarded around the league, but this trade appears to be a good fit for both sides. Trevor led the Rockets in scoring last season with a point-per-game and he is going to add a lot of speed and skill to our centre ice position that will complement our skilled wingers.”

Priestner is confident that Wong will become a Blades fan favourite quickly.

“Trevor is going to be a fan-favourite from day one with his style of play and we feel we are a better team today than we were yesterday.”

Rockets President and General Manager Bruce Hamilton told kelownarockets.com that the staff was concerned about their size up the middle.

“With Wong, Flamand and Cristall all being somewhat undersized compared to the teams that we’ll be playing in the BC Division, “Hamilton said.” I just felt there was an opportunity to get a bigger guy in Dach who’s 6’3.

Along with his size and shot, Hamilton told kelownarockets.com that he also thinks Dach’s experience at an NHL Training Camp will help him mature.

“Colton is going to bring some things to our team that are going to be important to us, he shoots the puck well, I think he’s going to mature a lot as a player here now that he has an NHL training camp under his belt. We’re going to expect him to come in here and have a leadership role with our group in the near future.”

And while Dach is going to be a significant piece for the Rockets, Hamilton acknowledged that Wong is a special player. However, Hamilton said that he wanted to get something done sooner rather than later.

“When you make a deal of this size, battleship for battleship, we’re certainly giving up a young player that we’ve thought an awful lot of. Trevor was our first-round pick a few years ago and a real special person, but I think with where our team is, I thought that size was going to be an issue when we play big physical teams. I wanted to get something done earlier rather than later.”

Wong is expected to make his debut for the Blades this weekend in the opening home and home series with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

The Rockets open their season next Friday, October 8 on the road against the Victoria Royals.