Wheat Kings trade Kraus, add Budd

The Brandon Wheat Kings made a pair of deals involving goaltenders on Tuesday just before a Western Hockey League trade freeze began at midnight.

In deals announced Wednesday, the Everett Silvertips acquired overage goaltender Jayden Kraus from Brandon for third- and sixth-round picks in 2029, and then the Wheat Kings picked up 18-year-old goalie Ryley Budd of Calgary from the Saskatoon Blades for an eighth-round pick in 2027 and a third-round pick in 2029.

With the recent news that Czech starter Filip Ruzicka is officially returning to Brandon, Kraus’s days with the Wheat Kings were numbered as an overage backup. The only remaining question was when Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray would pull the trigger on a deal.

“The market is pretty slim for goaltending,” Murray said. “It might open up in October and it might not. There are a couple of ways to look at it. For me, Jayden is an unbelievable person and a true professional. Even last year when he broke his finger and we went with Ruzicka in the playoffs, I couldn’t get over how well he handled the situation as a veteran player.

“He deserves a chance to be the guy. When we got word that Filip was coming back and got his release done, we probably would have had the best goalie tandem in the WHL with those two, but in saying that, you can’t have a 20-year-old backup either.

“Out of fairness to Jayden, this opportunity came up.”

The 2006-born product of Prince Albert, Sask., overcame a slow start last season to post a 14-11-1 record with an .895 save percentage and a 3.65 goals-against average in 30 appearances. He was hampered last in the year when he broke a finger in practice.

During 104 career regular season WHL games with the Victoria Royals and Brandon, the six-foot-two, 210-pound goaltender has a .347 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage. Brandon acquired him from Victoria for Ethan Eskit and a seventh-round pick in 2029 on July 29, 2025 in a swap of goalies entering their 19-year-old seasons.

Murray said a couple of teams were interested in Kraus, but after one dropped out, he made the trade.

It makes sense from Everett’s perspective because both goalies on last year’s championship team, Anders Miller and Raiden LeGall, are leaving after committing to NCAA programs.

The other part of the equation for Brandon was the availability of Budd. The six-foot, 172-pound Budd was a second-round pick, 42nd overall, by Saskatoon in 2023. He made his WHL debut last season in his 17-year-old campaign, posting a 3.08 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage in 11 appearances.

“He’s a goaltender that our guys really liked in the draft process,” Murray said. “He’s a little younger and we think he’s going to be a nice, compatible fixture in net with Ruzicka.”

Murray added the fact that Budd is a 2008-born player means he could potentially have two more seasons in the league after this one, although he quickly added with a chuckle that in today’s landscape, that’s subject to change.

Brandon has some other high-end goaltending prospects that will be battling for a spot, including 2009-born Urijah Moosetail and 2010-born Joffrey Chan and Connor Dwyer.

“They’re all knocking on the door,” Murray said. “It’s a wild game and you never know how things are going to turn out. You have to put your best foot forward and impress.”

Brandon, which didn’t make a deal all season in 2025-26, has now made four in the last two weeks. On July 15, the Wheat Kings accommodated a trade request by 18-year-old defenceman Gio Pantelas by sending him to his preferred destination, the Penticton Vees, and on July 23, they dealt overage defenceman Dylan Ronald to the Edmonton Oil Kings for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2029.

The deal involving Ronald, an Albertan who spent two seasons with Brandon, was made for a couple of reasons.

“He’s a really good kid,” Murray said. “We wanted to see him get an opportunity. It felt like from a hockey standpoint with some of our young players coming in, we think really highly of them and want them to get the reps they need to develop and improve. In order to do that, they have to play games and the result might be Ronald sitting out here and there, which isn’t ideal for a 20-year-old.”

Brandon’s crop of rookie defenceman coming in includes Ilari Kapanen of Finland, Cruz Jim, Ethan Young and Easten Turko, with Cameron Allard, Nigel Boehm and former Swift Current Broncos defender Josh McGregor providing some veteran stability.

The Wheat Kings now two overagers left, forwards Brett Wilson and Russian newcomer Kris Muissu. They potentially could have had defenceman Max Lavoie and forwards Caleb Hadland, Jordan Gavin and Carter Klippenstein too, but they’re all headed to college instead of returning for their 20-year-old seasons.

‘We’ll probably leave it open for a little bit,” Murray said. “People need to understand that the 20-year-old landscape in the Western Hockey League is much different than it was two or three years ago before this NCAA change. We would have had Hadland, Gavin, Klippenstein, those type of guys in the system, where a lot of those guys (around the WHL) are gone now and not available.

“We’ll see what’s out there. You want to make sure your young guys are getting the reps they need.”

He added if the right player becomes available, they’ll act.

ICINGS: In another deal announced Wednesday, the Vancouver Giants acquired 2006-born defenceman Derek Thurston of Delta, B.C., from Saskatoon for a conditional draft pick in the 2027 WHL Draft … On Tuesday, the Moose Jaw Warriors acquired 2007-born goaltender Jordan Switzer from the Medicine Hat Tigers for a 2027 fourth-round pick, a 2029 second-round pick and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2030 … On Monday, the Swift Current Broncos acquired 2008-born forward Ty Meunier and a seventh-round pick in 2030 from the Calgary Hitmen for 2007-born forward Brennan Brown, a 2027 third-round pick in 2027 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2029 … Also Monday, the Wenatchee Wild acquired 2006-born forward Kayden Longley from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for Wenatchee’s third-round pick in 2027 — it originally belonged to Brandon but was sent to Swift Current in the Luke Mistelbacher and Grayson Burzynski trade — and a fifth-round pick in 2029 … The Victoria Royals acquired 2007-born defenceman Jonas Kohn from the Regina Pats for a fifth-round pick in 2030.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com