By Ian Gustafson

trade deadline days away

Rebels owner Brent Sutter says major shake-up was needed following recent trades

Jan 4, 2026 | 12:39 PM

A new era has officially begun for the Red Deer Rebels.

Over the last week, Rebels Owner, President, and General Manager Brent Sutter moved on from four key players in an effort to get younger.

This includes forwards Jaxon Fuder and Matthew Gard, as well as defencemen Luke Vlooswyk and Keith McInnis.

The most recent move was made amidst a nine-game losing streak, which included four teams, such as the Rebels, Everett Silvertips, Seattle Thunderbirds, and Kelowna Rockets.

Sutter said the team needed a major shake-up after winning only 11 games at the midway point of the season. Those 11 victories included only five at home.

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He explained they wanted to add to some areas he felt needed to be addressed, and they also got much younger.

The team is now made up of nine 2007-born players, 12 2008-born players, and two 2009-born players.

As a result, they only have one 19-year-old player, Samuel Drancak and two 20-year-olds, Talon Brigley and Aleksey Chichkin.

“We’ve gotten obviously younger. The majority of our team are 17 and 18-year-olds now, and I wanted to add some things up front, some speed, and a little more skill. It’s tough to win games in this league when you’re only averaging just over two goals a game,” Sutter said. “You’ve got to be able to produce, and I think tonight you saw that with some of these guys that they can score goals.”

Sutter said it’s now up to the coaching staff to form them into a team.

Despite the team’s struggles, they are only one point back of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with an 11-20-2-2 record.

“You look at this year and move forward into next year, and the majority of the group is going to be back. We are excited about that, but [making these trades] is never easy… That’s the nature of the beast, and we got some really good players back and some more draft picks to put in our cupboard,” he added. “Like all trades, you’re hoping it works out for all the teams involved and obviously all the players.”

The first trade happened on Dec. 27 when the Rebels sent 19-year-old forward Jaxon Fuder to the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for 18-year-old forward Poul Andersen, 16-year-old prospect forward Brock Stevenson, 16-year-old prospect forward Boris Sigachev, and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft.

Sutter explained he traded Fuder because the NHL’s Dallas Stars, who signed Fuder over the summer, informed him of their intentions to bring him up to the American Hockey League next season. Since they were going to lose Fuder in what would be his 20-year-old campaign, Sutter wanted to ensure they weren’t left empty-handed.

“I looked at the direction I wanted to go with the group, and as an organization, we needed to go, and that was to get a little bit younger,” he said.

And then on Friday, January 2, the Rebels made a flurry of moves that began with acquiring 17-year-old forward Kalder Varga from the Kelowna Rockets, and also obtaining the Rockets’ third-round pick in 2028, and sixth-round pick in 2026 (via Spokane). Out the door was 19-year-old d-man Keith McInnis, who contributed six goals and 14 assists in 34 games this season.

From the Seattle Thunderbirds, Red Deer has acquired 17-year-old Cameron Kuzma, plus a third-rounder in 2028, a conditional fourth-rounder in 2028, and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2029 — all in exchange for 18-year-old forward Matthew Gard, who tallied six goals and five assists in 23 games during his third year with Red Deer.

Lastly, Red Deer received from the Everett Silvertips 18-year-old Cole Temple and 17-year-old Cameron Dillard, in exchange for d-man Luke Vlooswyk, and a fifth-rounder in 2027. Vlooswyk has six assists in 32 games.

“It’s never easy because they are all great kids and have been really good players for us, but to improve those areas, I knew we were going to have to do some things that were not going to be easy, but we had to do,” Sutter added.

The majority of the new additions were in the lineup on Saturday night in a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds, which snapped a nine-game losing skid.

This included forward Kalder Varga (Geneva, Illinois), who found the back of the net, as well as forwards Cole Temple (Brandon, Man.), Cameron Kuzma (St. Albert), Poul Andersen (St. Louis Park, Minnesota), and defenceman Cameron Dillard (Flower Mound, Texas).

Defenceman Noah Chadi also scored in his second game with the Rebels while on a tryout basis from the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm.

Sutter explained he liked Chadi’s game and will most likely keep him up with the big club. As a result, defenceman Nikolas Ferry was reassigned to the AJHL.

“I liked all of those guys tonight… They’re all good young players, and they’re only going to get better. They are young, and so you visualize where these kids could be down the road, and the coaches will do a good job in continuing to develop them. We’ll continue to move forward as a team and try to build here.”

With the Western Hockey League trade deadline set for Thursday, Jan. 8, at 6 p.m., the Rebels could potentially have more trades on the way.

When asked if Rebels fans could expect more moves, Sutter said he’s not sure.

He explained that it’s been a long few days and that these types of trades take time to complete.

“We’ll see what happens from now until next Thursday. I’m not sure [if there will be more trades] but I do like our group, and I do like where we’re at,” he said.

“You look at things and say this is maybe one area we can check off if we do something else, but we’ll just see.”