The Wenatchee Wild made quite a few moves prior to this season’s WHL trade deadline. This included trading veteran goalie Daniel Houser to the Calgary Hitmen.
General Manager Bliss Littler noted the situation they were given and what would’ve happened had they not done anything.
“It’s built on a draft and what we acquired when David White bought the team, we had a one pick in the first six a year ago, and then the next three years, we had one pick in the first six, which, if we didn’t do anything last year and this year, it would have been eight, nine years of seven to 10 win seasons,” Littler said.
With the moves they’ve made, Littler said they now have five first round draft picks in the next four years with one in one in each year. They also five second round picks with one in each year. He also they also have four fourth round picks and three fifth round picks.
“We’ve acquired a whole bunch of prospects that hopefully the majority of them are able to come in next year, and we can really move forward in building our team into something where we have a chance down the road to win a championship,” Littler said.
While some of the trades were tough to do such as seeing Houser go, Littler said it was just something they had to do with how bare the cupboards were for some age years. Despite the trades they’ve had to make, he expects them to be a playoff team.
“I think most people thought that there’d be no way we’d make the playoffs in the next two or three years with when the team was bought and moved here,” Littler said. “But I think we’ve done a nice job of stocking the draft picks and acquiring prospects in players that can play on our team right now.”
With the ability for CHL players to now go to the NCAA ranks after they finish their major junior career, that has opened up a whole new pool of talent for the team. However, they can’t just go get any player as these are players that were already on the team’s protected list. The reason they didn’t go the CHL before was it’d make them ineligible to play at the NCAA ranks. He said they were kids in the US draft that they’d been able to stockpile and now they’ll able to go get them.
“Right now, the USHL put in a $50,000 fee to take any player during the season, so you won’t see any of those this season, but you’ll see them next year for sure,” Littler said.
But this is a move that allows not just Wenatchee, but other teams to get more competitive as well.
He noted the skill level of the players in the USHL.
“You’re dealing with some really elite players and now the rest of the league, they’re going to get their players also,” Littler said.
According to Littler, out of the top 2006-08 players, 95 of them are protected in the CHL, so everybody’s going to get better.
While fans have been understandably upset with losing their favorite players, Littler said he didn’t think anybody could find a GM in the league who wouldn’t think they were good moves.
He said the group of players they have right now is a very good group.
His message to the fans was simple. The other option would be to still be in the Junior-A British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). Wenatchee has been sitting around eighth in the league this season, which is a playoff spot. With that, Littler acknowledged they’re not chasing a championship, but praised the team in noting how he thinks they’ve overachieved.
“I think our coaches have done a great job getting the most out of what we have,” Littler said. “It’s never easy when you trade some of your top players. But if you look around the league, everybody’s gone through it.”
He noted the Spokane Chiefs and Edmonton Oil Kings in particular as teams that have recently dealt with these circumstances.
The Chiefs recently had Kraken prospect Berkly Catton rejoin the team and traded for Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall from the Kelowna Rockets.
“You look at Spokane, they have a great team this year, and if you look through [the] last four or five years, there have been a lot of struggles during those times,” Littler said. So they acquired a whole bunch of first round picks, high draft picks, and they’ve become one of the best teams in the league.”
He noted how Edmonton went from winning it all a few years ago to rebuilding and now being a playoff team again.
“It’s a cycle that everybody goes through,” Littler said. “It’s a mini NHL that you have to plan, you know, three, four or five years out. You just have to plan that far out and understand that sometimes you have to make some sacrifices, or you stay in the same spot.”
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