TRADES BUOY THE PATS
Paddock’s wheeling and dealing sees team go 4-4-2 in its last 10 games
New arrivals making their mark
It took a few small steps for the Regina Pats to make a giant leap in the win-loss column.
After struggling to get over the hump in several tight games early this season, the Pats received a much-needed nudge from GM John Paddock, who completed six minor trades over a period of five weeks.
The new faces have helped Regina go 4-4-2 in its past 10 games following a 10-game losing streak.
Best of all, the team’s recent progress didn’t come at the expense of its long-term rebuilding plan.
“We’re not going to sacrifice any big picture,” Paddock explained recently.
“It has been tweaks or moving pieces around where we feel we have a little bit of depth or we want to add something.
“I think our roster is more talented (after the moves). It’s deeper. We thought at the start of the year that our strength was going to be in (playing) four lines. We think that’s in better shape now.”
The Pats had hoped to improve from within based on the theory that their returning core would be a year older and a year better this season.
It didn’t quite turn out that way — not in terms of the standings, anyway.
Paddock responded by adding five relatively low-cost veteran players via trades: Defenceman Zach Wytinck, 20 (from Brandon for a 2022 fifth-round bantam pick), goalie Donovan Buskey, 19 (from Prince Albert for Matthew Pesenti), forward Caiden Daley, 19 (from Brandon for Duncan Pierce), forward Carter Chorney, 18 (from Swift Current for Sam Mcginley) and forward Carson Denomie, 19 (from Moose Jaw for Garrett Wright).
Regina also signed forward Zack Smith out of the SJHL.
The first move in the shakeup was to acquire Wytinck, who has added a veteran puck-moving presence to the back end while notching one goal and 11 assists in 13 games.
Chorney (two goals, three assists, five games) and Denomie (one goal, two assists, four games) have also provided a boost to the team’s goal-starved lineup. The same goes for Smith, who has been a pleasant surprise while chipping in three goals and two assists in nine games.
Meanwhile, Daley has just two assists in eight games with Regina but the speedster is beginning to generate more quality scoring chances.
“We were trying to add talent to our team to perk up our offence a little bit,” explained Paddock, whose club opens a four-game Alberta road trip on Wednesday versus the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
“We’re hoping a change of scenery helps Caiden get scoring. He does a lot of good things but the puck is not going in. Denomie has some ability to score goals. He’s a big enough body, has some strong physical presence. Chorney is the biggest potential piece for now and down the road. I think he has a lot of good things going for him.”
With the roster beginning to jell, Regina won back-to-back games on the weekend for the first time this season — both on the road. It started Friday with a 6-0 blowout in Swift Current, followed by Saturday’s 5-4 decision in Brandon.
Paddock likes the upgrades so far and doesn’t anticipate a bunch more additions to supplement the current lineup.
“I think it’s just about tweaked out,” he said. “We think our roster is significantly better (than the start of the year). We’re expecting a lot better results.”
Despite their recent strides, the Pats’ record (5-14-2-0) still makes them an obvious trade target for contending teams. Those talks are expected to pick up as the Jan 10 deadline looms, especially since the Memorial Cup is in Kelowna this spring, meaning there will be two WHL teams in the tournament.
“I haven’t been really initiating anything,” Paddock said. “I’m sure there are going to be calls from whoever feels they have a chance to do something serious in the league. I’ve been in that position so you’re always nosing around seeing if there’s something that somebody wants to do early. Have there been those kind of calls? Yeah. It doesn’t really mean anything (yet). But I expect us to play better (than the start of the year) and I expect teams to call on a guy or two.”