Daily Dose of the Dub: WHL Opening Week begins with flurry of moves around the league

Senators assign Sogaard, McDonald to WHL clubs 

The Ottawa Senators made 11 cuts yesterday which included sending Mads Sogaard back to the Medicine Hat Tigers and releasing Conner McDonald from his pro-tryout contract which allows him to return to the Edmonton Oil Kings for his overage season.

Tigers busy on the first day of WHL opening week

The Edmonton Oil Kings didn’t wait long to clear up their overage situation after McDonald was returned to the team as they sent 1999-born defenseman Parker Gavlas to the Medicine Hat Tigers for a 2021 fourth-round draft pick. Gavlas has played 66 WHL games with the Oil Kings and Regina Pats and has one goal and 10 assists.

The move leaves the Oil Kings with Riley Sawchuk, McDonald and Dylan Myskiw as their overage group, while the Tigers have a bit of work to do to finalize their overage group.

With the acquisition of Gavlas from Edmonton, the Tigers have released overage forward Logan Christensen. In 251 career WHL games with the Tigers and Saskatoon Blades, Christensen has tallied 27 goals and 50 assists. The Tigers now have Gavlas, James HamblinTyler Preziuso and Hayden Ostir as overage players so they will need to move out at least one more player prior to the WHL Overage deadline on October 10th.

With Sogaard coming back, the Tigers have released recently-acquired Evan Fradette from the active roster. Fradette will report to the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. The Tigers acquired Fradette from the Portland Winterhawks in exchange for a conditional eighth-round pick in 2021. He saw action in one preseason game for Medicine Hat, posting a 3.00 GAA and .875 save percentage.

Giants get two netminders back from NHL Training camps 

It’s decision time for the Vancouver Giants as goaltenders Trent Miner and David Tendeck are both back from the team after NHL Training Camp. It’s widely believed that the team will move on from one of these netminders before the October 10th overage deadline.

Shepard battling hip injury 

Vancouver Giants forward Cole Shepard has been battling a hip injury which has kept him out of preseason action. He practiced with the team on Monday but isn’t expected to be in the lineup when the Giants head to Prince George this weekend.

Beckman back to Chiefs 

The Minnesota Wild training camp roster has been cut down to 55 players. Among those cuts was Spokane Chiefs forward Adam Beckman. He is expected to re-join the team today.

Pats make two goaltending moves 

The Regina Pats made two goaltending moves on Monday, the first of which was sending 2000-born goaltender Dean McNabb to the Winnipeg ICE in exchange for a 2021 seventh-round pick. In 28 games last season with the Pats, McNabb register eight wins and 17 losses with a 4.20 GAA and .875 save percentage.

The team then proceeded to acquire Danton Belluk from the Everett Silvertips for a conditional pick in the 2021 draft. According to a report from Josh Horton of the Everett Herald, the pick will be a seventh or eighth-round pick depending on how many games Belluk plays for the Pats. He has played two career WHL games with a 6.03 GAA and .714 save percentage.

Pats also release Zonneveld from the active roster 

Barring any other moves, the Pats now have their opening night roster as Steven Zonneveld has been released from the active roster and will be reporting to the AJHL. In 42 games with the Pats last season, Zonneveld notched a goal and six assists.

Blades acquire Kjemhus from Warriors 

The Saskatoon Blades have acquired 2001-born forward Kjell Kjemhus from the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft. Making his debut in 2017, Kjemhus has notched five goals and five assists in 79 games with the Warriors, Regina Pats and Prince George Cougars.

Wheat Kings sign Bennett 

The Brandon Wheat Kings have signed 2019 third-round pick Jesiah Bennett to a WHL Player Agreement. He won’t be eligible to join the Wheat Kings full-time this season and is expected to head back to the Rink Hockey Academy where he had 15 goals and 16 assists in 29 games last season.

Broncos down to 24 players after four releases 

The Swift Current Broncos have released 2001-born defenseman Austin Herron (37 GP, 2 A with Swift Current), 2000-born defenseman Christian Riemer (54 GP, 1 G, 6 A with the Broncos) 1999-born forward Zach Cox (124 GP, 13 G, 8 A with the Lethbridge Hurricanes) and 2002-born forward Dawson Springer (2 GP, 1 G with Swift Current) from the active roster. Herron, Riemer, and Cox are now free agents and free to pursue other opportunities while Springer’s rights will be retained by the Broncos and he will report to the SMHL’s Prince Albert Mintos.

Oil Kings make three cuts to roster 

2003-born Matt Smith (one assist in five preseason games), 2003-born Carson Latimer (two assists in four preseason games) and 2003-born Kobe Verbicky (one goal in four preseason games) have been released by the Edmonton Oil Kings from their active roster.

Bairos headed back to Contacts

The Kamloops Blazers have sent defenseman Logan Bairos to the Saskatoon Contacts of the SMHL. The Saskatoon native saw action in six preseason games, recording three assists.

WHL appears to lowers WHL Live price 

The price for WHL Live has been posted on the WHL Live website with the full season package coming in at $179.99. That’s around $100 lower than it was last season. There has been no official announcement fromn the WHL so this price could be subject to change.

WHL asks judge to toss out minimum wage lawsuit 

According to a report from TSN’s Rick Westhead, the WHL has asked a Calgary to throw out a class-action lawsuit from former WHL players including Travis McEvoy and Kyle O’Connor.

Hurricanes announce colour commentator for 2019-20 season

The Lethbridge Hurricanes and 106.7 The Rock have announced that 26-year-old Ryan O’Donnell will join play-by-play guy Dustin Forbes in the broadcast booth this season. O’Donnell had most recently served as the play-by-play broadcaster for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team.

NHL to maintain labour peace through 2021-2022 season 

The NHLPA announced today that they will not be re-opening the CBA following this season. The move means the NHL will have labour peace until the 2021-2022 season. From a WHL perspective, this means we won’t see any WHL players who should be in the NHL returning to the league next season.

Thunder sign De Jong to ECHL contract 

The Wichita Thunder have signed defenseman Brendan De Jong (317 GP, 24 G, 64 A with the Portland Winterhawks) to a ECHL contract for the 2019-20 season.