The Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League bolstered their blue line ahead of training camp with the addition of all-star, 1999-born defenseman Scott Walford from the Victoria Royals.
Acclaimed as one of the top defenseman in the league by Blades general manager Colin Priestner, Walford has extensive experience in junior hockey, having played in the 2015 Canada Winter Games, the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, and the 2018 CIBC Canada/Russia series.
“Deals like this are never easy to make, especially in the summer, but the chance to acquire one of the very best defensemen in the WHL was too good to pass up given we felt defence was the biggest single area we needed to address for the upcoming season,” Priestner said in a Blades media release.
Along with Walford, the Blades received a seventh round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. Heading to Victoria in the deal is 20-year-old defenseman Gary Haden, unsigned listed forward Riley Gannon, and the Blades’ fourth round pick in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft.
As an alternate captain in Victoria the past two seasons, Walford has accumulated 120 points (18 goals, 102 assists) in 229 career WHL games while adding 13 (two goals, 11 assists) in 24 playoff appearances.
Drafted 68th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Walford is coming off a career year, having notched nine goals and 38 assists in 62 games in the 2018-19 season, along with a WHL West second team all-star nod.
“Scott is a big, mobile defender, who plays in all situations and logs a lot of minutes. He is an all-around defender who is adept in his own end but also contributes a lot offensively, making use of an exceptional first pass and great vision,” Priestner added in the release.
Walford joins forwards Ryan Hughes and Riley McKay, defenseman Nolan Kneen, and backup goalie Dorrin Luding as the overage candidates for the 2019-20 Blades. The five will need to be trimmed down to three in the not-too-distant future.
In a deal announced around four hours later, the Blades announced they had acquired right-handed, 2001-born defenseman Parker Malchuk from the Victoria Royals for a conditional draft pick. In 56 games for the Royals last season, he had an assist and 10 penalty minutes.
The 5-foot-9, 161-pound defenseman was listed by the Royals during the 2017-18 season and signed before last season.
With Malchuk and Walford added, the Blades have 10 blue liners that have signed WHL education contracts.
The Saskatoon Blades open their training camp in two weeks at the SaskTel Centre.
