MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors have traded captain Brayden Yager and goaltender Jackson Unger to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for three players and six WHL Prospect Draft picks.
Joining the Warriors are 2005-born goaltender Brady Smith, 2006-born forward Landen Ward and 2009-born defenceman Colt Carter
The Warriors also recoup a host of draft picks lost in the build toward the 2024 WHL Championship, including a first round in 2025, third round in 2026, fourth round in 2026, fifth round in 2026, first round in 2028 and second round in 2028.
The trade was naturally difficult for Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger to make, but it’s also one that solves many issues as the team looked to rebuild its list of draft picks.
“These are never easy deals, but where we were with our picks and where we were last year, all the picks that we used, you knew eventually you were probably going to have to do this,” Ripplinger said. “You don't want to, but for the franchise moving forward to be where we were last year again, this is something we have to do.”
It’s hard to describe the impact the two players had on the Warriors in their time with the team, especially last season as key cogs of the WHL Championship run.
“They were a big part of the team from when we drafted them and when they came into the (Regina COVID) bubble as 15-year-olds,” Ripplinger said. “They grew up in Moose Jaw, and they're leaving as young men now, but everything in the world comes to an end, and you know what, they'll go down in history as two of the best players to ever play in Moose Jaw.”
Ripplinger made sure to let the duo know about their importance to the team when he told them about the trade.
“I asked them when we have the alumni weekend golf tournament to come back, they're alumni forever, and I said eventually one day you guys will be in the (Warriors and Legends) Hall of Fame.”
Yager had an absolutely incredible career in Moose Jaw, playing in 232 career WHL regular season games and recording 280 points, including 115 goals and a plus-31 rating.
The 19-year-old forward and two-time winner of the Brad Hornung Trophy as the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player was well on his way to another stellar season, as he led Moose Jaw in scoring with 11 goals and 30 points in 21 games.
It was a momentous day for the Saskatoon product, as he was also named to the World Junior selection camp for Team Canada earlier on Monday.
“We’re very excited to be able to add Brayden to our group,” Lethbridge general manager Peter Anholt said on WHL.ca. “He is one of the premier players in junior hockey, he’s a World Junior guy and knows what it takes to win at our level. He is going to be a great addition and is going to help our team in every way.”
Unger owns a career record of 62-49-3-3 with a 3.64 goals-against average and was a
WHL East Division First Team All-Star in 2023-24, going 35-15-0-2 with a 3.08 goals against average, .908 save percentage, and three shutouts.
He saved his best for the post-season though, going 16-1-2-0 with a 2.90 GAA and .910 save percentage as the Warriors won their title.
“Jackson is a championship goaltender and him being in the deal was a big part of us making this trade,” Anholt said. “He’s proven himself as one of the top-end goaltenders in our league, was a first-team all-star last year and we think he is going to steady our goaltending while also being able to help [Koen] Cleaver develop.”
One of the key pieces coming back to Moose Jaw will be Smith, with the 19-year-old netminder having played in 16 of the Hurricanes’ 24 games and going 8-4-1-1 with a 3.31 GAA.
“He's coming in as a 19-year-old starter, Pete wanted to go with a goalie that had lots of playoff experience it was a good fit for us,” Ripplinger said. “I think Jackson was ready to move on, and this will be a good fresh start for him. Smith can for sure be our starter and help us win some games.”
At 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds, the 18-year-old Ward is expected to bring a physical game to the Warriors line-up and is described on eliteprospects.com as a ‘violent, aggressive winger who creates space with his body’. He has a goal and two points to go along with 39 penalty minutes in 22 games thus far this season and had eight points and 120 penalty minutes in 63 games last season.
“He’s a big, heavy presence,” Ripplinger said. “He's a guy you don't like to play against. So he'll be on our left wing and we'll be expecting big things from him to create room for our players.”
Carter is a 15-year-old prospect currently playing for the St. Albert Raiders in the Alberta Elite U18 Hockey League, where he has five goals and 18 points in 15 games. The 5-foot-7, 137-pound rearguard suited up for Team Alberta in the WHL Cup this fall, and had 25 goals and 55 points in 34 games playing U15 last season.
“He’s a very highly touted defenseman who maybe was keeping his options open last year until the NCAA opened up,” Ripplinger said. “I believe he'll be a player that has a bright future with the Warriors here.”
While receiving current on-ice talent for Yager and Unger was all fine and well, it was the future that was a major part of the deal.
With the six draft picks combined with selections made in trades earlier this season, the Warriors are starting to look much improved in the WHL Prospects Draft picture after emptying the tank in their championship quest.
“We're still missing a couple of firsts in a couple of years, ‘26 and ‘27, but we've got multiple seconds, we've got multiple thirds, multiple fourths in those drafts so we're in better shape than what we were, and if we have a chance to fill in other openings, we’ll look at it,” Ripplinger said.
“As a general manager, you look ahead in years to come where you are with your draft picks. We didn’t have a first last year, and I wanted to make sure that we had a first going into the draft this year. Now we have two fourths, two thirds, a second and a first, so it’s looking a lot better.”
Now the Warriors will look toward the rest of the season, with Ripplinger taking a wait-and-see approach to any further deals.
“If anybody comes to me and offers me something, I can't refuse to look at it,” he said. “But right now, we'll just hopefully start winning some games here and see where it goes.”
As fate would have it, the two teams and all their new players won’t have long to face each other -- the Moose Jaw Warriors are at the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday night, with puck drop at 8 p.m. on watch.chl.ca.
-- with files from www.whl.ca
