It is the inevitable “buyers or sellers” question asked of junior hockey GMs this time of year, with both the BCHL and WHL draft deadlines approaching midnight Tuesday.
“It’s a fine line between selling [for the future] or buying and going for it all,” said Rylan Ferster, GM and head coach of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies.
“You always want to do what’s best for the organization.”
Ferster fired the opening salvo of his trade window by sending defenceman Mike Adamek to the Prince George Spruce Kings for future considerations. Adamek had two assists this season in 16 games and three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 45 games last season.
With the Grizzlies 8-1-1 over the last 10 games and rounding into down-the-stretch form, pundits might guess that Ferster might be in more of a buying mode, if he further deals at all.
But the equation isn’t as cut-and-dried in the BCHL or other Junior A leagues across the country. The WHL, like its major-junior counterparts in Ontario and Quebec, stocks its teams through a draft. That means trading veterans for high future picks becomes an annual ritual in major-junior hockey for lowly teams, while championship contending major-junior teams trade away some of their future draft selections for immediate veteran infusion in the current season’s stretch run.
Junior A circuits such as the BCHL, however, are open-recruitment leagues in which players are free to sign with whichever team they want. Not having to plan a draft strategy changes the dynamic greatly and makes the trade deadline in the BCHL less important than in the WHL. In the BCHL, you go out next season again and just recruit new players. Not that contending BCHL clubs don’t look to improve this time of year.
“We are looking to make our team better any way we can,” said Ferster.
The recent winning run indicates he may already have the right mix in-house without having to acquire additional players. Flash is not the essence of this group, so even a starry scoring acquisition might only have limited impact on the overall structure.
“There is no secret to the way we play. We need to play good defence to have success,” said Ferster.
“The players have accepted that and are really supportive and appreciative of the guys who do the thankless tasks on the ice.”
The Grizzlies (15-11-4) meet the BCHL Coastal Conference last-place Cowichan Valley Capitals (6-22-2) tonight in Duncan at the Cowichan Community Centre before hosting the Coastal Conference-leading and BCHL second-leading Nanaimo Clippers (24-5-1) on Saturday night at The Q Centre in a key test. The Grizzlies are 5-0 against Cowichan Valley this season and 1-2 against the Clippers.
