Kelowna Rockets acquire Jets pick Josh Morrissey from Prince Albert Raiders

The rich just got richer in the Western Hockey League on Wednesday night. The powerhouse Kelowna Rockets acquired Winnipeg Jets first-round pick Josh Morrissey and 19-year-old winger Gage Quinney from the Prince Albert Raiders for 18-year-old forward Austin Glover, 19-year-old defender Jesse Lees, a 2016 second-round bantam pick and a 2017 third-round bantam pick.

Morrissey, who has seven goals and 21 points in 26 games, will join the 25-4-3-0 Rockets after he represents Team Canada at the world junior championship in Toronto and Montreal. He will get the opportunity to play with his younger brother, Rockets backup goalie Jake Morrissey.

A source told BTN back in October that the Raiders fully intended on trading Morrissey, 19, before the world juniors. GM Bruno Campese was never after a boatload of draft picks, but rather some roster players that would help Prince Albert next year. Glover was the main piece that he was after because he wanted to bring in a 17-18 year-old forward who has proven that he can produce offensively. The Clavet, SK., native showed he can do exactly that this year by notching six goals and 16 points in 18 games. Lees will help fill the void left by Morrissey on the blueline and should be back in Prince Albert next year as an overage. New head coach Mark Habscheid will be banking on his two new players to bring some energy back into the Raiders dressing room as they’ve failed to score a single goal in their last three games on a B.C. road trip.

Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton ultimately made his club the favourite to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup this year by adding Morrissey. It’s frankly not even fair that Kelowna has the Calgary, Alta., native and Washington Capitals prospect Madison Bowey on the same back end. What's even more impressive is how Hamilton stuck to his guns by not selling the farm to bolster his roster. He traded a pair of veterans that are impact players, but the Rockets can afford to lose them because of their strong depth. He also managed to to keep all of his 2015 bantam picks and never gave up a first-round choice in any draft.

“We don’t make a lot of trades and when this came up we knew we would have to give up good players,” Hamilton said in the press release. “We gave up two high quality players and people in Jesse and Austin. I think they are going to a team that will be very competitive and they are counting on them to go in and help bolster the line-up.”

The bottom line on this trade is both teams got what they were looking for, but the Rockets have to be given the edge because they acquired a premier player at below market value. Moreover, the 15-17-0-0 Raiders kicked tires on other players before settling for Glover and Lees.

The trade should set up a buyer’s market to some extent at the 2015 trade deadline. What Morrissey fetched pales into comparison to what the Saskatoon Blades gave up for Brayden Schenn or the Kootenay Ice sacrificed for Cody Eakin in 2011.

Nonetheless, it appears like this year’s trade deadline won’t entail too many big deals. Buffalo Sabres first-round pick Sam Reinhart would have been the hottest player available, but it seems unlikely that the Kootenay Ice will trade him now that they are working their way back into a playoff spot. In addition, many teams currently outside of the post-season still have hope and expectations to sneak in, so there might not be too many sellers. It seems most of the trades will be based around veteran depth players changing cities in return for mid-level prospects and draft choices.

 Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen