Edmonton Oilers prized pick Leon Draisaitl joins powerhouse Kelowna Rockets

As widely speculated, the Prince Albert Raiders and Kelowna Rockets pulled off a second major deal prior to the Jan. 10 trade deadline. The Rockets acquired Germany native Leon Draisaitl, whom the Edmonton Oilers recently sent back to junior, from the Raiders for import Kris Schmidli, 18-year-old defender Dalton Yorke, a 2015 first-round bantam pick, a 2016 fourth-round pick and another conditional fourth-round pick.

Draisaitl will reunite with his former Prince Albert teammate Josh Morrissey, whom the Rockets acquired in a trade on Dec. 11. The two 19-year-olds were the core of the Raiders' foundation the last two seasons.

It is believed that this trade was agreed upon a couple of days ago, but the two clubs couldn’t make it official until Schmidli, a Switzerland native, returned from the world junior championship because the league doesn’t allow players to be traded while taking part in the tourney.

Ultimately, Draisaitl shouldn’t have stuck in Edmonton this season in the first place. He didn’t overly impress in pre-season action and his nine-game trial permitted by the CBA didn’t show he was ready. But since Edmonton was extremely thin down the middle, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound centre made the team because of his lack of competition and GM Craig MacTavish’s questionable judgment on where he stood in his development. His 37 contests, where he scored two goals and nine points, with the Oilers burn a year of his entry-level contract, but not a year a free agency because he didn’t hit the 40-game mark.

From Prince Albert’s perspective, being able to parlay Draisaitl, who notched 38 goals and 105 points in 64 games last year, for some future assets is a bonus for them because they didn’t expect him to return this year. Raiders GM Bruno Campese wasn’t in a situation where he could shop him for the best package, though. MacTavish and Campese had an agreement that the Raiders would trade Draisaitl to the powerhouse Rockets if the Oilers sent him back to junior because that was the preferred WHL destination of Oilers management.

“I had a real specific destination in mind for Leon,” MacTavish told the Edmonton Journal. “I talked to Bruno Campese many times throughout the year saying it was very unlikely that he would be reassigned back to PA. At one of those conversations, I said to Bruno I had a specific situation I thought was going to be ideal for Leon and if that situation was satisfied there would be a likelihood that we would send him back. I think for obvious reasons Kelowna was the destination for Leon and think this is going to be extremely important for his development.”

The added draft picks put the Raiders in a better position for the future. They now have two first-rounders and a second-rounder in the 2015 bantam draft and a first-rounder and two second-rounders in 2016. In addition, Prince Albert’s top 2014 bantam pick, Ian Scott, is regarded as one of the top goalie prospects in Western Canada. Therefore, even though the rebuilding organization is a ways away from molding a winner, they do have some key future assets in its wheelhouse.

Before acquiring Draisaitl and Morrissey, the 31-6-3-0 Rockets were widely considered the favourite for the Ed Chynoweth Cup this year. With them, they look like an all-star team that could bulldoze over its Western Conference competition. They have an elite offense built around Draisaitl, top NHL draft prospect Nick Merkley, San Jose Sharks pick Rourke Chartier and 18-year-old sniper Tyson Baillie. On the defensive side of the game, they have a solid back end led by Morrissey and Washington Capitals second-rounder Madison Bowey and an above-average netminder in Jackson Whistle.

Nonetheless, to believe the Rockets will run away with the WHL championship in January would be to disregard decades of post-season history. Anything can happen in the playoffs and Kelowna will have tough competition in its way. The Brandon Wheat Kings and Medicine Hat Tigers recently made quality additions to their division-leading clubs in hopes of going all the way. Furthermore, the Portland Winterhawks have seemed to be the Rockets’ Achilles heel in the Western Conference. They have knocked them out of the second season three times in the last four years.

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