Portland, Seattle and Tri-City make moves as flurry of WHL roster activity heads south of the border

Although the WHL’s trade deadline isn’t until Saturday, a dizzying array of deals have been finalized over the last three days. Though the U.S. Division teams have largely stayed out of the fray, the Portland Winterhawks jumped into the pool Tuesday by sending veteran goaltender Brendan Burke to the Calgary Hitmen and acquiring overage defenceman Adam Henry from the Saskatoon Blades. Wednesday, Tri-City announced they had made a deal with Red Deer for forward Tyler Sandhu, who had been traded to the Rebels by the Everett Silvertips in October.

Meanwhile, the Seattle Thunderbirds made a non-trade move on Monday, welcoming back overage Latvian import Roberts Lipsbergs from the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder while announcing that overage captain Justin Hickman’s WHL career is coming to an end due to an imminent shoulder surgery.

A surprise press release by the Thunder on Monday afternoon indicated that Lipsbergs was heading back to the WHL, but the Thunderbirds didn’t immediately address the report, leading to rampant speculation about how Seattle would shed both a 20-year-old and an import to make room for Lipsbergs, who scored 33 goals last season and 30 in 2012-13 for the T-Birds.

There was even some thought that Seattle would actually look to move Lipsbergs rather than disrupt its roster, but the picture became much clearer when the Thunderbirds announced that Hickman, who has been playing with a shoulder injury all season, was being shut down for year. Hickman, who’s from Kelowna, was Seattle’s second-leading scorer this season with 28 points in 31 games. He played 285 games over five seasons with the T-Birds but ended his career on a two-game suspension following an incident with Portland's Keegan Iverson on New Year's Eve. A report Wednesday indicated that he had signed an entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins, though the Thunderbirds say no such deal has occurred.

Seattle also had to lose an import to make room for Lipsbergs, and waived 17-year-old Austrian Florian Baltram, who scored his first and only goal in that New Year’s Eve victory over the Winterhawks. Because of the league’s rules about first-year imports, the Thunderbirds were barred from trading Baltram, who was claimed by the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday.

The loss of Hickman is a big blow for Seattle, but a goal-scorer like Lipsbergs is a big lift for the second-worst offence in the league. He scored two goals in 15 games as an ECHL rookie, and should resume his role as a standout sniper on a team that has scored 102 goals in 39 games.

With Shea Theodore returning from Canada’s world junior team and Mathew Barzal reportedly set to return from his freak knee injury in the next couple of weeks, the T-Birds won’t need to make any moves to be a much-improved team after the deadline. They’re already solid defensively, having allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the WHL (106).

Meanwhile, Portland parted ways with veteran goaltender Burke in a deal that almost seemed inevitable given his diminished role in recent weeks as 18-year-old rookie Adin Hill has excelled. Despite coach Jamie Kompon’s continued insistence that Burke and Hill were goalies “1 and 1A,” Burke has been mostly glued to the bench since play resumed after the Christmas break, and the 19-year-old draftee of the Arizona Coyotes could benefit from a change of scenery and a fresh start in Calgary.

The Hitmen gave up 18-year-old goalie Evan Johnson and a fourth-round draft pick for Burke, who will compete with fellow 19-year-old Mack Shields for playing time. In four seasons with the Winterhawks, Burke compiled a record of 72-25-4-6 with a 2.95 GAA and .902 save percentage.

Last season was Burke’s best, as he registered a .911 save percentage in 48 games, but had his campaign interrupted by an illness that kept him out of action for a month. He was never quite 100 per cent for the rest of the season, and ended up losing his starting job to Corbin Boes during the Western Conference final against Kelowna. He didn’t start again until Game 7 of the WHL final against Edmonton, which the Oil Kings won 4-2.

With Hill now entrenched as Portland’s starter, Johnson — who posted a 2.84 GAA and .894 save percentage in 15 games with the Hitmen — will probably only see spot duty in a backup role. The Winterhawks also have a promising 17-year-old goalie in Michael Bullion, who beat Kelowna earlier this season but is currently playing with the NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild.

Later on Tuesday, Portland dealt a second-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft to Saskatoon for Henry, who will fill Portland’s previously empty third overage slot. Henry spent two full seasons with Lethbridge before moving west to Seattle last year. He was a victim of numbers in the T-Birds’ overage situation this season and sent to Saskatoon in September for 17-year-old defenceman Turner Ottenbreit, who has settled into a regular role in Seattle.

Henry had three goals and 18 assists in 32 games for the Blades, and his offensive ability made him attractive to the Winterhawks, who have been seeking a veteran presence and puck mover on the back end.

The price was a bit steep for Portland, though, as the Winterhawks are now stuck without picks in the first and second rounds in the next three bantam drafts, partially because of the much-publicized league sanctions in 2012 and partially because of trades.

For now, Kompon seems determined to position the Winterhawks to make a run at a fifth consecutive Western Conference final appearance, even if they would be a massive underdog to the loaded Kelowna Rockets.

Sandhu had been considered a possible building block for Red Deer's Memorial Cup team next season, but will return to the U.S. Division after 28 games with the Rebels, in which he had eight goals and 18 points. The 18-year-old was originally property of the Winterhawks, but moved to Everett in the 2012 trade for the rights to defenceman Seth Jones. Sandhu had 64 points in 120 games with the Silvertips, but was sent to Red Deer after starting this season with just one point in nine games. The Rebels are getting two fourth-round picks from Tri-City, to recoup the two fourth-rounders they traded to Everett for Sandhu in October.