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McCrimmon’s dealing leads to Wheat Kings capturing Scotty Munro Trophy
The Brandon Wheat Kings took home the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy, awarded to the WHL’s top team in the regular-season, on the weekend largely because of Kelly McCrimmon’s wheeling and dealing. The longtime general manager built much of his club’s foundation on six key deals.
The hurdles involved in pulling off major trades in junior hockey makes the Wheat Kings’ roster moves quite impressive. Most high-end players aren't available until the trade deadline of their 19-year-old seasons, and that’s only if their team is rebuilding. In addition, it’s near impossible to acquire young skill because 16-year-old rookies are given no-trade clauses in the WHL for recruitment reasons.
McCrimmon’s favourite dance partners were Lethbridge Hurricanes GM Brad Robson and Saskatoon Blades GM Lorne Molleken. It is no coincidence that both architects are no longer in the league and left their teams in the gutter.
Brandon’s best deal kicked of their retool at the 2011 trade deadline. The club’s foundation piece in its 2010 Memorial Cup push – Philadelphia Flyers forward Brayden Schenn – was shipped to the Blades for a large package that included leading scorer Tim McGauley, a 2011 first-round pick that was invested on starting goalie Jordan Papirny and defender Ayrton Nikkel, who was used as trade bait in another big deal.
“This trade is a very important trade for our franchise,” McCrimmon said shortly after making the deal. “We felt that it was important to recover from some of the moves we made to build our team for last season’s Memorial Cup. When we were awarded the Cup in October 2008, we felt then that it might be a three year process with today’s move being part of that process.”
McCrimmon’s other major deal with Saskatoon, not included in the big six, has paid some dividends already, but it’s a trade that will bear its fruit next season. At the 2012 bantam draft, he sent then-overage Brendan Walker to the City of Bridges for two second-round picks, one of which was used to draft Tanner Browne who was part of the Ryan Pilon trade, and the right to swap 2014 first-round picks. Brandon took Saskatoon up on the clause when they won the draft lottery. But since the Blades traded its top 2014 pick to the Vancouver Giants, the Wheat Kings swapped picks with them and chose Stelio Mattheos first overall.
Brandon’s first of three major trades with the Hurricanes happened at the 2013 bantam draft. They acquired the sixth overall pick, which was used on prized blueliner Kale Clague, for then-overage goalie Corbin Boes and the 17th overall pick (acquired in the Schenn deal). The move seemed to be a long-term steal for the Wheat Kings because of how Clague was hyped as the WHL’s next star defender; however, since Robson drafted coveted netminder Stuart Skinner with the 17th pick, the transaction appears to be a quality trade for both teams.
The other two moves with Lethbridge only happened because the then-dysfunctional organization had players asking for one-way tickets out of town. But a win is a win, and McCrimmon was easily on the better end of both deals. He first landed Pilon, a top-pairing rearguard, for Nick Walters, who was acquired earlier from the Everett Silvertips in a deal that included Nikkel, Browne and Taylor Cooper. The second trade involved sending three depth players to the Hurricanes for Minnesota Wild pick Reid Duke and veteran defenceman Macoy Erkamps.
The acquisition of Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Peter Quenneville in 2013 ultimately goes hand in hand with drafting his younger brother, New Jersey Devils first-rounder John Quenneville, 54th overall in the 2011 bantam draft. The older Quenneville wanted to leave Quinnipiac University in the ECAC, but wasn’t interested in joining the Prince George Cougars, who held his rights. Therefore, the Cougars salvaged what they could out of the situation by sending him to the Wheat Kings for a 2015 third-round pick.
Last but not least, McCrimmon made the best out of a tough situation with pugnacious winger Jesse Gabrielle. The 2015 NHL draft prospect asked for a trade following developing a rough relationship with his coach and some teammates. He shipped him to the Regina Pats for Calgary Flames first-rounder Morgan Klimchuk, who was one of the most talented rental forwards available at the 2015 trade deadline.
All that said, the role the Wheat Kings’ scouting staff played in the team finishing the regular-season with a 53-11-4-4 record shouldn’t be downplayed. McCrimmon couldn’t have pulled off some of his trades without the chips his scouts gave him through the draft. Moreover, Brandon drafted many of its top players such as Florida Panthers second-rounder Jayce Hawryluk, Flames pick Eric Roy and Nolan Patrick. Star blueliner Ivan Provorov and sniper Richards Bukarts were also selected through the import draft, but that’s more recruiting than scouting.
The Wheat Kings begin their quest for the Ed Chynoweth Cup on Thursday against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen
