D’Andrea: Ghosts of Raiders past haunting at the Memorial Cup

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You know about the many trades by now, if not here’s a quick refresher. The Raiders and Rockets teamed up to make three trades throughout the year, including acquiring Draisaitl on Jan. 6, and Quinney and Morrissey on Dec. 10.

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In a trade with the Prince George Cougars, the Rockets also picked up former Raiders assistant captain Chance Braid near the end of the deadline to fill up their final overage position.

All the ex-Saskatchewan pirates have had an impact with the perennial B.C. powerhouse, especially Draisaitl.

Despite only appearing in 32 regular season games, Draisaitl had 53 points to finish fifth in scoring on the Rockets—one of just two WHL teams that exceeded the 300-goal mark.

Draisaitl went on to score 10 goals and 28 points in 19 postseason games and was tied for WHL post-season points lead heading into the Memorial Cup, where he was four points in two games.

As dominant as he has been, it should be said that Draisaitl is tied for the tournament lead in penalty minutes with 12— 10 of those came after some extra-curricular activities with fellow Edmonton Oilers prospect Marc-Olivier Roy in the Rockets’ 4-3 loss to the Quebec Remparts. That hurt the Rockets, as they had to play half of the third period without the King of Leon, down 2-1.

But all in all, the Rockets probably owe the Edmonton Oilers a huge thank you. 

After beating the Rimouski Oceanic 7-3 on Monday, the Rockets are back in action to battle against the Oshawa Generals (2-0) Tuesday for their final round robin game.

The Raiders’ end of the deal

The Raiders’ returns on the three deals they made with the Rockets are big and fruitful, especially considering that Draisaitl and Morrissey will graduate from major junior hockey after this year and Gage Quinney would be a question mark at best in returning.

Here’s a quick review of what the trades break down as.

OUT: 19-year-old Leon Draisaitl, F, 19-year-old Josh Morrissey, D, 19-year-old Gage Quinney, F, 4th 2016

IN: 20-year-old Colton Heffley, F/D, 19-year-old Jesse Lees, D, 18-year-olds Austin Glover, F, Kris Schmidli, F, Dalton Yorke, D, 1st 2015, 2nd in 2016, 3rd in 2017, 4th in 2016, conditional 4th in 2016/2017

While these deals were made, only Colton Heffley was a sure thing of not returning next year. That was extended to Kris Schmidli, who signed a professional contract in his native Switzerland this offseason. 

But Lees is sure to be an overage stud next season, whether the Raiders need him on forward or defence. They could get up to two more seasons of Austin Glover, showed flashes of brilliance and got increasingly comfortable in the second line, and Dalton Yorke, who’s big, nasty and can play a day after his face was destroyed by a puck.  

The Raiders used that first round pick to select Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League’s top scorer in Carson Miller and still have the rest of the picks in their coffers.

Because of all of these deals, Raiders are in a good position to benefit in the future—the Rockets are in a good position right now.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea