Wheat Kings swap overage defencemen with Rockets
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/12/2023 (711 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Brandon Wheat Kings shook up their blue-line on Thursday afternoon, swapping overage defencemen with the Kelowna Rockets.
Brandon sent six-foot-four, 207-pound Kayden Sadhra-Kang to Kelowna in return for six-foot-five, 207-pound Jackson DeSouza of Erie, Colo.
Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray said both teams were looking for a change and agreed on the one-for-one deal.
Kayden Sadhra-Kang, shown fending off Moose Jaw Warriors forward Brayden Schuurman during a recent Western Hockey League game, was traded by the Brandon Wheat Kings to the Kelowna Rockets on Thursday afternoon for Jackson DeSouza in a deal involving a pair of overage defencemen. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun)
“I think it’s just to shuffle things up on the back end,” Murray said. “I think both teams are probably looking for that a little bit. It’s two big 20-year-old bodies and they’re more known for being defensive defencemen. I think both teams just want to shuffle some things up here and try to improve their D.
“Sometimes that doesn’t mean who has the best player, it’s just something new. New blood sometimes creates competition from within too.”
DeSouza, who was drafted by the Rockets in the fourth round with the 84th overall pick in 2018, becomes the 15th American player to skate for the team since it joined the WHL for the 1967-68 season. That number doesn’t include dual citizens.
He becomes the second former Rocket in the Wheat Kings lineup, following Nolan Flamand, who was acquired last season.
“I know a couple of guys over in Brandon with Flammer and then I roomed with (Nate) Danielson in the prospect game in Detroit,” DeSouza said. “I’m super excited to head over.”
He is planning to arrive in Brandon around noon today and suit up for the team as it faces the Regina Pats this evening at 7 o’clock.
In 159 games regular season and playoff games since he made a two-game debut during the 2018-19 season, DeSouza has nine goals, 30 assists and 165 penalty minutes.
In 15 games this season, he has a goal, six assists and 31 penalty minutes.
DeSouza becomes the latest addition to a Wheat Kings trend in the last decade that involves trading for size on the blue-line. Ward and Sadhra-Kang joined six-foot-five Mitch Wheaton (2015-16), six-foot-four Dmitri Osipov (2016-17), six-foot-three Kade Jensen (2016-17), six-foot-seven Braydyn Chizen (2018-19) and six-foot-four Dom Schmiemann (2019-20) as acquisitions by the team.
“He’s a big right-shot defenceman who does everything hard,” Murray said. “We’re not looking for him to come in here and be a dynamic defenceman. We want him to come here and help keep the puck out of the net. I think anybody who has followed us recognizes that’s something we need to be better at. “This is a guy who is known as being a defensive defenceman and hopefully he can come in and fit in on our back end.”
Brandon acquired Sadhra-Kang on Jan. 9 in another one-for-one trade that involved two giant defenders. He was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos for six-foot-five, 220-pound overage defenceman Mason Ward.
In 158 regular season games since he debuted during the 2020-21 season, Sadhra-Kang has five goals, 36 assists and 110 penalty minutes.
» pbergson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @PerryBergson