Wheat Kings send Elick to Americans

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This article was published 08/01/2025 (253 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings turned the page on the third overall pick in the 2021 Western Hockey League draft on Tuesday afternoon, sending 18-year-old defenceman Charlie Elick to the Tri-City Americans.

In return for Elick and a third-round pick in 2026, Brandon received a pair of 18-year-olds, forward Jordan Gavin of Surrey B.C., and defenceman Merrek Arpin of East St. Paul and now Calgary. Gavin was taken one pick ahead of Elick in the 2021 draft, and they were teammates on Canada’s entry in the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

In a deal on Tuesday evening, 19-year-old defenceman Rhett Ravndahl was sent to the Kamloops Blazers for a fifth-round pick in 2026.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it wasn’t easy dealing Elick.

“Charlie was a kid who was a high draft pick here and a kid who’s been a Wheat King since he was 15 years old,” Murray said. “I know it meant to a lot to him and we certainly appreciated having Charlie around, he’s a great kid, and a real good player.

“This is a tough part of the hockey business when something like this comes along, but we look at everything and felt like this is a hockey trade that can benefit both teams and all players involved.”

In 163 WHL games with Brandon, the six-foot-three, 203-pound Elick had eight goals, 39 assists and 144 penalty minutes. He was drafted 36th overall in last summer’s National Hockey League draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He has uncharacteristically struggled with the puck at times this season, and is tied for second worst on the team with a plus-minus of -4.

Brandon is getting good value in return.

Gavin, who was an alternate captain in Tri-City, has 14 goals and 16 assists in 35 games this season. In 174 WHL games, the left shot has 60 goals, 94 assists and four penalty minutes.

Since the five-foot-11, 179-pound forward has a November birthday, he’s eligible for this summer’s National Hockey League draft.

“Jordan is a high-end offensive player,” Murray said. “He was drafted second overall in that ‘06 draft and has had success. He’s put up quite a few points in this league and we hope with our group he can come in here and not only continue what he’s doing but push the pace here a little bit.

“We’re excited to have him. He’s a real good player for his age group and we expect him to do some real good things with us.”

Gavin also played with Wheat Kings forward Roger McQueen at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, but that’s the only guy he knows in Brandon.

While he’s still working out his travel plans, he’s ready to put one chapter behind him and start on a new one.

“Obviously it’s really hard to leave a place you’ve been for so long but at the end of the day, I’m super excited to come to Brandon and get a fresh start,” Gavin said. “I’ve only heard good things about the organization. They’re a really good team this year so I’m excited to add to that. It’s a mix of emotions right now but I just have to let it settle in.”

Arpin certainly brings size. The six-foot-four, 205-pound defenceman has three assists and 12 penalty minutes in 31 games, and a goal, 11 assists and 44 penalty minutes in 99 WHL games.

“Merrek is a good solid big body,” Murray said. “He skates really well. He’s a solid defenceman and I think he’s grown into his own a little bit. Moving Charlie creates a big hole in our D corps, so our expectation is for Merrek to come in here and play a lot of minutes.

“He’s had a top role in Tri-City and hopefully he can build off what he’s done there and continue to develop as a player. I think he could be real good here.”

Arpin spent eight years in Winnipeg when he was younger, and while his family now lives in Calgary, he’s comfortable with the move back to Manitoba.

“I went to a lot of WHL games there when I was a kid so it’s pretty cool,” Arpin said of the Wheat Kings. “That was the team I watched growing up.”

He knows Ethan Eskit, Ben Binder Nord and McQueen on the Wheat Kings, so it won’t be a complete shock to his system, but that doesn’t mean the trade wasn’t a surprise for Arpin, who hit the highway this morning.

“Honestly I was quite shocked,” Arpin said. “It came out of nowhere but I’m excited to get going in Brandon. It will be fun.”

Interestingly, 11 of the 22 players taken in the first round of the 2021 draft — the one that was pushed back from May to December to give scouts a longer look at prospects during the pandemic — have since changed teams. Brandon still has its two others, McQueen and Caleb Hadland.

The hope is that Gavin and Arpin will arrive sometime on Thursday. It’s an 1,816-km drive, with Arpin planning to stop off in Calgary after the first day, which is about half way.

Murray said the fact Gavin and Arpin are both 2006-born players in their 18-year-old seasons was a big part of why the deal happened.

“Believe me, we’ve kicked over all the rocks on a lot of players,” Murray said. “You get mixed in the emotions of rental players or 20-year-olds but we felt this is a trade that helps us right now as well as next year. They are two players who can be contributors for the window that we’re going into.”

Even with Dominik Petr’s return for the world junior championship — he’s back in Brandon but had a day off from practice on Tuesday — the Wheat Kings are still down three forwards with Roger McQueen, Easton Odut and Ben Binder Nord all dealing with injuries. Gavin’s addition brings them to 11 healthy forwards, with defenceman Adam Belusko filling the 12th spot.

“That’s part of it,” Murray said. “Getting a forward in without having to give anybody up — we just didn’t have bodies to give up — so our goal of ours was to try to find a forward and a D just to keep our numbers up. We’re lucky this trade came about.”

Brandon seems to be fine in net. Carson Bjarnason is back with the club and was on the ice on Tuesday, and so was Ethan Eskit, who aggravated an existing upper-body injury over the break and has missed the last couple of weeks.

With the newly acquired Alex Garrett also in the fold, Brandon had three goalies on the ice at practice.

Murray said it’s been a busy week of phone calls, noting some proposals have interested the club but then gone sideways, which he added is a normal thing in the trade world.

“We’re open for business and hoping to better our hockey club,” said Murray, who watched practice from the stands with his phone in his hand. “We’ve made it clear that we don’t want to take steps back at the trade deadline for picks or prospects. We feel like we have enough of that.

“If there is a trade out there that makes our hockey club better, we’ll look at them. We’re not actively pursuing certain players, we’re listening to everything and talking to all the teams. We’ll see what transpires.”

Since 2018 when the Swift Current Broncos went all in at the trade deadline, teams have gotten increasingly aggressive in the moves they make, and this year is no different.

The Central Division’s Medicine Hat Tigers, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Calgary Hitmen have all made multiple blockbuster deals, changing the landscape of the entire league. Murray said that’s the reality of the business these days.

“It’s hard,” Murray said. “There are probably going to be teams doing that every year. One thing with the Wheat Kings is if we were, when is the time to do that? That’s a tough call. I know there are people out there who think we should do that every year, but you can’t. You only have so many assets and prospects.

“That’s the hard part. You get excited with maybe having the opportunity to add some real key pieces, but at the same time, we want to protect the franchise. We’re in a good window here for a few years and want to maintain that.”

Brandon has been without a first-round pick just once since the draft began in 1990, which they sent to the Moose Jaw Warriors for defenceman Travis Hamonic when they were hosting the Memorial Cup in 2010. They currently have two in the 2025 draft after the deal involving Nate Danielson last January.

Ravndahl played 57 regular season games and four playoff games with the Wheat Kings over two seasons after being included in the Danielson trade. He had three goals, six assists and 39 penalty minutes in Brandon, and earned a place in Wheat Kings history when he scored the teddy-bear toss goal last month.

“Having eight D in our lineup all year and having Rhett as a 19-year-old, I think it’s unfair for him to be out of the lineup here and there and not be an every-day guy,” Murray said. “We’re real thrilled with our young guys and how they’ve taken some strides here and for the sake of Rhett, having the opportunity to play every night was important, and for us to continue to develop our young kids was the rationale behind this move.”

The deals leave the Wheat Kings with seven defencemen, 14 forwards and three goalies.

ICINGS: Prince Albert Raiders overage froward Niall Crocker has committed to Ohio State University, and Edmonton Oil Kings overage defenceman Josh Mori has announced his commitment to the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

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