BREAKING: One of the biggest WHL trades just happened, it involves a WJC Team Canada player

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Felip Gosselin
January 8, 2023 (8:08 PM)

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The World Junior Championships have generated a lot of in the CHL and with the trade deadlines approaching the Everett Silvertips and the Kamloops Blazer have generated a ton of buzz.

They've just announced possibly one of the biggest trades in the whole history of Junior Hockey. The most recent gold medallist, Olen Zellweger, and his teammates Ryan Hofer will pack their back and move to Kamloops in return for nothing less than 14 different pieces.

Zellweger is not only renowned for his international wins, since he also won the Top-WHL-defenseman award last season as an 18-year-old. The Fort Saskatchewan native was a 2nd round pick (#34) in the 2021 Draft and he'll likely move up to the big leagues as a 20-year-old once he's eligible to play in the AHL next year.

Hofer on his end was selected by the Washington Capitals in the 6th round of the 2022 draft. He's a big 6'3'', 20-year-old defenseman, who's had 23 goals and 36 points in just as many outings.

Everett will receive a massive haul for sending these two rentals. Kaden Hammel, a draft-eligible defenseman. Drew Englot, a 20-year-old. Rylan Pearce, a 17-year-old, currently playing in the SJHL, and Jack Bakker, a 15-year-old that has not yet skated in the WHL. He was a 3rd round pick in the Bantam selection. Not only are the 4 players pretty good, but a total of 10 picks will be making the ride the other way around. Four 1st Round Picks, two 2nd Round Picks, a 3rd, a 4th, a 5th, and a 6th Round Pick in the upcoming four years.

Fair to say that Dennis Williams, Everetts' GM has certainly capitalized on his veteran's trade value. Williams was also the Canadian's team Head Coach at the most recent World Juniors. Here's what he had to say on the trade:

''It was a very tough decision to part with Olen and Ryan as players who we've coached and developed from day one here in Everett, ..., We know they have tremendous pro hockey careers ahead of them. We're proud to have called them Silvertips for the majority of their junior careers and wish them nothing but the best as they progress to their next chapter.''

Kamloops is currently 6th out of 22 in the WHL, they notably feature Logan Stankoven and Caedan Bankier who were also gold-medallists at WJC. Adding these will certainly go a long way in helping them reach their goals.

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Is it too much for 2 rental players?
Great Job for both GM	28	29.8 %
What a f******g steal for Everett	53	56.4 %
What a f******g steal for Kamloops	13	13.8 %
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