Wheat Kings send Pantelas to Vees

After Gio Pantelas handed the Brandon Wheat Kings a giant lemon last week, the team was able to make some lemonade.

The 18-year-old defenceman from Victoria told the club he was heading to college unless he was traded to the Penticton Vees, the British Columbia community where his mother and brother live as the younger Pantelas attends prep school.

Murray was able to get a deal done with Vees general manager Fred Harbinson, acquiring a first-round pick in 2029, a third-round pick in 2028, the rights to 2010-born American forward Carter Morris and a conditional first-round pick in 2030 if Pantelas plays in the Western Hockey League in his 19-year-old season.

“It was really tough,” Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said. “Penticton knows that so you don’t have a lot of leverage. Our first priority was to have Gio be a Wheat King, the second one was to try to replace him with a player right away that could fill in but Penticton, with the couple of guys we asked about, it was a no, they would keep what they have.

“Then it moves to an asset look where at least we’re getting something back and you can turn that into some good things for the Wheat Kings. Trading for players, you need to have assets in the cupboard. We did have high-end assets, but this gives us an opportunity to maybe consider some bigger fish if they ever come up.”

The deal was announced Wednesday. It is conditional to Pantelas reporting, but the Vees and Pantelas have spoken and the team was comfortable making the move.

Brandon grabbed Pantelas 19th overall in 2023 with a pick they acquired from the Saskatoon Blades in a deal for veteran forward Jake Chiasson. It was 14 picks after they took forward Jaxon Jacobson.

Pantelas had six goals, 31 assists, 50 penalty minutes and a plus-minus of 19 in 68 games last season while playing more than 20 minutes a game and seeing action on both special teams. In his WHL career, he has 10 goals, 37 assists and 75 penalty minutes in 130 regular season games over two years.

In the National Hockey League draft on June 26-27, Pantelas didn’t hear his name called until the fifth round when the Los Angeles Kings grabbed him with the 153rd overall pick.

Some prognosticators had thought he would go much higher because Central Scouting had him ranked 46th among North American skaters going into the draft.

In a draft preview story in The Brandon Sun that ran on June 18, Pantelas said he was weighing his options for the upcoming season and was leaning towards heading to college. That was news he hadn’t previously shared with the Wheat Kings.

“The first time I had any thought of Gio not being with us was honestly when the article came out and he mentioned NCAA and I thought ‘Oh geez,’” Murray said. “We had some discussions between then and the draft and I laid it out there what was best for him and his development and he appreciated that. He said he was going to get through the draft and see how everything was.”

Things soon changed, however.

Pantelas and his family weren’t returning Murray’s calls after he went to Kings’ development camp from June 29 to July 2, so the general manager began to see the writing on the wall.

“Right after the draft, they go to development camp and that’s when I tried to contact him and he went silent,” Murray said. “I didn’t have a very good feeling obviously and the agent communicated with us that the family has decided that he’s going to go on a visit, and is actually on a visit right now.

“He could very well commit to play NCAA this year while on this trip so there was a bit of urgency to get things done in the time we did. The other piece was that he would consider playing in the Western League if it was in Penticton. Obviously it was not ideal for us, our hands were tied.”

Murray first reached out to Harbinson on Saturday, not long after he learned Pantelas wasn’t returning. Murray tipped his cap to Harbinson, who knew Pantelas would only play in the WHL with his team but still conducted honest negotiations.

“He was very cordial,” Murray said. “He probably knew he had an upper hand because he was the only team he would negotiate with, so I will give him credit. He was fair.

“I think the value for the player was real close to what he could have gotten in an open market in an asset trade. It’s one of those situations where both sides probably thought they gave up a little too much. When that’s the case, it usually ends up being a pretty fair deal.”

Morris, 16, could make a good deal a great one for Brandon if he ever reports. The left-shooting forward from Anchorage, Alaska is set to play with USA Hockey’s national team development program this season.

With the Shattuck St. Mary’s 16-and-under prep program last season, he had 38 goals and 43 assists in just 51 games with 87 penalty minutes.

With the 14U program a year earlier, he had 111 points in 56 points.

When the Wheat Kings drafted Levi Ellingsen first overall in the final U.S priority draft in 2025, Morris was another player they had spoken to for the pick.

“We were real thrilled to get Ellingsen,” Murray said. “He gave us a commitment, but Carter Morris is regarded as one of the top players in the U.S.”

There is a family connection to Winnipeg because his father is from there, so they’ll stay in touch.

“That would be a big, big bonus if he was to come here someday,” Murray said. “For now, we negotiated as hard as we could to get the assets and obviously Carter is a real high-end player that we would love to see in a Wheat Kings jersey some day.”

The trade comes under the shadow of an exodus of some top defenceman in the WHL to college. That group includes Carson Carels of the Prince George Cougars, Daxon Rudolph of the Prince Albert Raiders, Ryan Lin of the Vancouver Giants, Landon DuPont and Tarin Smith of the Everett Silvertips, Parker Alcos of the Vancouver Giants and Jonas Woo of the Medicine Hat Tigers.

“It’s a crazy time for the Western League,” Murray said. “The D pool is thin right now with all the high-end guys leaving for school. The 20-year-old situation isn’t what it used to be. It’s a little bit of uncharted waters with what could be out there. I think this is the first year we’ll get a real good feel for it. At least we have assets and can explore the opportunities.”

Brandon’s blue-line is currently projected to include veterans Cameron Allard, Nigel Boehm, Josh McGregor and overager Dylan Ronald, plus rookies Cruz Jim, Easten Turko and Ethan Young. There will also be room for some surprises at camp.

Pantelas wasn’t able to comment on Wednesday.

ICINGS: The Victoria Royals have acquired 2008-born forward Filip Novak of Chomutov, Czechia from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for Victoria’s third-round picks in 2028 and 2030. Novak, who has yet to make his WHL debut after being taken 58th overall in 2025, is an unsigned prospect of the Columbus Blue Jackets … On Tuesday, the Tri-City Americans acquired 2020-born Owen Kraft of Moorhead, Minn., from the Wenatchee Wild for a third-round pick in 2028 and a conditional third-round pick in 2029 … Parker Burgess, who spent last season as head coach of the Vancouver Giants, has joined the Spokane Chiefs as an associate coach. He was fired by the Giants in April after they failed to make the playoffs.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com