Defenseman Olen Zellweger (left) and forward Ryan Hofer are the newest Kamloops Blazers (Image Credit: Everett Silvertips)

By Chad Klassen

BLAZERS MONSTER TRADE

‘We gave up what we had to give up’: Blazers GM points to competitive market in price for Zellweger, Hofer

Jan 9, 2023 | 4:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — Following trades by Western Conference rival Seattle, who picked up Colton Dach from Kelowna, and Winnipeg, who acquired Zach Ostapchuk from Vancouver over the weekend, the Blazers felt they needed to pull the trigger on a big deal.

They give up 10 picks, including four first-round selections in the WHL Prospects Draft until 2026, but the additions of Olen Zellweger and Ryan Hofer instantly turn the Kamloops Blazers into Memorial Cup contenders.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Blazers captain Logan Stankoven. “Obviously you don’t want to say you’re the favourites, but it’s a good move. It helps put us on a level the same as Seattle, and obviously Portland’s got a great team, and Winnipeg, Saskatoon out East, even Moose Jaw.”

Zellweger rejoins Stankoven, teammates on three gold-medal winning teams, including the recent 2023 World Junior team.

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A 2021 draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks, Zellweger is the reigning WHL Defenseman of the Year and has 10 goals and 28 points in 23 games this season.

“Definitely the best defenseman I’ve seen in this league for a while,” noted Stankoven. “Not a huge guy, but a guy that plays the game the right way. His hands are so quick. Definitely the quickest I’ve seen for a defenseman. Just smart.”

Blazers forward Fraser Minten added, “He’s arguably the best defenseman in our league. I think last year I’d tell people he’s the hardest guy I’ve ever played against. Just a great skater that competes, works hard, loves to win as you see, played big minutes in the World Juniors there.”

Blazers Head Coach and GM Shaun Clouston had been in touch with Everett Head Coach and GM Dennis Williams, the recent Canadian World Junior coach, since October.

Clouston says as many draft picks as Kamloops gave away, it was defenseman Kaden Hammell that Everett wanted.

For Clouston, Zellweger was always the key piece of the deal.

“There’s probably two or three players [across the WHL] and he might’ve been No. 1 on the list of players that, if there was ever a chance to acquire, that we would do whatever we could to make that happen,” said Clouston.

Hofer’s grittiness is being compared to Drew Englot, who was moved in the deal then shipped off to Swift Current on Monday, but with a lot more skill. Hofer has a point per game this season with 23 goals in 36 games.

“We’re getting size, we’re getting physicality, a real nice skill set with that. That’s very rare,” said Clouston of Hofer. “A strong leader, a worker.”

Stankoven added, “A guy who always gives 110 per cent out there every game. A guy who I personally didn’t like playing against when we played Everett, so really happy that he’s on our team now.”

The Blazers gave up four players and 10 draft picks in the deal with Everett on Sunday (Image Credit: WHL)

The Blazers needed to make a move to get more competitive, but does Clouston feel he gave up too much?

“We gave up what we had to give up,” he said. “There are marquee players and there’s competition for those players. When those players become available, it’s not just us that are trying to acquire those players…We were able to take assets that we accumulated and put them to use. We still have lots of picks. We’re not going into drafts with zero picks. We did move out a lot of picks, but we had a full deck.”

The Memorial Cup in May will ultimately determine if the Blazers gave up too much or not.

The Winnipeg Ice had to give up three first-round picks to the Vancouver Giants for captain Zach Ostapchuk.

Meanwhile, Zellweger is expected to play in his first Blazers game on Wednesday night at home against Vancouver, while Hofer, serving a one-game suspension, will make his Kamloops debut against his old team when the Blazers visit Everett on Friday.