Two teams pointed in decidedly different directions meet tonight in Kent, Washington. The Victoria Royals (20-11-7) are all-in for 2024-25 and were buyers as the Western Hockey League trade deadline approaches, adding 20-year-old veteran forwards Brandon Lisowsky from the Saskatoon Blades and Kenta Isogai from the Wenatchee Wild.
The 2023 league champions Seattle Thunderbirds, meanwhile, are last in the Western Conference (12-23-3) and have been sellers and basically called it a season and stocked up on future WHL prospects draft selections in planning on better years ahead, although those draft picks won’t be making impacts until three or four seasons down the road in the cycle of major-junior hockey.
The Thunderbirds pulled off the blockbuster deal of the trade season so far by sending Vancouver Canucks blue line prospect Sawyer Mynio to contending Calgary in return for the Hitmen’s first-round picks in 2025 and 2026 and the fourth-round picks in 2025 and 2026 along with young players Linden Burrett and Sawyer Mayes.
The Royals also coughed up a ferry load of future WHL prospects draft picks, including a total of three second-round selectons and a third-rounder, in order to get Lisowsky and Isogai. But the pair immediately enhanced Victoria’s skill level on offence as their offensive panache was evident as the Royals beat the Everett Silvertips, the top team in the WHL and ranked No. 3 in the Canadian Hockey League at the time, in back-to-back 2-1 overtime and 4-3 shootout victories over the weekend.
Keep it coming by rolling the lines quickly is Victoria head coach James Patrick’s simple message to his team, regardless of Seattle’s lowly standing compared to Everett’s lofty perch: “The biggest thing is no complacency. Our guys are going to be reminded that they showed how they can play [against Everett] and I’m going to expect them to keep playing that way,” Patrick said, in his media scrum. “I want us skating with mid-lane drives that have created openings in the slot. It’s about how quick we can attack and get off the ice in 30 seconds with short shifts. I want our guys playing with an attacking mentality and then get off.”
Meanwhile, defenceman Keaton Verhoeff’s role with two goals and four points in Victoria’s run of garnering seven of a possible eight points over the last four games didn’t go unnoticed as he was named WHL rookie of the week for the third time this season as the 16-year-old’s star continues to rise. He scored the overtime winner against the Silvertips on Friday in Victoria and sent the Saturday game in Everett to overtime and shootout late in the third period with his 14th goal of the season. Verhoeff has the second-most goals of any WHL rookie, including forwards. To cap off his big week, TSN head scout Craig Button compared the six-foot-four Verhoeff to Aaron Ekblad and that “everything projects with [Verhoeff] being a top-pair defenceman in the NHL.”
Meanwhile, 2025 NHL draft first-round touted Victoria forward Cole Reschny, who left Saturday’s game in Everett, will play tonight against the Thunderbirds.
ICE CHIPS: Nine WHL players and two league alumni won medals in the 2025 world junior championship tournament, which concluded Sunday in Ottawa, including silver-medallist Finnish forward Julius Miettinen of the Silvertips. There were eight WHL players on fifth-place sa国际传媒, whose underachievement has been well dissected in the national sports media and by fans.
