Wheat Kings swap Eskit for Kraus

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/07/2025 (279 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings made a deal with the Victoria Royals on Tuesday in a swap of goaltenders entering their 19-year-old seasons.

Brandon sent 19-year-old Ethan Eskit to Victoria for 18-year-old Jayden Kraus of Prince Albert, Sask., and a seventh-round Western Hockey League pick in 2029. Kraus turns 19 in November.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said Kraus had asked for a trade and it made sense for his club to bring him in.

“It was very difficult first and foremost,” Murray said. “We think Ethan did really good things and we appreciate everything he did with our organization in the couple of years he’s been with us. Jayden was available and a guy we felt was a bona-fide number one.

“He played 46 games last year and his numbers were pretty much identical to Ethan’s ironically. We loved his win-loss ratio, it was very strong.

“He’s six-two, and I played the game at five-nine and at the goaltending position, I think we’re living in a world now where having goalies that fill up a lot of the net is big. Jayden checks some boxes there. I view this as a hockey trade that should be good for both sides.”

The Royals were also happy with their acquisition. Victoria general manager Jake Heisinger — the son of former Wheat Kings staffer Craig Jake Heisinger — said in a release that Eskit will be a good fit.

“Ethan is a guy we’ve had our eye on for a while and he will be a key addition to our team this season,” Royals general manager Jake Heisinger said in a release. “He is an athletic goalie with great compete and work ethic.”

The two goalies actually played against each other on Jan. 15, with Eskit earning a 5-4 victory.

The six-foot-two, 207-pound Kraus was Victoria’s third-round pick in 2021.

He was the Royals starter last season, appearing in 46 games with 2.86 goals-against average, .908 save percentage and record of 25-8-4-5. In 72 career games — including single starts in 2021-22 and 2022-23 as a callup — he has a 3.40 goals-against average and .892 save percentage.

“I was really excited to go to Brandon,” Kraus said of hearing the news. “Growing up in Prince Albert I got to see a lot of the Wheat Kings, and got to see some pretty cool players and obviously some great goalies like Logan Thompson and Jordan Papirny. I remember watching both of them play. I can’t really put into words how excited I am to come to Brandon.

“I have some buddies on the team and am excited to do something special.”

He played with Roger McQueen when they were younger, and Kraus made his first call to the big forward after he learned about the deal. He is also close friends with former Wheat Kings defenceman Rhett Ravndahl and played for a short time with his former billet brother Luke Shipley in Victoria when he was 15.

Oddly, Kraus becomes the third former Royal to be dealt to the Wheat Kings after asking for a trade, with Shipley and forward Tony Wilson being acquired on Nov. 24, 2022.

“I’m super excited,” Kraus said. “As a young little kid I was aspiring to play in the Western Hockey League and I got to see this conference on a regular basis. My family and I had season tickets in Prince Albert since I was a baby. That was my life. I would go to school as a young kid and just pumped every couple of nights to go to a WHL game.

“I grew up in that environment, and now the opportunity to come home, or at least play in some of the rinks closer to home, I’m super excited.”

The last Prince Albert product to play in Brandon was former team captain Braden Schneider, who now patrols the blue-line for the National Hockey League’s New York Rangers.

Eskit, who was a sixth-round pick by Brandon in the 2021 draft, unseated veteran backup Nick Jones in 2023-24 and then spent two seasons backing up starter Carson Bjarnason.

The Calgary product was at the passport office down in Texas where his family now lives getting a new passport when he learned the news.

“It’s a bit of mixed emotions,” Eskit said. “I’m sad to be leaving Brandon and saying goodbye to everyone but also really excited for a new chapter in Victoria. I think I’ll have a great opportunity down there. I played in B.C., during high school so I’m pretty familiar with the area and it was a lot of fun. I’m hoping to bring that back to life this season.”

In 53 career regular season games — including three as a callup in 2022-23 — Eskit posted a 3.42 goals-against average with an .890 save percentage.

When Bjarnason was injured in the playoffs, he took over in net, winning Game 4 before the series ended in Game 5.

He said his time with the Wheat Kings was full of memorable moments.

“Just being around the guys every day and coming to the rink with a smile on my face,” Eskit said. “We tried to win as many games as we could and playoffs were my favourite part when we won Game 4, really giving us hope we could do something in the playoffs. There are so many good memories.”

And there was also the strong sense he was saying goodbye to a chapter of his life. The personable youngster said there were some people who made it especially meaningful.

“I want to thank everyone who was a part of the Wheat Kings organization from management to the coaching staff to the workers at the rink,” Eskit said. “I really want to thank my billets Sonya and Ralf (Kampe). For two years they were beyond amazing. I want to thank all the guys for making it a great time.

“There are so many memories that I have for a lifetime now.”

It’s the third deal in the WHL this month after two took place on July 24.

The Regina Pats sent 17-year-old forward Cameron Kuzma of St. Albert, Alta., to the Seattle Thunderbirds for a third-round pick in 2027, and the Everett Silvertips dispatched the rights to forward Remy Hlady to the Swift Current Broncos for a conditional eighth-round pick.

Hlady, a product of Tyndall, is entering his 18-year-old season. He spent last season with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Selkirk Steelers and is committed to the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2027-28.

Murray noted there won’t be any more deals for a while.

“Today is the roster freeze until camp on Aug. 31 so unless a bunch come out (Tuesday), it’s going to be quiet for a month,” Murray said.

ICINGS: Overage forward Nick Johnson of Calgary has committed to Bowling Green University for the 2026-27 season. He is one of four overagers battling for three spots with the Wheat Kings next season, along with returning forward Matteo Michels of Colleyville, Texas and a pair of newcomers, defenceman Grayson Burzynski of Winnipeg and forward Luke Mistelbacher of Steinbach … The Calgary Hitmen named 42-year-old Dustin Friesen as the 12th head coach in franchise history and added former players Brad Moran and Dakota Krebs as assistant coaches. The job came open after former head coach Paul McFarland left to join the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com