Defenceman plays on three teams over five days
Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Alan Millar is delighted to have added Kale Clague to a WHL team that was formidable even before the star defenceman was acquired.
The cost, though, has left a lingering after-taste.
“For me, the trade deadline was crazy,” Millar recalled, rewinding to Jan. 10. “Don’t get me wrong. We’re real happy to add Kale Clague and the other pieces, but I certainly didn’t like what the prices were.”
In return for Clague, Moose Jaw — the second-ranked team in the CHL — surrendered first-round bantam-draft picks in 2019 and 2021, a second-rounder in 2018, 17-year-old centre Luka Burzan and 18-year-old defenceman Chase Hartje. Burzan was Moose Jaw’s first-round pick (sixth overall) in 2015.
“I’m not a fan of those type of bigger deals that involve good, young players and high draft picks, but that was the price,” Millar said. “What we did on deadline day was we got to a point where, ‘This is what it was going to take to add him.’
“We got our group together and discussed all the pros and cons and what we were adding, what we were giving up, and how it affected our club in the big picture.
“Obviously, it was difficult but, at the end of the day, we felt that the players had earned the right. This was a credit to our players in terms of the fact that at the time of the trade deadline, we had lost six games out of 42.”
Leading up to the trade deadline, Millar also sent a pair of secondround picks (in 2019 and 2020) and defenceman Colin Paradis, 19, to the Red Deer Rebels for rearguard Brandon Schuldhaus, 19, and a fourth-rounder in 2020.
Millar’s moves were made in the hope that they will help Moose Jaw win its first WHL title and advance to the Memorial Cup (May 17-27, Brandt Centre).
“We know that it’s going to be competitive from the first round (of the playoffs) on. We know that very good teams across the league are probably going to go out in the first and second round — teams that are maybe capable of winning the league. But I’d rather step up and go head-to-head than fold your tent.”