By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Confidence in youth led to quiet trade deadline for Rebels

Jan 14, 2019 | 5:27 PM

A big reason the Red Deer Rebels were quiet at this year’s WHL Trade Deadline, aside from having acquired forwards Brett Davis and Cameron Hausinger weeks ahead of time, was the confidence the team has in what they have coming up the ranks for prospects.

“At the end of the day there was nothing that really made sense for us,” Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter said about the possibility of any deadline day deals.

“I wasn’t prepared to trade away our youth to help our team because I have to be cognizant of the fact that we want to be a good team every year. We’ve got some good young players coming in that we’re really excited about, and we’ve got a good group of young players on our team now surrounded by good older players.”

Assistant GM Shaun Sutter offers his insight into what some of the top Rebels prospects could bring to the Rebels at some point…

ERIC WARD – GOALTENDER

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Acquired Dec. 11 from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for a seventh round selection in the 2019 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, Ward has posted a 3.14 goals-against-average and 0.914 save-percentage in 16 games in the Alberta Midget Hockey season with the Edmonton CAC Canadians.

“We acquired Eric to add more depth to the organization. You never know when you may run into injuries at the goaltending position and sometime is can be, logistically, tough to get a guy in when you need him,” Sutter explains.

“He’s a guy we’ve always liked. He almost made Seattle’s team, had a real good exhibition season there.”

Sutter feels Ward, who turns 18 on Jan. 23, can step right into the lineup if the need arises.

“The last month, his game has really been trending the right way, once he got healthy. So we caught him on the upswing and he’s added good depth to our organization. If anything happens to one of the guys on our roster he’s a guy that can come in and play well for us. You can never have enough good goalies.”

CHASE COWARD – GOALTENDER

A 16-year-old netminder recently added to the Rebels’ protected list, Coward plays at the Prairie Hockey Academy in Caronport, Saskatchewan (coached by Lorne Molleken).

The Swift Current native comes from a WHL billet family, Sutter says, giving him good insight into life in the league.

Coward has a 2.59 and .912 save % in 13 games this season with PHA.

JEREMY HANCOCK – DEFENCE

Selected by the Rebels in round four of the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, Hancock patrols the blue line for the Midget Triple-A Tisdale Trojans. He is also a second round pick of the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. The six-foot-four 15-year-old has four points in 32 games with Tisdale this season.

KEATON SORENSEN – FORWARD (Red Deer native)

JAXSEN WIEBE – FORWARD

“These are two 16-year-old players we feel have a bright future with our team and can be real good players in the Western Hockey League,” Sutter says.

“They’re guys that play in Saskatchewan and maybe go under the radar a bit because they’re either listed players or late-round picks. But they’re guys we think have really risen and can be equivalent to a lot of other teams’ high-round picks.”

Sorensen recently joined Notre Dame’s SJHL team after posting 35 points in 26 games this season with their Midget Triple-A squad.

Wiebe, from Moose Jaw, has 19 points in 34 games with the Nipawin Hawks.

LUKE FENNIG – FORWARD

Described by Sutter as a late bloomer, Fennig is a 17-year-old who recently joined the Battlefords North Stars after recording 28 points in 30 games in the SMHL.

“He’s a player that even though on his team they’re not scoring a lot of goals he’s their go to offensive guy. He’s playing real well and our scouts like his skillset, so we’ll see where he ends up,” Sutter surmises.

(With file from Cam Moon interviews)