Forward Hayden Pakkala will join the Prince Albert Raiders after they made a trade with the Winnipeg ICE. (Submitted Photo/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Rob Mahon

Raiders Add Forward

Raiders flip pick for Pakkala in trade with Winnipeg

Sep 27, 2021 | 4:00 PM

A lot of uncertainty surrounds the Prince Albert Raiders roster for opening night as they await updates on their import draft picks and several of their players attending NHL camps. To help shore up the roster and provide some breathing room, general manager Curtis Hunt swung a trade for some forward depth.

The Raiders have acquired 2004-born forward Hayden Pakkala from the Winnipeg ICE in exchange for a ninth-round pick in this year’s prospects draft. Pakkala suited up for three games with the ICE during the preseason, finishing with a plus-two rating and three shots on goal.

“The first thing about him I would say is I like the age,” Hunt said. “I think the age is good for us as an 04, 17-year-old player. The second is his skillset, his hockey sense. I think he thinks the game extremely well. He’s a guy that’s scored dynamically in the past, but, like everybody else has missed a year and a half.”

Offence was an obvious hallmark of Pakkala’s game at the U16 and U18 levels. In his abbreviated first year of U18 AAA hockey, he posted four points in five games last season in Okotoks. In his first season of U16 AAA the year before, he thrashed the league with a whopping 92 points in 35 games.

Pakkala’s 92 points in 35 games were not only impressive, and not only enough to lead the league, they were among the best seasons for a U16 player in the past decade. In fact, no player in the past 13 seasons has had more points, and only one player in that time matched his point totals.

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“We saw him live the other day,” Hunt said. “The thing is, we know he has the skill, and certainly when you look at the assists, you need a certain amount of hockey sense and ability and vision to get assists too. I don’t so much transfer those numbers into what he would do as a Western Hockey League player. For most of us, we were all good bantams and all players that come here were good bantams… Usually those kids don’t lose that skill and ability, it’s just when does it click in.”

Another attribute helping Pakkala’s case is his size, as he stands 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. What makes him especially valuable at the moment, however, is that he’s available to play and provide depth. Forward Tyson Laventure is hurt for the Raiders, import pick Vladislav Shilo has not yet been able to join the team, and two other forwards (Reece Vitelli and Ozzy Wiesblatt) have not yet returned from NHL camps.

“It’s nice to have a little security there,” Hunt said. “Our team does play hard and injuries do happen. We want to make sure we’re protected that way. Getting (Landon Kosior) back today gives us six defenceman finally. Hopefully we get a word on Vitelli sometime in the near future.”

Hunt added Pakkala would be arriving in Prince Albert hopefully before the afternoon was out. The team opens their season on Friday, October 1, on home ice against Regina.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP