One epic trade for Tribe

One would think that making a single trade on the day of the Western Hockey League deadline would make for an easy time for Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Alan Millar.

But when it’s the kind of trade that brings a player like Kale Clague into the fold, well, that’s a completely different story.

No, Millar spent plenty of time on the phone wheeling and dealing with the Brandon Wheat Kings leading up to the 4 p.m. deadline on Jan. 10. In the end, while the price was steep, the deal was done.

“It was only one trade, but it was still very busy,” Millar said. “There was a lot of discussion about a lot of different things... it’s a long process and a lot of talk. But we added a guy whose resume speaks for itself. He’s an NHL-signed player with the L.A. Kings. He’s a dynamic player, an elite player and his intangibles off the ice are going to bode well for us as a team as we make a push for the playoffs.

“It was ongoing dialogue... Brandon knew what they wanted and if we wanted to jump into the deal, we knew what we had to give up and tried to put those pieces together until we were able to come together.” Those pieces were forward Luka Burzan, defenceman Chase Hartje, a second round Bantam draft pick in 2018, first rounder in 2019 and first rounder in 2021.

“Now we think we arguably have the best top-six in the league, four of those guys are NHL draft picks and Jett Woo is going to go in the first round, so it could be a pretty special group,” said Miller.

He said it also comes down to doing the right thing for the players, a group that has put in the kind of work necessary to reach this level as a team.

“Our players deserve all the credit for where we are today. We’ve only lost six games out of 42 games in regulation, and we’ve done it with Brett Howden only playing 18 games, Josh Brook missing 26 games, Jett Woo missing five weeks. So we want them to be all in on what we’re trying to do this year and as a management group we felt the same way.