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Daily Dose

DUB’s Daily Dose: WHL update, another trade, lots of alumni on the move, and more!

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

DUB update

Another WHL update tells us that the Moose Jaw Warriors, Regina Pats, and Tri-City Americans have been cleared to resume all team activities.

The Vancouver Giants have been added to the paused teams list, which caused the postponement of their Sunday game versus the Portland Winterhawks.

With all of the postponements, the only WHL weekend game was the Kelowna Rockets hosting the Portland Winterhawks.

Rockets host Winterhawks in lone WHL weekend contest

Taylor Gauthier made 38 saves on 39 shots as the Winterhawks won 3-1 in his team debut. James Stefan led the charge with two goals and an assist. Cross Hanas scored the other goal for the Winterhawks. Jake Poole opened the scoring just 31 seconds into the game for the Rockets. Talyn Boyko made 21 saves on 24 shots in the loss.

Blazers acquire Verbicky

The Edmonton Oil Kings stayed busy on the trade front as they traded 18-year-old forward Kobe Verbicky to the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.

The Victoria, BC forward has 26 games under his belt where he has four points (two goals, two assists).

Froese reassigned to the Heat

Byron Froese (Everett, Red Deer 2008-2011) was sent from the Calgary flames taxi squad to their AHL club the Stockton Heat.

Froese has played in 16 games for the Heat this season picking up 14 points (seven goals, seven assists). Over parts of five seasons in the NHL he has skated in 116 games notching 17 points (six goals, 11 assists).

The Winkler, MB product played 212 WHL games between the Rebels and Silvertips scoring 91 goals and adding 108 assists for 199 points.

Wagner gets the call from the Kings

Austin Wagner (Regina 2012-17) was called up to the Los Angeles Kings from their AHL affiliate Ontario Reign. Wagner has played in 19 AHL games with the Reign where he has four goals and three assists and 52 penalty minutes. He has played 171 career NHL games scoring 22 goals and adding 18 assists.

The Calgary speedster played his entire WHL career with the Pats, suiting up for 238 games collecting 169 points (79 goals, 90 assists) in those games.

Jeri-Leon loaned to Abbotsford

Keltie Jeri-Leon (Tri-City, Kamloops, Lethbridge, and Seattle 2016-21), who has been toiling in the ECHL with the Maine Mariners this season was loaned out to the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL.

Leon, the first-year pro has played 23 games with the Mariners picking up 13 points (five goals, eight assists). He had earlier been loaned to the Providence Bruins also of the AHL where he scored once in two games.

The Kelowna, BC forward played 250 games in the WHL picking up 110 points (58 goals, 52 assists). In his final shortened 2020-21 WHL season with Seattle, he scored 17 of his goals in just 23 games.

Brooks loaned to Henderson

Adam Brooks (Regina 2012-17) was loaned to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL by the Vegas Golden Knights on a conditioning assignment. Brooks has appeared in 29 NHL games collecting 11 points (six goals, five assists).

Thus far in the 2021-22 season, Brooks played four games with the Montreal Canadiens (one assist) before being acquired by the Golden Knights where he has played in seven contests scoring twice.

The Winnipeg product played his entire five-year career with the Pats where he played 317 games picking up 335 points (119 goals, 216 assists) during his tenure with Regina.

Christiansen returned to Monsters

Jake Christiansen (Everett 2015-20) was returned to the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.

He made one appearance for the Blue Jackets where he played 12:46 in a 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

The five-year Silvertip played 297 games for the club picking up 152 points (50 goals, 102 assists).

Burns joins Lowen Frankfurt

Nathan Burns (Vancouver, Saskatoon, and Swift Current 2009-14) becomes the second former WHLer to join Lowen Frankfurt of the DEL2 in the week, the other was Brett Breitkreuz, who joined just two days earlier.

Burns had yet to skate professionally in the 2021-22 season but had played the previous two seasons with the EC Kassel Huskies of the DEL2.

“First of all I want to say how happy I am to be part of the Leo family,” said Burns in the Lowen media release. “It is a privilege to be able to join such a competitive organization with a very good team, of course, to help achieve the greatest possible goal of all: winning the championship. And to the Löwen fans: I really hope to see you all again in the hall soon. I know how loud you can be and I can’t wait to hear you live and experience it up close! Last but not least, I would like to thank all the medical staff who made my return possible and easy from the start! ”

The Edmonton product spent the majority of his WHL career skating for the Giants before being moved to the Blades before finishing his career with the Broncos. In 309 WHL games, he scored 75 times assisting on 129 others for 195 points.

Kane placed on unconditional waivers by Sharks

Evander Kane (Vancouver 2006-09) was placed on unconditional waivers by the San Jose Sharks for the purpose of a buyout.

The Vancouver, BC product suited up for the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, and San Jose Sharks during his 12 year NHL career where he has played in 769 games. He has 506 career points, scoring 264 goals and adding 242 assists.

In 134 career WHL games with the Giants, Kane averaged just over a point-per-game with 138 points (73 goals, 65 assists) before turning pro with the Atlanta Thrashers at just 18 years of age.