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***bluesfan55*** · 09-14-2020, 09:48 AM

There’s never really been a bigger offseason for trades in the SHL’s recent memory than the S55 offseason, with big trades happening left and right as New England and Baltimore began rebuilding while Manhattan and Hamilton went all in. A season after (much too early to judge but I very much wanted to since it’s really interesting), I’m going to go over the big trades and judge who won and who lost these trades (with as little NEW bias as possible). In no chronological order, we begin with:

HAM/NEW

Steelhawks

receive:
LW Dick Clapper
D Guy Zheng (later traded to Atlanta)

receive:
RW (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn
RW Kriss Darzins (later traded to San Francisco)
S55 HAM 1st (Ryan Rieley)
S56 HAM 1st (later traded to Seattle)
S57 HAM 1st (later traded back to Hamilton)
S58 HAM 1st

New England firmly entered a re-tool when they traded Zheng and Clapper to the Hamilton Steelhawks for a bundle of picks and a couple of prospects. Zheng brought a great presence to the Hamilton blueline (35 pts, 135 SB, 29 takeaways) but was traded to Atlanta, (for some 1st rounders and high-potential rookie blueliner Guy O'Shea) where he’s now co-GM. Dick Clapper absolutely broke OUT as a true SHL star, scoring 65 points and being named as an SHL All-Star. (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn, a beloved forward, is set to make his long-awaited SHL debut in S56, while fellow prospect Kriss Darzins was traded to San Francisco as part of a package for Dominic Montgomery. The S55 1st was used to pick winger Ryan Rieley, a goal scorer who can punish you with the body. He looks like a solid prospect. The S56 1st was traded as part of a package including Los Angeles’ S56 1st to the Seattle Argonauts to get the 5th overall pick (Grandmaster Funk). Hamilton would later reacquire their S57 1st as the Wolfpack would trade it and 10th overall in the S56 draft (used to pick Sarah Burke) for 4th overall (Calvin Hobbes). The S58 1st is obviously yet to be used.
Verdict: Both sides benefited equally from this trade. Despite Hamilton trading Zheng, they were able to get the S57 1st back and saw Clapper enjoy a career season. New England got some good prospects and picks out of it as well.

MAN/NEW

Rage

receive:
LW Ola Wagstrom

receive:
S55 MAN 1st (Gudmundur Kristjansson)
S56 MAN 1st (Teylora Petrov)
S56 MAN 3rd (Adrian Ayers)
LW Rainbow Dash

This trade was pretty significant for both sides as New England began to signal signs of a re-tool and Manhattan prepared to go all-in for the cup. Wagstrom is obviously one of the elite talents in the SHL and showcased that last season with 59 points as the Rage stormed to the Atlantic Division title. But the Wolfpack did make out well in the return. The S55 1st they received became Gudmundur Kristjansson, one of the best pure passers in the SMJHL who looks like a top prospect. Another highly promising prospect was selected with the S56 1st in blueliner Teylora Petrov, who should become a top 4 defenseman. The 3rd became Adrian Ayers, who’s stated his intent to retire after his juniors career. Rainbow Dash became a solid 3rd liner on the Wolfpack, but declined a contract extension and signed with the expansion Atlanta Inferno where it's likely that he'll do the same thing.
Verdict: Draw. Manhattan got a top player in Wagstrom while the Wolfpack were able to add 2 first rounders that have turned into good prospects.

NEW/NOLA

receive:
C Mitchell van der Heijden
D Erben Kasius
LW Stein Nilsen
S56 NOLA 2nd (later traded to SFP)
S57 NOLA 1st

receive:
D Rex Kirkby
C Boris Poroshenko

New England continued to re-tool by trading away Rex Kirkby and Boris Poroshenko for a nice package headlined by Mitchell van der Heijden. Both Kirkby and Poroshenko would play integral roles in the Specters’ run to the S55 Challenge Cup Finals. Kirkby had a fantastic season, continuing to be one of the best defensemen in the league (44 points, 32 takeaways, 128 SBs) while Poroshenko brought a solid physical presence (96 hits). But both were pending free agents. Poroshenko left for Calgary, and Kirkby surprisingly hit the free agent market without an extension offer. Mitchell van der Heijden improved from his rookie season to the tune of 34 points, while top prospect Erben Kasius will make his SHL debut next season. Prospect LW Stein Nilsen needs more time in the SMJHL to develop but should become a decent 3rd line forward. The S56 NOLA 2nd was traded to San Francisco (along with the aforementioned Kriss Darzins) for Dominic Montgomery, and the S57 NOLA 1st is yet to be used.
Verdict: Easy win for New England. They get two big pieces for their future core while New Orleans got 1 season of both players that didn’t even end up with a cup.

WPG/BAP

Jets

receive:
D Pojo Biscuit
Conditional S58 BAP 1st

Platoon

receive:
S55 WPG 1st (Teddy Park)
S56 WPG 3rd (later traded to NEW)

This trade was shocking just because it’s hard to not imagine site legend bojo on the Platoon. Bojo, who was a first round pick of the Platoon a season prior, is ⅙ of Anchorage’s stacked defense who continues to be one of the best prospects in the SHL. The 1st Winnipeg received is conditional on whether bojo re-signs with the Jets, so we have to wait on that one. Baltimore selected Teddy Park, their current best defensive prospect (Valentin Kalashnikov has been called up), with the 1st they received, and the 3rd they got was later traded to New England who selected promising defenseman Mikhael Petrov.
Verdict: Even. If BAP keeps bojo they win it but if not it’s even as both teams add high-quality defensive prospects.

HAM/SFP

receive:
S57 SFP 1st
S55 HAM 2nd (Jason Desrouleaux)
Conditional S56 SFP 3rd (traded to Edmonton)
G Ian Venables (later traded to Tampa Bay)

pride

receive:
G Geezus Kryyst

Oh, lordy me. One of the worst trades I think this site has ever seen saw San Francisco give up a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick to get Hamilton’s star goalie Geezus Kryyst. It looked bad then and it’s even worse now. Of course, Kryyst has yet to play a game for the Pride, which led to a budget punishment of $12 million and 18 backup games for the team. The S57 SFP 1st looks likely to be first overall, and the S55 2nd Hamilton reacquired was used to select Jason Desrouleaux, who looks like a future first line forward. The conditional SFP 3rd would remain a 3rd as the Pride failed to make the playoffs, and was traded to Edmonton on S56 draft night for a S57 2nd. Goalie Ian Venables would play one season with the Steelhawks as a backup, going 6-0-0 with a .905 save % and 1.33 GAA (showcasing the talent that led the Anchorage Armada to retire his number), before being traded to Tampa Bay.
Verdict: Hamilton wins this easy peasy. They got a possible first overall pick, a pick used to select a great prospect, and a season of stellar backup goaltending, giving up a goalie who didn’t even play last season in the process.

MAN/BAP

Rage

receive:
D Geoff Moore

Platoon

receive:
S55 SFP 3rd (traded to New Orleans)
S56 MAN 2nd (traded to Minnesota)
S58 MAN 2nd
D Derek Bohne Jr.

Manhattan continued to go all-in for that Cup by acquiring veteran blueliner Geoff Moore from the selling Platoon. Moore would spend one season with the Platoon, continuing to bring a solid defensive and physical presence (110 hits, 107 SBs, 27 takeaways), before being selected by the Atlanta Inferno in the expansion draft. Baltimore would wheel and deal two of the picks they got in this trade, as the S55 3rd they got was traded to New Orleans, who selected Vincent Wolfe (who himself was traded to Toronto on draft day). The S56 2nd was traded to Minnesota, who selected Kynwyl Pearce. The S58 MAN 2nd has yet to be used, of course. Defenseman Derek Bohne, Jr. was the only player acquired by BAP in this trade, and is an active defenseman who did well in his first season in Maryland (134 SBs, 24 takeaways).
Verdict: Honestly, I don’t know with this one since it was a pretty weird trade but I’ll just say it’s even. Moore was serviceable in his lone season with the Rage while Bohne was OK with the Platoon.

BAP/WPG (the earlier one)

Platoon

receive:
C Kristoffer Svensson
S55 WPG 3rd
S57 WPG 2nd (later traded to BUF)

Jets

receive:
LW Yoshimitsu McCloud

This was one of the trades that first signalled that Baltimore was actually heading into a direction (that direction being one of a rebuild) rather than staying in limbo. Yoshimitsu McCloud had been a loyal servant for the team since being acquired by BAP from San Francisco via trade, and continued to be a solid playmaker (15 assists), but saw his production dip from the season prior (29 pts in S54, 20 in S55). Baltimore’s only player acquired was Kristoffer Svensson, who played an inactive filler role on the team and did decently (26 points, good enough for fifth on the team). He was left unprotected by the Platoon in the expansion draft and was selected by Seattle where he figures to be in the same role. I honestly don’t know what happened with the S55 WPG 3rd round pick (if someone knows, please let me know and I’ll add it in), and the S57 WPG 2nd was flipped to Buffalo.

BUF/NOLA

receive:
RW Joe Kurczewski (later traded to SFP)
S58 NOLA 1st

receive:
LW Nicolaj Muller

Buffalo’s own Joe Kurczewski, who’d announced his retirement a couple of days before, was traded to his hometown team in the hopes of going out with a cup. Alas, the fairytale ending was not to be as Kurczewski, who scored 23 points on the Stampede, was traded to the San Francisco Pride to make room for deadline acquisition Eko van Otter, who would help the Stampede win the Cup. The 1st is yet to be used (ofc it is that’s 2 seasons away dawg). The Specters were able to acquire former SMJHL legend Nicolaj Muller, who came back from inactivity and proved an instant fit in the NOLA locker room. Muller, who scored 33 points, was (and still is) a great addition as a depth winger who provides a scoring touch.
Verdict: Dead even. The Specters received a 1300 (now 1400) TPE player while the Stampede got a 1st round pick (may be a late one but is one nonetheless).

Note: this article does not include the SFP trades from later on (e.g. Montgomery to NEW, Lockhart to CGY), which I feel like could warrant its own less judgemental article. I’m also not adding the LAP/EDM trade (Theo Morgan to EDM) because I think Keygan explained it well in his presser so I’m not gonna pile on to it when it’s been publicly discussed. Also, if anything in this article is inaccurate, please let me know so I can fix it. Don’t want to be wrong about anything.

That wraps up this big old S55 offseason trade review.